All of us have bought and worn fast fashion at some point, no shame and judgement here! For some people cheap and fast fashion feels like the only way to clothe themselves or their family. We feel you.
We would however totally advocate for charity shops here or another second hand alternative. eBay can be great if you have something specific you’re searching for, Facebook marketplace is a brilliant way to pick up local bargains and not have to pay shipping costs (saving money and being more eco-friendly is also a win-win). We both personally try to do the majority of our clothes shopping second hand and Jess is a huge advocate for free hand-me-downs for the kids.
Sometimes though, we just need a bit of a mindset shift:
🖤 Choosing quality over quantity
It can feel like getting 5 pieces of clothing is better than one, but that one piece is going to last you years.
🖤 Waiting and saving up for an item you really love
In our instant gratification world, we can often be super impatient, not wanting to wait the 5 days delivery, or forgetting the art of ‘saving up’ for something little by little. It’s a great practice to keep those money draining impulses in check.
🖤 Researching brands and their values
How much do you know about the brands you buy from? Your money is more powerful than you think, every time you buy a piece of clothing you’re making a choice as to what kind of company you want to support and what kind of world you want to build.
🖤 Being ok with second hand clothes not brand new
Sometimes it’s just that we are too proud to wear somebody else’s cast offs, sometimes it’s that we just love the feeling of NEW. But second hand shopping honestly makes the world go round! We’ll do another blog post for this one soon.
🖤 Choosing to support a small biz
Supporting a small business means you’re actually feeding someone’s family. There’s not one person sitting on billions of pounds while their workers slave away for minimum wage or less. Plus usually small businesses put so much love and care into each order it leaves you feeling a wonderful and shiny!
🖤 Choosing materials that are more eco-friendly
We’ve got that single use plastic is bad right? But yet there is so much plastic in our clothes! Polyester is a big one in clothes and it realised micro plastics into the oceans with every wash. Ensuring your clothes are made out of natural fibres, is a great start to being part of the change. Organic natural fibres is even better, but that’ll be another blog post another day.
🖤 Thinking through if you’re shopping because you’re bored or because you need it
It’s a biggie. I remember when we were teenagers and Saturday was going into town day. We’d go and window shop and buy whatever we could for £5 in a sale somewhere because it was something to do… Boredom shopping is a real thing and we need to try to resist the urge!
It can take a while to turn a mindset around, but before you know it you’ll have that wonderful glow-y feeling of prioritising being people and planet friendly 🤩