One Year of No New Clothes

Here I am in my second hand hat, scarf and jumper.

My new year's resolution for 2021 was to buy no new clothes. With that v swiftly coming up to a year ago I thought I'd take some time to reflect on this decision and how it's worked out over the last year.

I think at this point everyone knows why someone would want to end any relationship with fast fashion. I remember this being at the forefront of the nation’s consciousness in the late noughties (when I was a teen) through documentaries (see Blood, Sweat and T-Shirts and The Devil Wears Primark). And this has only been exasperated with the rise of super super fast fashion brands such as Pretty Little Thing and Boohoo etc. Now, it’s the topic of many a YouTube thinkpiece.

I’ve always had to shop pretty sustainably out of need rather than want. Being one of 6 and from a low income family I didn’t really grow up with too much excess and I never felt comfortable buying trends that could be unwearable the next year. Hand-me-downs and charity shop steals have always been a mainstay of my wardrobe. Then, after a year or so of being confined in the house and wearing the same few comfy things, the idea of new clothes seemed even more unnecessary. I took the plunge and decided to make it a resolution. No new clothes for 2021.

I do understand the privilege that comes from being able to make this resolution. If I walk into a second hand shop I can normally find something that will fit me. This is not a privilege afforded to all. I also have the time to trawl through websites and charity shops which is a lot more time consuming than popping into H&M and being able to guarantee you can find something that will look good and fit. I also have an established wardrobe to fall back on, at no point would I be at danger of being unclothed.

Equally, I am aware of the conversation around websites such as Depop and the gentrification thereof. Ultimately however, I’m pretty sure that these are better than places like Shein etc.

Rules

This decided it was important for me to at first establish some ground rules. I’m not yet confident enough to brave the world of second hand underwear. Although this isn’t necessarily something I will forever rule out. One thing I’ve learnt this year is that some people are pretty up for selling stuff that is near enough brand new and has never been worn anyway (I very nearly bought a couple of secondhand swimming cozzies but in all honesty the weather didn’t call for them). For 2021 at least I allowed myself to buy any new knickers, socks, bras or tights that I needed. I also informed my friends and family of the rule, in order to rule out any new/fast fashion gifts they might want to get me.

Where

I started New Year’s day with a very thick head and a deep desire to buy a tracksuit. I went onto Depop and bought three, proof that a breakaway from fast fashion didn’t necessarily mean that I would slow down on over-consumption. This was one of very few times I used Depop, I generally found that it was pretty overpriced. Although a good starting point, I think the market has been driven up by the sheer amount of users on the platform. This is great in terms of curation, Depop is a great way to shop a specific style and the shops are often like visiting a pretty good vintage shop, including the price tags. I also found the mobile app pretty unintuitive, I don’t like how you have to click on the item to see the price of it and found it pretty clunky.

As ever, I shopped a lot from charity shops. I live in a town which has quite a few of them and when I have a spare afternoon I enjoy the process of sifting through everything in the shop. It’s also a great way to add some books I probably won’t read to my never ending collection. However, I do find that more and more these shops are also populated by fast fashion brands, as the clothing cycle gets shorter. Although a good way to repurpose these items I tend to stay away as I assume the quality is not gna be as good as with some older pieces. It does not fit with my ethos of sustainable slow fashion. I’ll be picking up a cheeky St Michael’s number a million times over rather than Shein.

After being bombarded with YouTube adverts for what seemed like an eternity I gave in and downloaded Vinted. Much like Depop, Vinted is a platform for people to sell their own clothes online. I found that Vinted is a lot less curated than Depop so you’ve got to look a bit harder for what you want. There are less businesses than on Depop and I enjoyed buying things from actual people. They also offer an offer option, where you can offer lower than the asking price for an item, something I took full advantage of. One draw back of Vinted that I have found is the fees. Unlike Depop the fees are all recouped from the buyers rather than the sellers side. This is fine in practice if you mentally add about a fiver to the listed price.

Leena Norms' has a load of super interesting videos about second hand fashion. I love how she still relishes in the joy and silliness of clothes while shopping sustainably.

An untapped resource that I exploited in 2021 was my family and friends. From speaking to people about my resolution and challenge I began to be the step before donation for these people. On a very successful trip to London to see a fashion designer friend of mine I came away with 2 pairs of trousers, one Prada pair (!) and a Burberry hoody that has since become staples in my wardrobe. Who would have thought my first foray into designer fashion would be in the year that I decidedly tried to keep away from it.

Lessons Learnt

The main takeaway from this year is that it was completely doable. I seem to have succeeded in shifting my mindset away from the want and need to buy things new. One example of this was for my cousin’s wedding in the summer. This kind of occasion would normally encourage me to buy something new. When this option was removed from the equation and a busy summer of working hadn’t given me time to look through the apps I was forced to reconsider my wardrobe, remembering a dress I’d bought for a wedding a few summers ago that was completely fit for purpose. Likewise my upcoming Christmas do, I haven’t even considered buying something new for it and instead, I hotfooted it to my sister's to see what she had that I could borrow.

Going forward I still have mega room for improvement. I have definitely still over consumed. I have found myself blinded by the cheapness of an item only to wear it very seldom. I’m also often ignorant about sizing, buying for a body I might one day have rather than the one I inhabit, for the item to just end up collecting dust. I’m also not good at passing on old clothes that I no longer wear. Which is something that I will yet again endeavor to do in the new year (listing and selling things is so boring).

I can’t really see myself ever buying fast fashion again. This year has deffo cemented this for me and I’m very glad I took the plunge and set out the guidelines. It’s made me think about what things need replacing and what kind of clothes are unsustainable by nature. For example I’ve found myself thinking a lot about trainers. They’re pretty easy to buy boxfresh on both Depop and Vinted. They do still have an extremely limited shelf-life and I might have to hang them up forever pretty soon. Likewise tights, if I’m ripping a hole through a pair every time I don them are they something I can continue to wear?