Create Your Own Garments & Fight Against Fast Fashion
Fast fashion is when fashion companies are constantly producing new garments which are typically low quality, cheap, and bad for the environment. Some popular fast fashion companies include Zara, H&M, and Shein. Companies produce many collections per year (oftentimes up to 36 instead of 4) with many variations in the garments so that consumers will buy more. Fast fashion leads to unintended environmental impacts and the exploitation and trafficking of workers in order to make clothing quickly and for the least amount of cost. Ways that you can help fight against fast fashion are to buy clothing second hand, repurpose old garments, or create your own clothing pieces. This blog post will go over some of the ways that you can create your own garments plus other ways to fight against fast fashion!
Buy & Sell Secondhand
A great way to get into sustainable clothing is to buy and sell clothing at thrift stores or online. This is cheap, and you can find some really cool and unique pieces! By selling your old clothing, you are giving a new life to a garment that would have ended up in a landfill otherwise. You can sell clothing online on places such as Depop, Poshmark, or Ebay.
Improve Shopping Habits
As consumers, we don’t always realize how impactful our shopping habits can be on the environment. When you go to buy something new, think about it before you make an impulsive purchase. Is that item something you have wanted for a while or something you know you will wear multiple times? If you’re not sure, it’s a good idea to leave it behind. If it is something you are planning on keeping for a while, buy higher quality pieces that will last longer. Although this is more expensive, you will be able to keep that piece of clothing instead of needing to get rid of it after a few uses.
Sew
The first way that you can make your own clothing is by sewing! This one will be the most expensive if you do not already have a sewing machine or know someone who does. However, you can end up with very high quality and personalized pieces. Sewing allows you to repurpose old fabric or clothing to make something new without having to buy anything else other than thread and some other supplies. You can make practically anything from shirts to pants or even bags!
Crochet & Knit
Another great way to make clothing is crocheting and knitting. These are great hobbies to learn, and personally, crochet is my favorite out of this list to just sit down and enjoy the process. That is another thing about making your own clothing; you get to spend time doing things that you enjoy rather than scrolling through a never-ending fast fashion website. Crochet and knit are great to make sweaters, vests, cardigans, and accessories.
Upcycle
There are many different ways to upcycle your old clothing instead of throwing it out. Try embroidering a design onto an old piece of clothing, cutting pants into shorts, or sew it into something new. You can even thrift some clothes with the intention of repurposing them. This helps you to keep your garments for much longer.
As a consumer, try to take small steps to decrease your environmental impact in simple ways. Hopefully this post inspires you to actually start doing something about it while being creative at the same time!