Year’s resolution sustainable this year

It’s a Saturday morning in 2013, Starbucks hot chocolate in hand, and my 13th birthday money burning a hole in my pocket. My friends and I set off for a browse through the ‘grown-up’ rails of New Look and Primark with a mandatory stop-off at Claire’s. Thankfully, the Claire’s obsession did wane. But even now, 10 years later, I’ve not stopped shopping in the same high street stores to make up my wardrobe. However, I have made it my objective for the year to avoid the places I would once visit almost weekly.

Thrifting and sustainable brands have risen into the mainstream in recent years and it’s hard to miss the stream of information about major fast fashion brands flowing into the media. Brands like Shein are slated online for use of unethically sourced and poor-quality fabrics, exploitation of workers and plagiarising small businesses’ designs. I won’t lie, I have bought a lot from Shein over the years, completely due to ignorance. Not once did I question why the prices were so low but recently, because of the increase in media attention and the younger generation’s involvement in this, I did. Most of my friends shop predominantly, if not completely, slow fashion – in charity shops, kilo sales, apps like vinted and sustainable and ethical brands which has inspired me to change the way I shop.

Slow fashion, at its core, is ethically sourced materials made to last in the form of timeless garments. It’s designed with the environment and consumer in mind, to last much longer than that trendy blouse being mass-produced, only for a good proportion of it to never make it to a prospective owner. From friends and my own research, there are many UK brands taking sustainability and ethics seriously. A friend of mine only shops second hand except for the occasional purchase from Lucy & Yak. The brand which has stores in Brighton, Bristol and Norwich advertise as ‘people and planet focussed’, describing their products as ‘independent, organic and recycled clothing’ which are not only affordable, but cater to a variety of styles as well.

As well as shopping sustainably, it’s also possible to recycle old clothes into new ones yourself. In lockdown, I saw a lot of upcycling videos online which inspired me to try it. Unfortunately, my lack of sewing skills should have shown that this wasn’t quite the best way for me to recycle clothes – I am still trying though. I did also pick up crochet around the same time, and I am trying to create some of my wardrobe instead of buy it. There are still things to think about in terms of sustainability, the yarn most of all should be carefully researched. Recently, on one of my many, many, TikTok scrolls, I saw someone unravelling an old or thrifted jumper to use the yarn in a new project which I can’t wait to do.

There are trends emerging from sustainable fashion. One of the most recent and prominent is the return of Y2K. The initial resurface could be down to the increase in popularity of thrifting of recent years. It’s cool to wear your mum’s old jumper, thrift something vintage and make your own clothes – which is a great thing – but now these ideas are surfacing in the mainstream. They’re being replicated by fast fashion brands to take a complete U-turn in the sustainability of the Y2K comeback. They are quick to jump on trends and quickly turnover garments reflecting them which has seen a complete switch in the clothes on the rails of high street stores to reflect the looks of the 2000’s. It’s easier to pop down to H&M to find the jumper you’ve just seen on their Instagram than look for a needle in a haystack thrifting, which is how it feels for me. I love thrifting and it’s a great feeling finding something you’ve been trying to find for months, but equally, you may never find it. I’ve been looking for a long black wool coat for winter in charity shops since November. Winter will be over soon, and I’ve been cold for most of it.

Personally, it’s unrealistic for me to vow to only shop second hand. I love to spend a day browsing charity shops but for me and my shape – and my impatience –as a mid-size woman it can be hard to find something that caters to our tastes as well as bodies. My personal style has constantly been changing since I was young, but when I’m happy with what I’m wearing, it has a huge effect on my mood. What I can, and will, vow to do alongside continuing to search for second-hand finds is put time and research into exclusively shopping at brands that have sustainability at the forefront of their ethos.

By Jordan Renwick