Loved Clothes Last: How to sort out your clothes and sustainability dilemmas
Since I’ve been really young I have loved clothes and working out my style (thank goodness social media was not around when I was “experimenting”). For me, clothes are like my friends, they give me a cuddle when I need it and brighten my days when the skies are grey. Now, more than ever it is crucial to treat these wardrobe friends well both for our pockets and our planet.
It can seem overwhelming to know what to do in terms of making sure our love of clothes doesn’t ruin the environment. I think the key may lie in choosing wisely what we buy (look at last week’s blog which covers this is in more detail) and holding on to the clothes we love as tightly as possible (for me this would be a bit like holding onto the last giant Toblerone bar in Duty Free). I am slightly obsessed with the saying LOVED CLOTHES LAST. If we have a few tricks up our sleeve (see what I’ve done there?!) then we can make sure we’re prolonging the life of our clothes and doing what we can for sustainability.
The following is my equivalent of phoning a friend. As a former teacher I am a massive lover of books. The following books offer a range of ideas to make sure we are prolonging the life of our clothes.
1. Orsola de Castro “Loved Clothes Last”
The subtitle says it all “How the Joy of Rewearing and Repairing Your Clothes Can Be a Revolutionary Act”. I am a massive fan of Orsola who founded The Fashion Revolution (if you haven’t discovered this yet please do). This book is a really positive way of looking at ways to cleverly rewear and repair our clothes. I love how she makes the reader fall in love with their clothes and sees some of our slightly shabbier pieces as things to fix with TLC. Lots of practical tips and suggestions too.
2. Marie Kondo “The life-changing magic of tidying.”
A great section in here about how to look after your clothes. Although I’m not quite as shocked as Marie is about how one of her clients rolled her socks into potato like lumps I do still like her tips on storing clothes. Her storage tips kill two birds with one stone. Firstly, clothes will last longer if they are put away carefully. Secondly, you can see what you own so you won’t need to buy as many things.
3. The Great British Sewing Bee
Handy little book to teach even the least confident sewer some basic tips. If you have a seam that has come undone or a hole has appeared then you’ll find easy to follow instructions. If you have become bored with some items maybe you could change some of the details, by changing buttons or altering the length you start a renewed love affair with the piece. Go on, try it.
Single Swan Tip: find a local tailor or seamstress who could help you alter any clothes that don’t fit exactly how you’d like them to. I had a beautiful top that had become too small. The magician that was the tailor altered it and I’ve been wearing it for the last five years.
Let me know what you’ve found useful and what you’d like me to write about next.
Alicia x