My “New” Sustainable Wardrobe

What does “New” and sustainable mean?

In my case the word “new” really means “new to me.” I am all about buying used, preworn, thrifted, and vintage wear. You can check out my post on my thrifting and my recent use of Poshmark. I want my “new” sustainable wardrobe to be as reused as possible. I also bought a few actual new pieces and those were from sustainable brands.

My personal working definition of sustainable is keeping things out of a landfill as long as possible, upcycling or down cycling an item, and a company that collects its own clothing when buyers are done with it and recycling it themselves. This is a closed circle of materials. Sustainable manufacturing provides a living wage for the workers no matter where they are in the world, and a way of operating that prevents as much carbon and other pollutants as possible.

I follow several great hashtags on Instagram and have learned a lot about sustainability. A few examples are #fash_rev, #theslowfactory, #intersectionalenvironmentalist, #thesustainablefashionforum, and #thinking.threads.

Why am I building a new sustainable wardrobe?

We moved into the RV in 2016 (five years ago) and let go of most everything in our house including a lot of the small wardrobe and shoes I still had (I had been letting go of clothes for the prior five years). I strategically kept coats, my favorite comfortable tops and bottoms, a few dresses, skirts and two pairs of heels.

Time went by. I wore out my favorite dress, I gave away the last of my heels, and I out grew ALL of my pants, skirts, and some of my tops. Outgrew is my kid-phrase way of saying I gained 20 pounds – which was something I’ve been working to do for years and I am now very healthy! Now, I’m a size medium/large, 8/12, with few items of clothes that make actual outfits. Why does this matter? We are moving into a community for about 5 or more months of the year. So the few items I wear over and over because we never see the same people or places in RV life is not going to be enough for me anymore! It’s time for me to build my “new ” wardrobe.

New Sustainable Wardrobe: Step One: Planning

Through Instagram, I heard about The Conscious Closet. This is an excellent book, by Elizabeth L. Cline. I will probably do a book report (another kid phrase) in the near future. In the book she discusses a number of things to consider when editing and building a wardrobe. Elizabeth Cline pointed to other great resources for downsizing thoughtfully, choosing a personal style, colors, and where and how to shop. I didn’t need to downsize, but the ideas were excellent and sustainable. I think the way of downsizing Cline suggests is a lot more sustainable and more realistic than the Marie Kondo way of tossing things out that don’t spark joy. Although, Kondo has a number of awesome insights about the junk we accumulate and how to keep your wardrobe neat and accessible. 

My Colors

I know the way I prefer my clothes to fit (style) but I did want to see if my current color pallet was the best for me. I hopped online and used Google. The phrase “colors and wardrobe” got me to a number of blogs and sites that were helpful – they showed me I already was wearing my colors. I am an earthy fall due to my skin tone, hair, and eye color.

My colors are the same as what I’ve been wearing since I was a teen. Earthy greens, browns, oranges, and blues. Not too bold of patterns, not bold or bright colors. The trick is that I have replaced a few of the skirts I outgrew, and one in particular, is a bold pattern and primary colors. So, I know I will need to be a bit more careful when I am thrilled to see vintage Anokhi in second hand stores in the future. Although, I will be wearing this skirt anyway!

My Sustainable Style

My style is not really a particular style. I like layers and soft fabrics, natural fabrics. I wear fitted tops with loose pants/skirts, OR loose tops with fitted pants, OR loose everything. I like to be comfortable, and still look a little put together. The fabrics I enjoy wearing the most are cotton, linen, cashmere, wool, and silk. I do wear synthetics when I’m looking for a stretchy dress, shorts or leggings. I also wear synthetic hiking, and kayaking clothes, and warm outer winter wear.

My shoe style is comfort first. To wear “out” I have a couple of Oliberte boots (brown and blue), a couple flip flops and sandals, a couple Rothys flats, and Keen sneakers. I also have Keen hiking sandals which work for the type of hiking we do.

New Sustainable Wardrobe: Step Two: Shopping

Part 2 of my new sustainable wardrobe will explain how I went about looking for, selecting, and buying my new wardrobe. I’ll share how many items I actually have, if I created a capsule wardrobe or not, and show some outfits that are easy to put together with my new wardrobe! So, come back and read more!