Rewild Your Wardrobe

We’ve talked about rewilding your time, but now it’s time to look at your wardrobe! Or really, what’s in it. Rewilding goes hand in hand with slow living; both are about living a more intentional lifestyle that allow you to realise that we are a part of nature. We are guardians of the land, we are part of the ecosystem, we are responsible for the impacts we make.

The following tips will help you turn your wardrobe into one that is naturally more breathable, quality, long-lasting, more mould-resistant, free of polluting microplastics and carcinogens like fire-retardants. Oh and last but not least, more sustainable!

BUT, WAIT!

Before you buy, the most sustainable and traditional option is to mend or upcycle clothes that you were going to replace. Flutter your eyelashes at your friends or family if they are particularly gifted with the sewing machine and you aren’t!

Image description: Jack is stood in front of a small waterfall, with our black and white scruffy dog, Winnie, at his feet. He is wearing brown walking boots, blue jeans and his favourite jacket which is called his Lumberjack Jacket. It is plaid in navy, white and builder-boot yellow. He reckons he has almost worn it a hundred times.

SLOW

By choosing pre-loved, borrowed or locally made items, we are lowering our carbon footprint and supporting a more circular and environmentally conscious economy. Slow fashion is the opposite of the societally 'normal' fast fashion; where new lines are brought in every week and old ones are ripped and thrown in the bins so no-one can wear them without the company making a profit. Fast fashion exploits their workers and the environment; slow fashion has a lower impact on the environment and pays their workers a fair wage. A great slow fashion rule is to wear each item of clothing at least 30 times, which helps you to choose versatile clothing and reduce its carbon footprint per wear.

To buy pre-loved clothes at a very affordable price, I personally recommend Vinted, Depop and your good old-fashioned Facebook Marketplace and eBay. For borrowing clothes, there are lots of online platforms which make it easy and even stock designer labels, if you aren’t ready to give those up yet. Obviously, there’s also your classic charity shops in town, which always need supporting!

MATERIALS

In terms of materials, the following are more environmentally friendly: wool, linen, bamboo, cotton, hemp, Lyocell/Tencel. These are made from natural fibres, instead of made-made materials such as polyester. When washed, these man-made materials release microfibres of plastics that make their way into the waterways and pollute the ecosystems.

At the moment I am totally in love with buying pre-loved and vintage linen pieces (well, I’ve bought one dress so far), because they are heavy, suitable for layering in the winter, will last a long time and will be suitable for spring and staying cool in summer! Talk about versatile.

Image description: Becky is stood in the woods with a pile of sticks in her arms. She is wearing a dusty pink (not that she ever thought she would wear pink again after her Barbie phase at age 5), a cream woollen jumper over the top, black tights underneath and brown walking boots. She/ I reckon I have worn this at least 10 times since buying a few months ago, and hope I will get it close to a hundred wears at least!

GREENWASHING

Watch out for greenwashing, which is when a company markets themselves as environmentally conscious, for example by having brown card tags or advertising an organic range, but still exploits the environment. At the moment, H&M and Primark are huge culprits of this in the High Street world. Choose brands that are consistently awarded as organic, fair trade, carbon neutral, and transparent in their material sourcing.

COST

If something it too cheap to be true, it probably is! If something new isn’t costing you more than a lunch out or a few hours of work, the cost will have been taken from somewhere else. At the risk of sounding sombre, the cost will have been taken out of the environment (deforested trees not replanted) or from employees (will only have been paid pennies) or the materials (cheap and you’ll need another one soon). So if you do buy new, do so from a small, ethical, environmentally conscious business and think of your new piece as an investment for yourself and potentially something you can pass onto someone else!