Build a Wardrobe That Lasts (Without Dressing Boring)

Today's video is a bit of a trick question. There is no such thing as a perfectly sustainable wardrobe. I think a lot of us still believe that a sustainable wardrobe has all the right kind of fabrics or only certain types of labels or brands. But here's the reframe that really helped me. A sustainable wardrobe isn't something you have, it's something you practice. It can be really overwhelming to try to be a responsible consumer. Like fashion is probably one of the only industries that touches on every single other industry on the planet, from agriculture to innovation and research and development. We think that every garment in our closet has to have the right fabric, has to... Oh my. I think there's a lot of pressure for us to feel that every garment in our closet has to have the right fabric, be non-toxic, I don't know, be locally made, all the things. So if you're overwhelmed, try this. Pick one to three values that you are willing to prioritize this year. Focus on those when you're adding pieces to your closet. I found that this is a helpful way to reduce that sense of overwhelm from trying to get everything perfect about a specific garment. I remember I would try to make a 100% sustainable purchase. I was researching so much and I was waiting to find that perfect pair. It was actually a pair of jeans. I didn't have anything that fit and in the end I really needed a pair of jeans to wear. I was about to travel and I ended up going to buy a pair of Zara, which was the exact thing I didn't want to do. So... Oh my gosh. Apollo's on the table. I think we just have to trust that while we are focusing on what's important to us, that other people are focusing on their own values too. Maybe animal welfare and natural fibers, for example. Here's where the personal style piece comes in. Build your taste before buying. This doesn't always happen. A lot of times we learn our own taste through trial and error. This is where elements of style and understanding what combinations of elements of style work for you becomes crucial. Elements of style are the design elements we find in fashion, but also things like architecture, interior design. They're things like shapes, silhouettes, proportions, textures, color palettes that we really like, and different combinations of colors that we gravitate to. This is similar to knowing your style words. Knowing how you want to define your style aesthetically is really important, but I often hear from clients that we have so many different moods. So that's why I bring it back to these more basic elements. And I find a better question to ask myself instead of does this fit my style is actually what feeling does this bring out and is that how I want to show up that day. This works well because it allows us to use how we want to feel as our guide. And the thing that nobody tells you is that the more you start doing this, the more you'll start to understand which elements of style create that feeling for you. And that's when you start to build your own little cocktail of elements. Here's an example. I just realized I don't look great in prints that are soft or circular or organic. And that goes for the shapes I wear too. I look much better in clean structured lines. So for prints that shows up as plaids, stripes, and not so much beautiful flowy romantic florals. As much as I love the florals, I just I never look or feel as striking in them. I think what's really important is that we start paying attention when we're wearing something and we're like, something's a little off. Knowing this also helps us become way more discerning in the future. I have an entire playlist on decoding different aesthetics and breaking them out into these elements so that you can start training your brain to think that way. I will leave that playlist in the description box below. But I also have a course. It's like an hour, very quick, very affordable. It's a game changer in learning how to kind of become more fashion literate. I talked a bit about trial and error and this can be a really sticky point if you don't want to create more waste through your fashion choices. I feel guilty whenever I make a purchase that doesn't last. But it happens. We will make mistakes. So it's important to create that safety to experiment. For me, this looks like editing regularly. I do this because that visual noise, it's not really serving me. It's just providing me with more options that make me frustrated when I look at them or when I try them on and they don't fit or I don't like them or whatever. So I find the regular editing is really helpful to consistently keep my closet at a place that feels curated and intentional and only full of pieces that I will actually wear. There's this great quote where you want your closet to be kind of like a party where you know everyone and you actually like them. I don't even know how realistic that is in real life so maybe that's not a good analogy. Like there's always people at parties that you're kind of like oh I mean no that's not true I like everybody. Anyway editing regularly doesn't just mean editing pieces and letting them go forever. Visual clutter can also be items that don't fit right now particularly for anyone going through perimenopause, menopause, pregnancy, weight fluctuations. It's okay to store those items temporarily or to create a core capsule of pieces that you know you can go to when your weight fluctuates. The key is to not keep them in your everyday closet if they're not even fitting. I don't care if you actually still like them like yes that's great we love that but it's still visual clutter. One more note that makes regular editing feel easier is by keeping what I like to call a maybe pile nearby. I have a basket or a zone in my closet where if it's the third or fourth or fifth time that I've looked at a piece and I've put it on and I'm like oh this just I'm not loving this I put it in my maybe pile and then when I have time or if I'm doing another little like wardrobe play session I'll go to that pile and I'll try and style them and if they're really not working I'll wear them for a whole day and if I'm still not feeling that item then I know it's time to let it go. I think the biggest guilt trip we give ourselves is when we buy something that we later regret or that doesn't work out the way we thought it would. I feel like that sentence could have also been said on a dating channel because it's very much a similar feeling and that's where having that whole maybe process can allow us to release these items with more confidence. It's also a really good learning opportunity for better purchases in the future and I get how hard this is because a lot of times when we shop it can be from a mindset of scarcity or even insecurity. I'm thinking of sales for example or a really cool vintage market where there's only like that one piece you know and when you see someone else eyeing it I don't know about you but like I get weirdly competitive with vintage. It could also be you know we see something on someone else who we aspire to or who we admire and we want to feel like that person but when we try it on it's really not for us. But this is where knowing your elements of style can come in handy again. They give you confidence and familiarity with your own taste. Ultimately I think we know what we like and we know what we feel good in but there is so much noise and we are piled on with so many messages telling us otherwise we kind of lose that first contact with ourselves. So that's what the elements of style help us uncover. It becomes crystal clear and the more you use them and trust them when you're shopping the more your closet is going to start to look and feel like you. What I like to do is picture yourself on the most boring like so for real day. Not an event, not when you're going on a date, not when you're going into the office for a big presentation. Picture yourself in that piece on a random Tuesday afternoon. I have items that I don't wear every single day but they still match the reality of my life. I also love to give myself a 24 to 48 hour cool off period. I won't even put an item that I fall in love with on my wish list right away. I'll just let it live in my head rent free before it goes on the wish list and honestly like nine times out of ten it usually evicts itself before I do. I'm not always the best with hard and fast rules and I find when I have a bit more looseness or leeway I actually have more restraint. So what I like to do is have a category where I'm allowed to make some impulse purchases. For me this is vintage but for you it could be something else. I find this works because it allows me to maintain some fun and spontaneity while also mitigating any risk of impulse buys or mistaken purchases. And that is what I have for you today. I can't believe I've even allowed myself to film in this crazy darkness with one light so I apologize that the lighting is getting considerably worse as we go but thank you for listening. Thank you for watching. I really hope this video helps you see your closet in a different way. Give this video a thumbs up if you liked it or even if you just learned something new hit subscribe if you haven't already. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day or afternoon or wherever you're at and I will see you in the next little fashion video. Ciao!