It's such a good reminder that actually WEARING my clothes is participating in ethical consumption. Yet another reason to stop "saving" the good stuff!
Don't save anything except maybe the bridesmaid dress. Live in the moment. And you can even repurpose the bridesmaid's dress and wear that everyday too.
Dacy, what are your thoughts on clothing rental companies like Rent the Runway to reduce buying clothes generally but especially of items that people are likely to only wear once or a few times? I’ve rented from them before and it scratched that itch to wear new clothes without actually buying any new clothes. I recognize the financial privilege in being able to afford to rent items and that many of the designers on there are not size inclusive, and of course the environmental impact of shipping the clothes (though they at least use reusable bags instead of boxes).
It's something I want to explore further, but I think they're great. ESPecially for one time events, it's always struck me as crazy that people will spend way more money for a dress to be worn once than something they'll use every day.
The definitions - so useful. Thank you for clarifying. I haven't purchased "ethical fashion," fearful of the expense, but in honesty, I haven't delved deeply enough to confirm that everything is too expensive for my wallet. I have and do shop clothiers who claim to be inching toward sustainable fashion, but I don't shop them exclusively. The one thing I do try to do is wear my clothes year after year, easy for me because most are classics, I'm straight sized, and I wear my clothes a tad bit baggy. Going up a size doesn't impact my wardrobe. Going down a size.. well.
And by the way, I advertise Unflattering and Making Space in my own Substack newsletter and Facebook feed repeatedly.
Additionally, although it can be true that sewing your own clothes can seem daunting, I strongly encourage anyone interested to give it a try. There is no reason sewing clothes has to be any more complicated than learning to put up a shelf, or car maintenance, or baking. If your home has a dishwasher or a washing machine or a lawnmower or a tv to which you can cast various streaming services it might be worth asking yourself why you would not add a sewing machine to your home appliances. Not saying anyone should do things they don't like, and many people have more money than time, which is a very valid concern. But sewing doesn't have to be intimidating and there is tons of help out there these days.
this is all so true, and thank you for voicing it. It seems i was more affected by my struggles with sewing than I realized and I have let it color how I talk about it.
I did not interpret anything you wrote negatively! And there are a lot of obstacles to sewing--time is a big one, fitting is another, space is limited for many people. It should be said too that sewing does not (in general) save money! Plenty of clothes can be purchased for less than the cost of buying similar fabric. I do believe there is some value though in thinking of making clothes as another accessible life skill. All of us probably have things we theoretically could do ourselves but choose to outsource... for me, painting the deck and edging the lawn are things I'm happy to pay someone else to do. For myself, I like knowing enough about clothing construction that I have increased my awareness of what exactly I am outsourcing when I purchase clothing. But it's not for everyone and that is 100% totally ok. Just like I have zero interest in messing with plumbing, other people may have no interest whatsoever in constructing clothes.
I just want add a gentle note that those of us with dyscalculia find things like sewing, even with a sewing machine, very difficult. So I appreciate folks like you who can sew, but it’s unfortunately not something I can currently put in the extra time, effort and stress to learn how to do right now. Though it would certainly be the most effective and possibly fun!
Thank you so much for sharing this. I have a learning disability that affects how I perceive spatial relationships, so sewing is an absolute non-starter for me. I appreciate it's not just me.
Yes! I struggled SO MUCH in school in math and science because I transpose numbers super easily if I don’t pay very close attention (Algebra, forget it) and any time I try to measure anything or figure out directions, it’s very stressful and I always do it wrong at least 3 times. I can never tell right and left feet apart, I have to focus so hard on anything spatially related. When I learned what dyscalculia was, I felt so relieved and redeemed.
I'm not sure if this qualifies, but I was reading an article in The New Yorker about returns and where they go and they talked about a consumer site (with a large backend for sellers and big companies) where you can buy or bid in auctions on items that have been returned, refurbished if necessary, but are working and functional. Sometimes, new in the box. They have an apparel section and I thought buying returned items for a low price could count as helping to keep things in someone's closet and out of a landfill. I know the impulse to purchase something because it's very, very, very, much on sale can lead to unnecessary purchases so I'm not sure if this is ethical, in the sense you speak of, but thought it was interesting. It's here - https://secondipity.com/collections/womens-apparel-shop-all
this is so interesting. I know there are a few locations around the country where you can shop this kind of stuff and that resellers will sometimes buy crates/bails of this stuff. Anything's better than the landfill right?
It's such a good reminder that actually WEARING my clothes is participating in ethical consumption. Yet another reason to stop "saving" the good stuff!
Yes, it’s that simple!
Don't save anything except maybe the bridesmaid dress. Live in the moment. And you can even repurpose the bridesmaid's dress and wear that everyday too.
Dacy, what are your thoughts on clothing rental companies like Rent the Runway to reduce buying clothes generally but especially of items that people are likely to only wear once or a few times? I’ve rented from them before and it scratched that itch to wear new clothes without actually buying any new clothes. I recognize the financial privilege in being able to afford to rent items and that many of the designers on there are not size inclusive, and of course the environmental impact of shipping the clothes (though they at least use reusable bags instead of boxes).
It's something I want to explore further, but I think they're great. ESPecially for one time events, it's always struck me as crazy that people will spend way more money for a dress to be worn once than something they'll use every day.
The definitions - so useful. Thank you for clarifying. I haven't purchased "ethical fashion," fearful of the expense, but in honesty, I haven't delved deeply enough to confirm that everything is too expensive for my wallet. I have and do shop clothiers who claim to be inching toward sustainable fashion, but I don't shop them exclusively. The one thing I do try to do is wear my clothes year after year, easy for me because most are classics, I'm straight sized, and I wear my clothes a tad bit baggy. Going up a size doesn't impact my wardrobe. Going down a size.. well.
And by the way, I advertise Unflattering and Making Space in my own Substack newsletter and Facebook feed repeatedly.
😘
Some readers might be interested in the idea of a fibershed:
https://fibershed.org/
my local fibershed has a one year, one outfit program:
https://rustbeltfibershed.com/one-year-one-outfit-project
I hope to participate at some point!
Additionally, although it can be true that sewing your own clothes can seem daunting, I strongly encourage anyone interested to give it a try. There is no reason sewing clothes has to be any more complicated than learning to put up a shelf, or car maintenance, or baking. If your home has a dishwasher or a washing machine or a lawnmower or a tv to which you can cast various streaming services it might be worth asking yourself why you would not add a sewing machine to your home appliances. Not saying anyone should do things they don't like, and many people have more money than time, which is a very valid concern. But sewing doesn't have to be intimidating and there is tons of help out there these days.
this is all so true, and thank you for voicing it. It seems i was more affected by my struggles with sewing than I realized and I have let it color how I talk about it.
I did not interpret anything you wrote negatively! And there are a lot of obstacles to sewing--time is a big one, fitting is another, space is limited for many people. It should be said too that sewing does not (in general) save money! Plenty of clothes can be purchased for less than the cost of buying similar fabric. I do believe there is some value though in thinking of making clothes as another accessible life skill. All of us probably have things we theoretically could do ourselves but choose to outsource... for me, painting the deck and edging the lawn are things I'm happy to pay someone else to do. For myself, I like knowing enough about clothing construction that I have increased my awareness of what exactly I am outsourcing when I purchase clothing. But it's not for everyone and that is 100% totally ok. Just like I have zero interest in messing with plumbing, other people may have no interest whatsoever in constructing clothes.
I just want add a gentle note that those of us with dyscalculia find things like sewing, even with a sewing machine, very difficult. So I appreciate folks like you who can sew, but it’s unfortunately not something I can currently put in the extra time, effort and stress to learn how to do right now. Though it would certainly be the most effective and possibly fun!
Thank you so much for sharing this. I have a learning disability that affects how I perceive spatial relationships, so sewing is an absolute non-starter for me. I appreciate it's not just me.
OMG you guys, this is me! it never made sense in my brain!
Yes! I struggled SO MUCH in school in math and science because I transpose numbers super easily if I don’t pay very close attention (Algebra, forget it) and any time I try to measure anything or figure out directions, it’s very stressful and I always do it wrong at least 3 times. I can never tell right and left feet apart, I have to focus so hard on anything spatially related. When I learned what dyscalculia was, I felt so relieved and redeemed.
I don't enjoy it. I find it tedious.
I'm not sure if this qualifies, but I was reading an article in The New Yorker about returns and where they go and they talked about a consumer site (with a large backend for sellers and big companies) where you can buy or bid in auctions on items that have been returned, refurbished if necessary, but are working and functional. Sometimes, new in the box. They have an apparel section and I thought buying returned items for a low price could count as helping to keep things in someone's closet and out of a landfill. I know the impulse to purchase something because it's very, very, very, much on sale can lead to unnecessary purchases so I'm not sure if this is ethical, in the sense you speak of, but thought it was interesting. It's here - https://secondipity.com/collections/womens-apparel-shop-all
this is so interesting. I know there are a few locations around the country where you can shop this kind of stuff and that resellers will sometimes buy crates/bails of this stuff. Anything's better than the landfill right?