Slow Fashion Summer
Saving 90 million liters of water, decreasing carbon emissions by 360 thousand kilograms and leaving 30 thousand garments on their hangers in stores. Sounds great right? I thought so too! To make these numbers a reality, 2500 people would have to stop buying any new clothes for three months. I wanted to be one of them, or actually one of the 2625 registered participants from around the globe that committed to this challenge organized by CollAction.
The Slow Fashion Summer started on June 21st, 2018. The rules were clear: participants were allowed to trade clothes and buy second-hand. Buying newly produced clothes was not allowed. For many people this sounds easy, but I have to admit I had my doubts about joining the challenge. Ever heard of FOMO? It is short for Fear Of Missing Out. Missing out on great sale purchases during summer. Sad and messed up, I know, but it is the truth. I was just not sure whether I would be able to succeed. Three months is quite a long time for someone who is used to buying clothes whenever feeling like it.
But I also felt FOMO towards the challenge. I did not want to miss out on this adventure others were going on. I promote ethical fashion in my daily life, to friends and family. Why wouldn’t I want to set an example? Shouldn’t I just try and join a big group of people with maybe the same struggles I had? So in the end I decided to join. I quickly ordered a new bikini top before it was too late (from the awesome ethical brand allSisters) and started with the challenge.
Today is the first day after the challenge. So…
How did I do?
I can proudly tell you: I succeeded! And it was quite easy!
First of all, CollAction does not just leave you figuring it out all by yourself during the challenge. Their facebook group was of great help. Participants would help each other out with advice, stories and (mending) tips. I read that some people ended up buying clothes, but always with good reasons. It motivated me even more not to break any promises I made to myself. And who were we to judge anyway? It was about creating awareness and changing your mindset.
That being said, I like to fully commit to something like this. So I have not bought any new clothes for “normal life”. The modern dance company I work for offers us a budget for professional expenses at the beginning of the new season. Hence I ended up buying a long sleeve, sweat pants and quite an amount of socks to wear during training. That does not count in my opinion. I would not have bought these items if I would not be working for a dance company.
The only garment I obtained was a denim Replay jacket. It was for free at a clothing swap and I have worn it several times already. It is a staple I will probably wear for many years!
Additionally, this challenge was a great moment to try the leasing service of the brand Filippa K. For a wedding in the beginning of July I wanted to wear something new as I do not own that many formal dresses and attended four weddings in total this summer. But I did not allow myself to buy something new as I did not allow myself any exceptions. So I borrowed a beautiful dress and returned it a couple days after. I will tell you more about this in a future post.
Something else that helped me was Pinterest. It is full of fashion inspiration so it gave me ideas for new combinations I can make with the garments I already own. I kind of re-invented my wardrobe.
Conclusion
The challenge was a pleasant surprise to me! I did not find it as hard as I thought it would be. Needless to say I really enjoyed saving a little more money. And time! I did not realize I was browsing webshops that much. A waste of time if you ask me now. I tried to avoid going into stores and check out new collections online so temptation was rarely an issue. The only time I was really tempted was when I saw my favorite trousers I wear at work went on sale. Luckily they are still on sale today so I was able to put them in my virtual shopping bag already. (No, I could not buy them with the budget I get from work, unfortunately. And yes, I need them so I do not need to wash the two pairs I already own that often.) Now it might sound like I am back to my old habit of shopping on a regular basis but I can assure you I will definitely buy less clothes after this challenge! I have enough to wear already and there is so much to be found second hand. Does this mean I will be joining the next edition? I think so!Let me know if you have joined the challenge and/or if you will be joining next time!