One’s conscious journey is an ever ongoing one. And it should be, as it keeps one on one’s toes and encourages new learnings. Finding new ways to make conscious choices, exploring new materials and brands, getting used to the idea of having less stuff, or just challenging oneself to learn more. The slow fashion challenge I’m taking on this year is probably a mix of all these. I started the challenge with setting goals in January and February is about doing a wardrobe audit and a clear-out.
Due to my moving twice in 2017, I did a lot of clearing out last year, and started this year with a slimmed down wardrobe already. I’ve been fairly brutal during my recent clear-outs and have only been keeping key pieces that I know I want to keep, wear, and give more love.
Why clearing out?
I would say that the main reason is to be more in control of what you actually already own. Most of us will probably have too much stuff to even keep track, but many will still struggle to find something to wear, and this is mainly because we get overwhelmed or we can’t actually find much in the mess and always end up with the items at the top of the drawer. But knowing your wardrobe, and ideally having less stuff in there, will help you get back in control, and it will most likely make you more creative with what you have.
From a sustainability perspective it’s also good to do a proper audit to avoid buying new pieces that are actually quite similar to something you already have, but have forgotten about. And knowing your wardrobe helps you when shopping for new stuff as you’ll know what to buy to ensure it matches items already in your wardrobe.
How to do it?
It’s good to have a clear-out every now and then, maybe once or twice a year. And it’s good to do a big one where you separate all items into piles, and only keep things you use regularly and that you really like. But if it’s too hard to get rid of too much at once, you can also do a half-way version where you save stuff in a specific box for a second round. Decide on a date (like six months from now) when you’ll go through this box again, and if you haven’t missed anything or wanted to use anything from it during this time, then you know it’s ok to get rid of.
Clearing out and decluttering is a process and for it to work you should find your own way of getting it done. I’ve written previously about the likes of Marie Kondo that share loads of practical tips, and I’ve found it useful to be inspired by others and then working out a process that works for me (and I’ve inflicted it on to my partner who I made do about five shirt clear-out sessions over the course of 2017…).
Coming back to the sustainability perspective, another key aspect of the wardrobe audit is to extend the life of each and every item in your wardrobe. Whether that’s you giving old pieces some new love, or you passing them on for a new life to be loved by someone else.
When clearing out, it’s therefore important to separate your clothes into different piles depending on what you will do with them. Selling on eBay, giving away to a friend, bringing to a clothes swap, using for an upcycling project to give them another life, or anything else you can think of that will allow them to live on. Since recycling stations and shops like H&M will collect even items that are broken or too old to re-use, you shouldn’t have to actually throw anything in the bin, which is another sustainability aspect to bear in mind.
Loving your clothes
For a truly sustainable wardrobe we need to make our clothes last. We need to get as many wears out of them as possible and we need to take good care of them. And to do this we need to love them. My wardrobe audit is about getting rid of things that I’m not loving anymore and can do better use somewhere else, and really starting to appreciate the clothes I already have. Looking at them in a new light by mixing them with pieces or accessories I haven’t mixed them with previously, and being better at using pieces that I might have felt are a bit too glam as every day pieces. Small things that will make my wardrobe feel bigger even though I haven’t actually added anything to it.