Hi, it’s been a while!

I recently went to Barcelona on a solo trip partly because I’d heard about how great of a city it is and it helped that it was very vegan friendly. I’d also challenged myself to a solo travel adventure this year 🙂

An Instagram post I made for Secondhand September last year.

I have a confession…

I post about sustainable fashion on my story quite a bit but I found when it came to my holiday I was a bit of a hypocrite. I thought I needed new outfits. Vinted is usually my go to but I’ve recently found it difficult to find items that fit me quite as I want them to, especially for work. This means I end up taking them to a charity shop anyway which isn’t a very sustainable option – for my purse included. So I did make some new purchases from a fast fashion website in the hope that they would be long term purchases that fit me well, are my style and that I could rewear over and over again. And this was mostly the case; however, I did have to return a couple of items. But, sustainable fashion can be tricky.

I found that in the end, I did dig out a bikini and swimsuit that I’ve had for about 4 years and wore these on my holiday as well as a dress that I bought on Depop ages ago. I will be making sure I keep wearing the new pieces I bought as well.

Sustainable fashion tips:

• I’ve said it before but the first thing to do before purchasing something is think “Do I need this or do I want this?“. Fast fashion has driven into all of us that we desperately need new things all the time to keep up and give our wardrobes a ‘refresh’. But actually, rewearing is caring (and also cool).
• The second thing to do is ask yourself “Will I wear this at least 30 times?” Being really honest with myself here helps me to really focus on why I am buying something and lets me know whether it’s an intentional purchase or an impulse one.
• Get to know your wardrobe! What are your favourites? Which are the pieces you wear all the time? This is such a great starting point because this is your style and it means you know you will wear them because it’s similar to what you already have!

I love this story that I shared by Venetia La Manna:

The most sustainable piece of clothing you have is already in your wardrobe

I’ve realised that most of the time, we have the clothes that we’re looking for already. The dress I wore and felt great in is one I’ve had for years. My dad is a better example than me – he recently wore an outfit that when we worked it out added up to a total of 75 years old. Now that truly is sustainable fashion – and was the inspiration for writing this post so thanks for that dad!

I also wanted to write this blog because 1) I wanted to highlight that I’m not always perfect and 2) while Second hand September is great I think it’s important to realise that it’s the clothes that we already have we should focus on first before we think about buying – even if it is second hand. (Although yes please to a circular economy!)

We’re being told we need the newest trends every day. One of the most powerful things you can do is to wear and love the clothes you already have, rewear them, repair them and take care of them.

While we can’t buy our way into being sustainable, what we CAN do is make an effort to buy less, wear more and take care of the clothes we have. By doing this we’re making a huge impact.

If you got this far, thanks very much for reading and I hope you found it useful – do comment any other tips you’ve found have helped you in your sustainable fashion journey!