Five Reasons Why Conscious Fashion is Awesome for Me (and You Too)
At the start of my conscious fashion journey, a few acquaintances of mine expressed their doubts over my ability to stick with this life-changing resolution. To be frank, I had my own misgivings at the beginning about cutting myself off from the convenience and easy indulgences of fast fashion. However, more than half a year later, I’m happy to report that this commitment might be one of the best decisions I’ve made in recent memory (other than quitting my job to pursue a career I actually love).
In the past, I found it difficult to stomach the thought of giving up the alluring, ever-changing selections of brands such as Zara, Topshop, Aritzia, and H&M. However, as mentioned in this post, 2020 was a year of enlightenment for me in terms of social and environmental justice. After educating myself on the devastating impact of the fast fashion industry on both humans and the earth, I could no longer justify being complicit in such a broken system.
As well, I mentioned in that previous post that this shift forced me to examine why I was plagued by the need to buy (or even receive) endless amounts of clothing that I would often donate after wearing once or twice. After some thorough self-reflection, I realized that the root of my shopaholicism lay in my past as a child of struggling immigrant parents. Additionally, it did not help that many of us are deeply immersed in a capitalist culture that encourages constant consumerism as the only way to achieve happiness (which is a very toxic mindset).
Following that decision, I began researching how I could shift over to conscious fashion in a manner that I could maintain for the rest of my life. Luckily, I already followed several wonderful sustainable style bloggers who provided me with many useful resources and ethical brands to choose from. As well, Pinterest provided me with endless articles on the topics of sustainable living and conscious fashion. Armed with this new knowledge, I felt confident that I could follow this new path without looking back at the temptations of fast fashion.
The following five sections outline why I’ve found conscious fashion to be an amazing avenue for anyone who gives a crap about other human beings and the planet we live on. Thank you in advance for reading!
1. Social Justice and Environmental Impact
As referenced in my earlier post, there are endless reasons for why the fast fashion industry needs to be completely reformed. Personally, I was forced to reconsider my shopping habits after learning about the Uighur Labour Camps that have provided slave labour and cheap cotton to many large retail brands, such as Zara, Nike, Gap, and H&M. Following that, watching the “True Cost” documentary gave me a clearer picture of why fast fashion hasn’t been truly beneficial for anyone other than the large corporations profiting from our hard-earned dollars.
In the name of giving middle-class society cheap and affordable clothing, garment workers around the world (who are primarily vulnerable women of colour) have been forced to work in dangerous working conditions, paid pitiable wages, and beaten if they protest over the aforementioned concerns. Unsafe working conditions have even led to many preventable deaths— as the 2013 Dhaka garment factory collapse so sadly illustrates.
Last but not least, it’s no secret that fast fashion companies have a terrible track record when it comes to ruining the environment. It’s hard to pinpoint which is the worst aspect: the destruction of natural habitats in order to grow pesticide-ridden crops for textiles, the chemicals dumped into the streams that provide drinking water for vulnerable human populations, or the wastelands of “donated” clothes that are burnt in landfills (greatly adding to greenhouse gas emissions).
Honestly, I don’t know how I managed to turn a blind eye to these stark realities for so long. However, I suppose being stuck at home more nowadays has allowed me to become immune to the siren call of the mall. As well, I realized that there are issues more important than having new pieces for every single outfit post.
2. Save Lots of Money
Since I now choose to “vote with my dollar” (and not buy boatloads of clothes from soulless corporations), I discovered a very happy side effect— I was saving a ton of money. As opposed to before, I would no longer thoughtlessly spend $500 on one Zara or Aritzia haul (something that fills me with disbelief now when I look back to less than a year ago). As a result of reducing such impulsive spending, I discovered that my credit card bills were much smaller and I was putting away much more money than before. In fact, I ended up exceeded my proposed savings goal for the year by over $20,000!
Therefore, if you find yourself struggling to save money, perhaps take some time to evaluate your spending habits. Do you often give into urges to buy some “cheap” items here and there? If you are not keeping track of your budget, it’s amazing how quickly and how much those purchases can add up over a short period of time. For myself, my worst spending habits tended to be clothing and food. Therefore, with frivolous shopping out of the picture, I found myself saving big chunks of money quite effortlessly!
3. A Less Superficial Lifestyle
Nowadays, I try to do careful research on a company before I choose to spend money on their clothing. Often, a brief look at their company website is enough to tell me if they are truly putting effort into their ethical and sustainable manufacturing processes— or if they are greenwashing. For instance, a company that is truly dedicated to ethical and sustainable processes will go into great detail about what they are doing. On the contrary, a greenwashing brand will just give you a few nice-sounding lines with a suspicious lack of detail.
As well, I try evaluate every potential purchase with the following criteria:
How many different ways can I wear this piece?
Is it a timeless or classic style? Or is it so trendy that it will only last for a few seasons?
Will the quality of the piece allow it to be worn for many years to come?
Do I feel good giving my hard-earned money to this company? (Are they trying to make the world a better place or are they just in it for the profit?)
Lastly, the act of spending less money on clothing has forced me to appreciate more what I already have (rather than being constantly envious of what others have). By realizing that I already have so much in terms of material possessions, I can avoid the “grass is greener on the other side” or “keeping up with Joneses” mentality that creates so much dissatisfaction, preventable debt, and unnecessary consumption.
4. Increased Creativity
As a content creator newly focused on conscious fashion, I’ve been enjoying the challenge of styling fresh looks without buying from fast fashion brands. Instead of mindlessly opening my shopping apps, I’ve been shopping my own wardrobe more often to find the pieces that I’ve only worn once or twice before. Instead of letting them linger forgotten in my drawers, it’s been fun to breath new life into these pieces by creating entirely new outfits.
Also, if I find myself falling in love with a particular trend, I try first to find a similar piece in my wardrobe first. If that avenue fails, I try to shop for that trend secondhand on platforms such as Poshmark or FB Marketplace. Additionally, since so many retro styles are now back in fashion, browsing my favourite thrift and vintage stores has been a wonderful source of unique pieces.
Since I am far from being someone who needs any more clothing, I only turn to buying new pieces as a last resort or as a very special treat. Ever since I became focused on conscious fashion, I’ve collected a large selection of wish-list sustainable and ethical brands on both Instagram and Pinterest. While it’s true that some brands can be quite expensive, there are still plenty of affordable options— especially when you realize that their pieces will most likely last much longer than fast fashion pieces.
As mentioned in the previous section, I now have to make sure that any new additions to my closet can be worn in many different ways in order to justify their purchase. As a result, I feel like I’ve been obliged to be more creative with how I style looks with fewer new pieces these days.
5. Working with Sustainable and Ethical Brands
As a happy side effect of shifting to conscious fashion, I’ve been receiving an increasing amount of offers to work with sustainable and ethical brands. Many of these brands are small businesses with less sizeable budgets; therefore, I am happy to support them even if I get paid much less than usual. However, I just signed a contract with a well-known Vancouver-based sustainable brand that I’m very excited to partner with! As well, I have another potential collaboration with a sustainable and ethical American company in the pipeline (once we confirm and negotiate a few details).
Bottom line: I’m glad that cutting myself from fast fashion has not curtailed my opportunities for success as an Instagram influencer. Rather, it seems like I’ve opened myself up to a whole new world of possibilities! Since it has become “trendy” to be sustainable, many brands are now putting more efforts into creating eco-friendly products. Therefore, there are many more potential partnerships for conscious fashion bloggers than ever before. However, one should be cautious of greenwashing by sketchy brands trying to cash in this particular trend (I’ve turned down several opportunities because the company’s ethical and sustainable practices were questionable).
What’s Next: My Sustainable Lifestyle Journey
While I am proud of my progress over the last seven months, I know that I still have much to learn when it comes to practicing conscious fashion. Luckily, I follow quite a few inspiring bloggers who provide amazing inspiration and educational resources regarding this exciting new lifestyle choice. If you wish to learn about my favourite conscious fashion bloggers, feel free to DM or email me!
As well, I recently changed my Instagram bio from “conscious fashion + beauty + travel” to “conscious fashion + sustainable lifestyle.” After some self-reflection, I realized that my page has not been about beauty or travel for quite a while (especially since travel has been a no-go for so long). As a disclaimer, I only just decided to create a more sustainable lifestyle for myself and family— I’m a newbie in this area and am still working on educating myself. Therefore, if I had room left in my bio, I would have written something like “striving for a sustainable lifestyle” as I am just at the beginning of this new journey.
After making this latest decision, I’m feeling very excited to slowly incorporate changes in my lifestyle that will hopefully have a better impact on the environment and help to educate others. Other than making better choices in my lifestyle, I’m also resolving to be more aware and involved with political matters relating to the environment— as government laws and corporate policing will do so much more to help the planet than our individual efforts!
How about you? Over the past year or so, have you felt compelled to learn more about conscious fashion or a sustainable lifestyle? Or are there other major lifestyle changes that you’ve been facing this year? I would love to hear more about your thoughts in the comments below!
Until then, thank you so much for reading my post and for continuing to support this little blog of mine. I appreciate each and every one of you!
Cheers,
Debbie (a.k.a. The Stylish Wordsmith)