How to Create a Sustainable Capsule Wardrobe
Creating a capsule wardrobe allows you to mix-and-match a few quality items of clothing to last years, rather than contribute to ‘fast fashion waste’.
For affordability and maximum styles, go for neutral colours. This doesn’t have to be black or white, but also could be grey, taupe or navy (olive and brown are nice colours for redheads).
The Capsule Wardrobe (by a professional stylist) does not focus on organic or vegan fashion (so you can just adapt). But it’s a useful book, as it shows you how to create 1000 outfits, from just 30 items of clothing.
The book includes detailed descriptions and illustrations of each item, plus a list of all 1000 outfits in a handy table.
Mix and match items for your wardrobe, to create unique everyday looks to flatter your body type. Stretch your budget and reduce fashion mistakes and impulse buys. Also transition from the office to after-dark in a flash!
Go for natural fabrics, it’s far simpler (organic or recycled cotton, hemp or linen). For clothing containing polyester, recycled plastic bottles or elastane, launder in a microfibre filter.
Choose Your Own Style!
If you prefer the Michael Portillo look (bright orange trousers and a green jacket), go for it. Your style is your own. But overall, you may wish to wear subtle colours, for more choices with less clothes, and maximum outfit affordability.
A typical example of a good capsule wardrobe for men is as follows:
- 2 jackets (1 posh, 1 not)
- 2 trousers (1 posh, 1 not)
- 8 or so tops (shirts, tees, polo shirts, sweaters)
- 2 pairs of quality vegan shoes
- 8 pairs of greener socks
- 8 pairs of organic undies
So you can see, investing in a sustainable capsule wardrobe suddenly is not so expensive. With this capsule wardrobe, you have many different outfits:
- A smart jacket, smart shirt and smart trousers
- A smart jacket, t-shirt and casual trousers
- A tee-shirt and casual trousers (with jumper
- A jumper with smart trousers
- A casual jacket with casual trousers (and tee)
All the above could be worn with smart or casual vegan shoes (loafers to sneakers, your choice), and you should easily get 7 different outfits, especially if you choose the basics (like shirts) in different colours, to mix-and-match for a variety of looks.
Once you’ve made your capsule wardrobe (possibly from items you already own), then consider donating unwanted items to charity shops (choose ones that support local animal shelters or hospices, not ones that test on animals).
Good Books for the Ethical Fashionista
What to Wear and Why is a wonderful book on how to rethink the clothes we buy, wear and toss out, in one of the world’s most polluting, cruel and wasteful industries.
You can still look good and dress well, while making a positive environmental impact. The clothing industry produces around 80 billion garments a year (most not made ethically).
It employs 15% of the world’s population (often exploiting both humans and animals). And even street dogs in India have turned blue, from drinking water polluted from blue dyes used to make denim jeans for western consumers.
Synthetic fibres (nylon, polyester and recycled plastic bottles) all release microplastics into our oceans (unless laundering with a microfibre filter) and at end of use, the unwanted clothes go to landfill, where they leach methane gas for decades.
Fashion is responsible for 10% of the world’s carbon emissions, more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. We have enough clothing on the planet right now, to clothe the next six generations of the humane race.
In this book, the author sheds light on the fashion industry’s unsustainable practices, and looks at why and how change is urgently needed.
There is no scolding to put readers on the defensive. Instead, the approachable tone gives a ‘we’re in this together’ feeling. Library Journal
Tiffanie Darke has spent her career in fashion (most recently as a shopkeeper). She studied sustainability at Cambridge University and works with over 70 fashion brands. She is based in London.
Sustainable Wardrobe is a book packed with tips to create a more sustainable wardrobe, without breaking the bank. The world’s consumption and discarding of clothing is harming the planet, and the issue can’t be fixed overnight.
But what can we do to make a difference? The answer is that if we all take small steps, it will collectively result in big change.
Journalist Sophie Benson (who specialises in writing on sustainable fashion) guides you through, breaking down the issues from the clothes we buy to how we care and dispose of them.
- The Lifecycle of a T-shirt
- Who Makes Your Clothes?
- Focus on Fabrics & Dyes
- Take Stock of What You Have
- Build a Capsule Wardrobe
- How to Know What to Buy
- How to Read Clothing Labels
- How to Launder Your Clothes
- How to Store Your Clothes
- A Quick Guide to Mending Skills
An expert on greenwashing and upcycling, the author began her career as a stylist and quit to work in the area of sustainable fashion. She now chooses second-hand clothes or makes her own from scratch.
Ignore ‘New Season’ and Black Friday Clothes
The clothing industry creates a colossal amount of waste, with most major brands having new seasonal pieces, rather than classic staples. This is to encourage you to buy more clothing than you need.
Even M & S (likely the most ethical of the high street fashion brands) has faced criticism, for its ‘take-back scheme’, where you get discounts on new items, for returning unwanted clothing. So-called ‘shwopping’ is kind of greenwash, as it encourages you to buy more clothing than you need.
When AirTags (vets say they should not be used to find lost pets, due to batteries) were attached to some clothing in take-back schemes, a Dutch NGO found that most items were scrapped or burned or even dumped in Mali, rather than ending up in thrift shops.
Black Friday is a worldwide day when big discounts are given. But this can create a kind of ‘consumer frenzy’ that again massively contributes to fashion waste. Many stores have sale racks packed with clothes that people buy ‘just because they are cheap’.
Instead, take your time to find quality sustainable clothing to mix and match, and you’ll likely also save money in the long-run.
