It was August 2019 when I took the pledge to go green. In front of Sue MacFarlane no less (a Derbyshire eco-campaigner who runs a low-impact refill shop) I promised to lead a plastic-free, zero-chemical, no-waste life.
In a nut-shell, I would stop buying so much stuff.
Then real-life intervened and I forgot about the climate emergency until September when people I knew and loved (ok, mostly virtual buddies on Instagram) started raving about all the gorgeous things they scored from charity shops during #SecondHandSeptember; an Oxfam campaign aimed at getting people to stop buying new stuff.
Emboldened by their experiences, I trawled round all the charity shops in nearby Ashbourne (Derbyshire) and landed a nice little skirt and long-sleeved T-shirt combo for under a tenner.
Regrettably, the top was too tight and the pen mark didn’t come out of the skirt as I’d hoped and, honestly, that would have been that but for two things….
In October, Sir James Bevan, CEO of the Environment Agency no less, warned that global warming is speeding up and, if we don’t act now, we’ll see more extreme weather patterns including flooding.
In November, vast parts of Derbyshire suffered two extreme flooding incidents …in successive weeks.
An online article commissioned by McKinsey & Company) was enough to convince me that it was worth having another go at the second-hand clothes experiment. Here’s just a summary of the report’s findings;-
- Clothing production doubled from 2000-2014 and the average number of items purchased by the average consumer rose by 60 per cent
- Fast, cheap and up-to-the-minute fashion (Zara has 24 new clothing collections per year) has enabled consumers to refresh their wardrobes constantly as opposed to every season.
- The affordability of clothes encourages consumers to regard them as ‘disposable’; items are often discarded after just seven or eight wears.
- Many thousands of overseas workers are being exploited – and exposed to unsafe working conditions – to make a T-shirt which will invariably (along with two thirds of every item bought) end up in incinerators or landfill just years later.
The challenge;-
I decided – from November 2019 – not to buy any more new clothes.
Unless it was absolutely necessary (pants, bras and shoes are things I can’t inherit from strangers) I would only buy second-hand to replenish my autumn/winter wardrobe….and for the whole of 2020.
Moreover, I decided it wouldn’t be a successful outcome if I ended up looking like Alan Bennett’s ‘The Lady in the Van’. To be truly viable as an experiment, it was necessary to do more than re-home all the cabbage-coloured cardies in the charity shop.
I had to learn to thrift like an American…
No one does second-hand like our cousins from the USA. Whether it’s yard/estate sales, thrift shops or on-line…Americans spent $24b on second-hand clothes last year and the market sector is growing 21 times faster than that for new clothes.
Author Kate Mullaly (48), of Tucson, Arizona, buys most of her clothes second-hand and shares some of her finds of her Instagram account coolshitithrifted
“Honestly, I can’t imagine shopping from retail stores for clothing, anymore,” she says.
“Not only is fast fashion cheaply made and often hideous, it is also responsible for an enormous amount of literal trash polluting the Earth.”
Katie heartedly approved of my challenge; “If everyone would simply reuse clothing and ‘make do and mend’ we could keep it out of a landfill,” she explained.
“I visit thrift shops once or twice a week and go to estate sales (auctions or sales at private homes – usually deceased) at weekends. One thing I’d say is trust your inner thrift voice. If it’s telling you to hit a random store at an odd time of day – go. I’ve scored some awesome treasure this way.”
Katie’s tips…
- Check the sleepwear section for vintage day dresses (people often don’t know what they have, so they’ll just throw it in with the pyjamas)
- If you are a plus size, buy and alter menswear unless doing so destroys a true vintage item (nobody will care if you alter a shirt from an inexpensive fast-fashion brand)
- Be disciplined and stick to a budget. I have amassed a huge collection of vintage purses because I felt like I needed to ‘rescue’ all of them – just rescue the fabulous things that you will actually use.
- Follow other like-minded people on Instagram and borrow style ideas from them (social media can be a huge wealth of style ideas, and sometimes you find someone whose style you love and want to emulate)
- Take occasional day trips to smaller areas with less thrift traffic (fewer people equals greater treasure)
My brief
Before I set off to explore second-hand stores (real and online), I thought it prudent to down-load a definitive autumn/winter capsule wardrobe crib-sheet for 2019/2020 to use as a check-list.
The collection was based on that compiled by second-hand champion Signe Hansen, a lifestyle blogger based in Norway.
“Re-cycled clothing doesn’t have to be spotty and colourful or grandma’s clothes,” she advises novice second-hand shoppers on her must-read blog Useless.
“The key is to know what I am looking for in advance and go for it…if you have opted for a particular product in a certain colour or style, then you can better navigate around the things you do not want to bring home with you.”
The capsule wardrobe collection
A simple capsule wardrobe template
Before you start;-
Look at what you already have – according to a 2018 survey by Movinga, people in the UK failed to wear 73 per cent of their existing clothes (my military jacket, left, is a typical example) during the previous 12 month period. Think about what you might have to buy – jacket, top, boots – to get you wearing those forgotten items.
Keep checking – charity shops and online auction refresh their stock daily/hourly. But check those garments before you buy…I bought a cardie from a charity shop and realised it had redundant buttons around the neck because it was missing its furry collar.
Use a capsule wardrobe template to avoid impulse buys and hard-to-resist bargains. However, don’t be afraid to make substitutions – remember the capsule wardrobe was compiled by someone else and is perfect for them. My template (compiled by by Signe Hansen) included a leopard bomber jacket and a faux leather skirt. Amazingly I managed to find both but – on looking hard at my reflection – the result was more TV barmaid rather than Instagram bombshell. Also, the capsule contained a lot of black – shirts, jeans etc – and it’s a colour that drains me so I subbed the black shirt for a white spotty one, black jeans for green and the black leather skirt for a cream twill….
Don’t be afraid to return when you’re buying online and the item is not as described. Even if you paid a few pounds; inform the vendor straight-away. Most jealously guard their online reputations and don’t want you leaving a bad review – and many offer free postage for returns.
If you realise you’ve made a bad purchase and it’s your fault – remember your initial investment wasn’t huge. You have the freedom to alter, embellish or chop-up your bargains buys or simply donate them to the charity shop…
A word about vintage smells. If your item comes with an additional pong – wash as usual but add half a cup of baking soda to the load. Once dry (outside if possible) steam iron your clothes with an odour remover added to the water. If your item is leather or silk – try spraying with vodka (an old theatre trick used by actors who sweat a lot but cannot wash clothes between shows). Bag your item and pop into the freezer to kill bacteria which can cause a stink. If the smells is on the inside, consider replacing the lining. My sewing class buddy Alex bought a designer vintage coat and had the lining professionally replaced with beautiful blue silk and was still quids in on the cost of an original item.
Sources – please follow the link to see my pick of my local second-hand shops.
The keepers – items bought which I love…and how much they cost inclusive of postal charges
The results of the experiment
I’m not saying I didn’t commit the occasional fashion faux pas, but I am pleased to say I either sourced – or already had – most of the clothes on my list within a four week period.
To all those who say they haven’t ‘the patience’ to do the same; I’m pleased to report that truffling for clothes is great fun and easy to fit around other chores – I’d visit charity shops whilst out on other errands – and browsed eBay when I was travelling (on trains – not while driving) or waiting for appointments.
And it all works together beautifully
Taking three key items from my capsule wardrobe and a paper doll Elizabeth Taylor (who kindly agreed to model as I am little old, chunky, shy) here’s how the whole thing blends seamlessly together.
If my maths are correct (they won’t be – please don’t check) my pieces provide a combination of 80 different winter combinations if you include a coat or jacket as a staple of each outfit.
Item one; The trench
New; H&M trench coat, £35.99
Second-hand; £3 from eBay, plus £7 postage
Item two; the blue jeans
New; Marks and Spencer Sienna straight leg jeans, £19.50
Second-hand; eBay, £4.20 plus £2.90 postage
Item three, the pleated midi skirt
New; Marks and Spencer pleated midi skirt* (not the exact one I bought), £49.50
Second-hand: Marks and Spencer pull-on midi skirt, never worn. eBay, £9.99 plus £3.99 postage
Before I go, a further word about those second-hand fashion fails
Almost all my fails came from eBay. Buying clothes you cannot try on is always a risky business and some sellers are just not honest about the state of their wares.
For instance, the cashmere jumper from M&S was described several times by vendor as ‘beautiful’ which was true if you could overlook the staining on the arms, the bobbling and the hole in the sleeve….
But sometimes the impulse buy was MY fault. You must not drive, operate machinery or buy from eBay while under the influence of gin.
To fully appreciate the true cost of the fashion industry on our planet you must watch The True Cost
For advice and help on all things sustainable, visit Sue’s Sustainables at De Bradelei House, The Gatehouse, Chapel St, Belper, Derbyshire DE56 1AR
