Image curtesy of J R under Creative Commons
On my quest to get clothes more consciously, something quickly bugged my mind: what if I didn't have to pay to be fashionable (and accessorily not naked)?
Suddenly, a memory came to my mind: my cousins, my sister and I, exchanging huge bags of clothing, and trying them all on, in a storm of colours, fabric and fun.
After making a bit more research, I discovered that this practice had a name: swapping (or "swishing", but it's too close to "squishing", so for the sake of this article, let's keep with the first name.).
And better than just a name, I found that swapping could save a lot of unused clothes... and even be the root for a new small economy.
Indeed, in the U.K only, 30% of the clothes British own have not been worn in the past year. This represents around £30 billion nationally!
Time to save some money, isn't it?
Fortunately for us, some people are already fond of swapping: Andrea, Marta and Carmen are three Spanish women that taught me more about it...
Want to discover other ways of being a sustainable fashionista? Click on the links below!
If something is in good quality and you don't like it anymore, and I can make the most out of it, why would you thrown it away and generate more rubbish?
Carmen Aguilar García
If Carmen is reluctant of shopping because of the hassle of it, other people make the environment a priority. This is the case of Andrea Carrasco and Marta Oreton Arancon, who place sustainability in the center of their lives.
"My clothes consumption is linked to a wider sustainable lifestyle, in every aspect of my life (food, recycling materials, energy consumption, using public transportation to pollute less..). My family even owns a little urban garden for our own vegetable consumption. I also believe in trade of proximity as well as local consumption."Andrea says.
But no need to be that committed to make concrete changes, it all begins in our values:
"I believe a lot in sustainable consumption to care more for the environment, so only buying what is needed is a principle I try to apply as much as I can, including shopping for clothes. The more I grew up, the more I became aware of these things.".
Recycling is one of the most important focus of the two women, even in the most peculiar aspects:
"There are other initiatives that try to promote recycling, like the "fair phone", which is fair trade made and is designed in such way that it's customisable. You don’t need to buy a new one if something doesn’t work. You just have to change some pieces.", Marta told me.
And this mentality of not "throwing away things that still are in good condition" as she puts it, is the main reason why she swaps her clothes or repurposes them:
"I never throw my clothes away, I'm always keeping them and when I think I can give them to somebody, I do. I also try to give clothes on internet platforms or I recycle it for new uses, like cloths to clean to house for instance."
This minimalist way of consuming clothes is also Andrea's:
"Instead of buying huge amounts of clothes, I prefer to recycle my wardrobe, go thrift shopping or exchanging clothes with my family. I only buy when a garment is so worn out I need replace it."
But it is true that it can also be a harder to find clothes this way than in fast fashion shops, as Marta experiences:
"It's really hard for people to give me clothes because I’m very tall, but sometimes my mother of one of my friend would give me something."
Recycling or giving clothes to relatives can have a bigger ecological impact that one imagines. Indeed, it is estimated that these two solutions could save 39 billion tons of carbon, in the U.K only.
"If I can give something, I put it in the big recycling bins (here in Spain there are a lot of them, and the clothes are given to local charities). Also, in Madrid there is a vary famous shop called "Humana", which collects the clothes, wash them, fix them and then sells them. Part of the money is given to NGO. And I think it's a good thing to know we have a wider impact than ourselves.", Andrea says.
But she doesn't stop here, as she is very aware of sustainable fashion alternatives:
"The first time I went to a sustainable fashion event was in Istanbul, in 2012. In the Modern Art Museum, one Sunday of each month you could take up until five items of clothing. For each item, they would give you a ticket which you could exchange for clothes other people had picked at the event. I loved the idea so I went several times. The same type of events happen in Madrid in La Casa Encendida, and as a plus side, you meet other people who are conscious about these issues."
What stroke me the most was her dedication to the cause. So I was not surprised to see that she wanted to take sustainability even further:
"I also wanted to learn how to make my own clothes, (nothing too technical, but scarfs, socks, wool beanies…). I think it's another way to make us more auto sufficient. In Madrid, some places like coffee shops propose these kinds of events to learn to make your own accessories or patchwork"
And that is something I love, since I already gave it a try.
Overall, I was amazed at how these three women really had a conscious reflexion about sustainable fashion, and adapted their consumption accordingly, be it with something as easy swapping clothes with their families.
It made me want to dig into my wardrobe and declutter it once and for all.
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Want to discover other ways of being a sustainable fashionista? Click on the links below!
