In 2023, Jenna Flood challenged herself to a “wardrobe freeze”.
For 12 months, she wouldn’t buy any clothing.
The preceding year, Ms Flood believes she purchased more than 100 things and spent a little over $10, 000 on clothes.
Ms. Flood works as a financial and fashion stylist, and clothing is a major part of her responsibilities.
“I thought if I can do ]a wardrobe freeze], then the average person who doesn’t work in this industry can do it”, she says.
Every year, more than 200 000 kilograms of apparel are dumped in Australia. ( ABC Kimberley: Mya Kordic )
Ms. Flood claimed that she frequently sold clothes after several wears and that her habits were getting” to fast” because she preferred to buy second-hand, care and maintain, and purchase from ethical companies.
Strong fashion, which is mass-produced clothing in rapidly evolving styles, is sold at discount prices, and is meant to be regularly replaced. It is the clothes industry’s biggest environmental issue.
In Australia, the average person buys 56 items of clothing a year — typically made from non- green, non- durable materials — and contributes 23 kilograms of clothing to landfill, according to Cleap Up Australia and the American Fashion Council.
Globally, the clothing sector is a big contributor to pollution, more than sea shipping and global planes combined, according to a study by the Ellen McArthur Foundation.
learning to reject requests
The most difficult aspect of Ms Flood’s closet freeze was her work outfit, which was surrounded by clothing.
“It was difficult to go to job and see all these wonderful things on the desk knowing I wasn’t had them, but that kind of helped me say,’ No thank you’ to things”, she says.
She began to consider why she would occasionally feel the need to purchase, despite not being able to produce any impulse purchases.
“When you assess what that poor time is, you’re like,’ I’m simply starving'”, she said.
“I found that if I went for a move, or if I did something more innovative, the experience may go away. And then I’d been like,’ Oh, I didn’t really need the boots, did I?'”
Ms. Flood is allowing herself to shop for clothing once more this year, but she is thinking more about them while doing so.
She said, “I’m trying to be really aware of what enters my closet because I also need to be aware of where it goes.”
Many of the clothing we donate to charities ends up in landfills abroad, causing a global south-wide climate catastrophe. ( Supplied: OR Foundation )
The rapid fashion industry continues to grow, according to Macquarie University professor of marketing and consumer philosophy Jana Bowden, despite growing interest in ecological shopping.
The “shopper’s high” of neurological dopamine, combined with the excitement of the offers, keeps us on the fast-fashion shopping merry-go-round and makes it difficult to break the addictive habit, she says.
According to Professor Bowden, new studies showed that fast-paced customers treated garments as biodegradable and discarded things after an average of seven wears.
She claims that those who use social advertising are more likely to make impulsive purchases and to purchase quick clothing items.
“The pervasive development of micro-trends in trend on social media like TikTok and through brand-sponsored style celebrities only serves to make this worse,” she claims.
The wardrobe audit
Not just the issue is the excessive clothing consumption.
According to Ms. Flood, over-production by fashion companies is a component of a structural issue that was not the fault of individual consumers.
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek warned that this could happen in Australia last week when France became the first nation to pass legislation to limit the fast-fashion industry.
Jenna Flood speaking on slow fashion. ( Supplied: Jenna Flood )
However, Ms. Flood suggests a mini wardrobe freeze for one month for those interested in kicking their own fast-fashion habit.
She advises taking a photo each day to record which items were being worn and which items were most comfortable to wear frequently.
“I noticed a lot of people when they go shopping, they just buy what they already have”, she says.
“Because we don’t take our wardrobes with us, we usually have no idea what’s there”.
She claims that having a more thoughtful wardrobe that you will wear for longer can help you know what you have and what gaps you need to fill.
Wendy Ward has started monitoring how frequently she wears her clothes to become a more sustainable consumer. ( Supplied: Wendy Ward )
Reconnecting with your clothes
Wendy Ward, a fashion designer and PhD student from the UK, has conducted an audit to find out how many items she own and is now tracking how frequently she wears them.
Ms. Ward claims that having a thorough understanding of the clothing she wears has increased her love for them even more.
Wendy Ward records how frequently she uses a stitch to change a garment’s color, which indicates a different time of year. ( Supplied: Wendy Ward )
“The kind of the pattern that is emerging … I’m finding really satisfying”, Ms Ward says.
“When we think about all the resources and materials that are in a garment, and all the hands that have passed through to make it into a garment, for them to just be discarded is a problem”.
Ms. Ward has been experimenting with ways to make people fall in love with the clothes they already own as part of her PhD research, and she is trying to figure out whether this will lead to more sustainable consumption.
This visual wardrobe audit was shared on social media by Wendy Ward. ( Instagram: thatwendyward )
Through creative writing, drawing and photography workshops, she encourages people to “reconnect with clothes, and the stories… and the meanings that are held in them”.
“Rather than coming at it from a denial point of view — ‘I shouldn’t shop at that place, I should do this, I must consume less,’ — this is more of a positive celebration of what’s already there”, she says.
The clothes people already own were, after all, the most sustainable ones, she says.
Ms. Ward claims that it’s possible to avoid wardrobe churn and to wear our clothes with more self-assurance by understanding our wardrobes and what we wear.
“Fashion is a lot about storytelling, and brands are frequently very interested in doing that storytelling for us,” she says. “But if we are more connected to our clothes, we can use our clothes to do our own storytelling,” she says.
Wendy Ward, fashion designer and researcher. ( Supplied: Wendy Ward )
Reevaluating the “skinny pile”
Bethany Mynott used to detest doing clothing alterations, but after discovering the negative effects of fast fashion thanks to War on Waste, she decided to start an upcycling company.
Ms. Mynott, a fashion designer from the regional Victoria, collaborates with women to recycle the clothing they already have.
“I really focus on solving the problem as to why that piece]of clothing isn’t being worn, and that’s the starting point of creating the design of what it can become”, she says.
You “truly want to fix why you’re not wearing it,” so that you’ll keep wearing it repeatedly.
A repurposed design by Bethany Mynott. ( Supplied: Bethany Mynott )
Ms. Mynott claims that the “infamous skinny pile” is the most common reason her clients have so many unworn items in their wardrobe.
She claims that she frequently begins by repurposing items that have been put on hold for a “skinnier” future self.
Ms. Mynott asserts that she never holds anyone accountable for purchasing new goods, whether it is for convenience or cost, as it is frequently less expensive to replace slightly damaged items than to repair them.
However, she encourages people to begin to fall in love with the imperfections in their clothing.
Bethany Mynott runs her own upcycling business. ( Instagram: bethanyalice_fashiondesign )
“If something gets stained and they’re not sure how to wash it or clean it, they throw it out and replace it,” she says, “but you can use the fabric to turn it into something else or put patches on it.”
According to Ms. Mynott, some people believe that being sustainable calls for an all-or-nothing strategy.
“I like to tell people that we don’t need a small amount of people doing sustainability perfectly, we need everyone doing it imperfectly”, she says.
“It’s a step in the right direction to a more sustainable future to keep wearing that piece of clothing or to purchase something from the op-shop or to not buy something you don’t necessarily need.”