Budget Friendly Route to a Sustainable and Ethical Wardrobe

If you read my previous post on PinkPepperCorn, it was all about why you need to start rethinking about your fashion choices! About why at a very personal level, you must start investing in clothes that are ethically made and fabrics that are sustainable and skin-friendly.

However, I understand that it is practically impossible to suddenly wake up one day and decide to throw out your wardrobe and replace it with sustainable fashion.

In fact, like I mentioned even in my previous post, I love my fast fashion too! In fact, certain styles and fits are only possible with blended fabrics that are available in fast fashion.

So, it’s not like one needs to give up fast fashion completely… but supplement it with sustainable choices.

The path towards sustainability begins one garment at a time.

Here is a step-by-step guide for you to move towards a more conscious wardrobe:

Buy less – the lesser you buy the lesser you waste:

One of the reasons why fast fashion exploits manpower is the speed and the scale at which fashion needs to be churned out. When you buy less, they make less… thus, creating less pollution and exploiting less.

Quality over Quantity:

When you buy cheaper clothes, you tend to feel less guilty throwing them away after wearing them a few times. This leads to massive amounts of textile waste, which in turn ends up either in land-fills or gets burnt- leading to air, water and land pollution.

So, look for quality… better fabrics, better dyes… they’re not just going to be skin friendly and longer lasting, you’re also not going to want to throw them away easy 😉

Repeat, Reuse, Upcycle:

There’s no harm in repeating your clothes! That’s what people do! In fact, slow fashion or fast fashion, repeating your clothes is a good thing…! And if people judge you for it, well, judge them back!

Mix and match your clothes as much as you can! In India, we have the option of tailors who can alter, and stitch for us! Get creative and make new outfits out of your old ones.

Wash less: The lesser you wash, the lesser microfibers you release, the lesser the oceanic pollution. (Read about it in my previous post)

Change your wardrobe, step by step:

Buy ethically made clothes, as much as possible. Every time you shop, make sure at least 1-2 garments are sustainable / ethical. You can’t let go of fast fashion completely… and like I said, you don’t have to. But buy less of those. Complement your shopping basket with a few ethical pieces each time and slowly you’ll see your wardrobe changing!

Mix and Match with your fast fashion:

Since sustainable clothes are usually a little more expensive, so it becomes difficult for everyone to invest in an entire ensemble. Obviously, you won’t keep wearing the same thing everywhere! So, mix and match them with your fast fashion clothes… to create new outfits and to make a lot more use of them!

Let’s say you have a basic white, beige or black dress or basic white pants and black top, that are natural… you can then layer them or mix and match with some statement pieces from fast fashion… or vis a versa!

For Example, here I’m wearing this outer coat from sustainable fashion designer Purvi Doshi, but I’m wearing it with my fast fashion denim shorts and black bodysuit. And I can wear it with so many other things – from pants, to sarees!

In fact, contrary to popular belief, not every sustainable designer is ‘too expensive’, ‘too ethnic’ or ‘too elitist’!

For example, the dress I’m seen wearing here is from a brand called ‘Summer Barn’ which is into ethically made clothing from natural fabrics, that are all-western and extremely affordably priced! In fact, you may use my code ‘PINK10’ and get an additional 10% discount site-wide 😉

In sum, I am not asking you to suddenly make a 360-degree shift! All I’m asking and urging you to do, and trying to do myself, is to become more aware of the choices we make. If we know what we’re doing, we will reduce wastage and start buying only what we genuinely need… fast fashion or otherwise!

Let’s move towards sustainability, one garment at a time!