sustainably yours, — leave a little sparkle

For as long as I can remember, getting dressed has always been a highlight of my day. I still am totally enamored by the idea that on any given day you can express who you are and what you stand for by the hue of your lipstick, the height of your heel, or the cut of your jeans. As a young girl and even as recently as college, I thought the more items- clothes, shoes, jewelry, what-have-you, the better. I still remember the excitement I felt about picking out my outfits for the school week, especially when I had a new item to wear.

But over the last year and a half, this idea of the more clothes the better has really started to shift for me. It all started after watching ‘The True Cost’, a documentary on Netflix detailing the effects of the fashion industry on the environment. Call me naive but a lot of these facts I simply didn’t know. For example, fashion—a $2.5 trillion sector—is the second most polluting industry behind oil. [Like what? Behind OIL.] The documentary dives into the effects that fashion has on communities abroad [another fact: 97% of America’s clothes are made abroad] including long term health concerns and political effects of exploiting workers’ rights, most often women’s rights. After seeing the facts so blatantly laid out for me, there was no way I could just continue on in my regularly scheduled sartorial programming.

So, I‘ve been experimenting with how to go about attaining that same level of excitement as wearing that cool new outfit while staying true to my morals and what is important to me. Here’s where I’ve landed so far--

No more fast fashion: I do not shop at fast fashion outlets like H&M, Forever 21, and Zara. While these were my go-to-places in high school and college, I no longer frequent these retailers on principal and haven’t for at least the last 4 years. [I must acknowledge here that choosing retailers is a matter of budget and accessibility, and for some, non fast fashion options are simply unaffordable.]
A Renter’s Market: As Carrie once said “New York is a city of renters. I rent” [Season 4 Episode 16; I know I’m obsessed] I currently subscribe to Rent the Runway as an Update member which means I get 4 designer items for the month, and then I can swap them out for completely new items the next month. As some of you might recall, I used to subscribe to Le Tote, but I have personally found that I prefer the inventory on RTR. Prior to trying Le Tote I had actually also tried Stitch Fix, but hadn't found inventory there that I loved either. [It has now been about 3 years since then so I imagine the product and service has evolved. However, as you’ll read in point #3, I’m really not in the business of owning more clothes either.]
Second-hand Only: This is likely the hardest one, but in addition to filtering the retailers from which I shop, I have also changed my entire perspective on buying and especially buying first-hand. One of the stats that stood out the most to me from the documentary was: only 10% of donated clothes get sold. The rest end up in landfills or flooding markets in developing countries hurting the local industry. So now I want to be especially cognizant that if I do choose to purchase an item that it’s second-hand. [In fact, I have only purchased completely new items from Everlane] I have been exploring staple services like Poshmark as well as newer movers in the space like ThreadUp. [Anyone else tried Thread Up?] Some of you might recall that a couple years ago I did a partnership with SF Goodwill. I have been frequenting my local Goodwill here on Eight Street more often as I’ve been changing my perspective on only buying used items.
Til Death Do Us Part: Lastly, I try to keep my items for as long as possible. [Like until it’s on its last legs. Hence, you will continue to see these white boots.] I still have items in my closet from high school! Otherwise, I find tailors and repair stores to fix that broken hook on my Marc Jacobs handbag or those ripped Theory pants I bought on sale [*facepalm*].

That’s it. By no means is it perfect or have I got it all figured out. But I feel a lot better knowing that I’m making a conscientious effort to be a more sustainable consumer. Call me crazy but being sustainable doesn’t need to be at odds with fashion; if anything, I think it's our duty [fashion bloggers, editors, designers, writers, etc] to encourage such a behavior. I’m open to any and all suggestions; so please feel free to let me know in the comments or shoot me a note on new sustainable companies, services, brands that you know and love.

I know this will be an imperfect journey, but I’m committed to it and want to take you all along with me.

sustainably yours,