How to build a sustainable wardrobe
It is no secret that the fashion industry is constantly destroying the environment. Let’s be honest, even natural fabrics can come with a cost to the environment, therefore it is all about choosing fabrics and brands that actively work towards being more sustainable and better for the planet. We believe that creating more awareness on sustainable fashion and how to build a more sustainable fashion wardrobe is the first step to making a change.
Why is it so important to buy sustainable clothing?
Creates less waste
One garbage truck full of textile waste is burned or dumped in landfills every single second. This huge amount of waste is a result of fast fashion companies that launch poor quality and cheaply made weekly fashion trends. Sustainable clothing brands focus on timeless styles that are made to last using quality and long lasting materials.
Wages and poor working conditions
Fast fashion clothing is typically made by garment workers in harsh working conditions. Most of these brands source their clothing from developing countries whose workers are paid below the living wage. Additionally, there are poor health and safety conditions, long working hours, child labour and the constant pressure to keep producing. This creates an environment of worker exploitation. Sustainable clothing brands make sure that their workers receive fair wages and a safe working environment.
CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions
Fast fashion brands have a major carbon footprint as a result of the fabric creation, manufacturing, transportation and waste that ends up in landfills. Most fast fashion clothing items are made from plastic based materials such as acrylic, nylon and polyester. Consequently, they can take up to 200 years to decompose. Look out for natural, recycled and biodegradable materials. These require little to no chemicals/ pesticides, less energy and less water to produce.
Water
Water is used while manufacturing, washing and dyeing garments making the fashion industry is one of the largest water consumers in the world. Not only that, but the production and washing of synthetic fabrics pollutes our freshwater with toxic chemicals such as plastic, lead and mercury that end up in waterways. These are harmful to both marine and human life.
How to build a sustainable wardrobe
Buying natural over synthetic clothing
Investing in quality, staple pieces is a great way to ensure that your clothing will last longer. Try to avoid synthetic clothing that includes polyester, nylon or acrylic. Natural fabrics such as silk, organic cotton, bamboo, merino wool and linen waste less resources, are biodegradable and involve no chemicals or pesticides.
Clothes swapping and buying second hand clothing
Second hand clothing, sharing clothes, renting and thrifting are all great ways to add to your sustainable wardrobe. It avoids new fashion manufacturing as these garments already exist. Furthermore, they prevent clothing from ending up in landfills. Buying local is also a great idea to cut down on shipping costs.
Looking after your clothing to make them more sustainable
Look into repairing damaged clothing instead of throwing them away. You can also avoid washing clothes too regularly to help them last longer.
Being more selective and conscious while shopping
When buying new clothing it is important to think about where and how often you would wear it. Does it go nicely with what you already own or do you already own something similar? Avoid short term trends and focus on long lasting and timeless styles that work for you. Base your wardrobe around staple pieces that never go out of style by choosing quality over quantity and building a capsule wardrobe. Higher quality fabrics also provide personal benefits such as being lightweight, comfortable, breathable, hypoallergenic and kind to skin.
Sustainable fashion brands
Buying from sustainable brands means that you are supporting a better way of clothing production that wastes less and avoids any harm to humans, animals and the environment. This contributes to saving the planet in the long run. Consider doing the following:
- Check materials, are they natural and biodegradable or are they synthetics?
- Consider the brands ethos. Fast fashion brands often say they’re more sustainable by using natural garments, but making 10,000 cotton tops for one trend it is still disposable fashion.
- What are the brands views on fashion?
- Avoid brands that are a danger to wildlife.
At Patra
At Patra, we always work towards creating styles that last using the best quality natural fabrics sourced and hand selected with the utmost care. They are more sustainable and will save you money in the long run. we design clothing to truly fit and flatter, it is the heart of what we do. Our aim is to help you enjoy shopping with a clear conscience, by choosing slow fashion that respects the planet and your body.
- Our knitwear comes with extra thread to repair items.
- We’ve replaced all plastic tag hooks to thread.
- Recycled packaging.
- We still have a lot of room to grow and continue to work to do better every single day.
Why not have a look at our new collection of timeless pieces that will last for ever.
