Do you know how to be closet conscious? If you have clothes in your wardrobe with their labels still attached, or a Christmas jumper you’ll probably never wear again, then the answer is no! If you want to declutter your life, there is no better place to start than with the clothes on your back and the shoes on your feet!
Shockingly 140 million worth of clothing goes to landfill here in the UK each year! Although textiles break down eventually, this is a major problem. Natural fibres such as cotton, wool and linen slowly decompose. However, when trapped in a landfill site they start to release harmful gases such as methane which is twenty-five times more harmful than CO2 emissions. We all should feel the burden of guilt as we tend to buy more clothing than we need! Elizabeth L. Cline writes, ‘’not only do we own too much clothing, we are also highly deluded about how much of our clothes we actually wear.’’
However, we all have a favourite pair of jeans that we can’t squeeze into anymore or a concert t-shirt from six years ago, that we can’t seem to get rid of. This is because of the sentimental value attached to it. An article by The Minimalists states ‘’If you want to get rid of an item, but the only reason you are holding on to it is for sentimental reasons, and if it is weighing on you, then perhaps it’s time to get rid of it, perhaps it’s time to free yourself of the weight’’ And this is exactly what we have to do!
Top tips on how to stop hoarding clothes and how to become closet conscious
Remember, learning how to become closet conscious is a positive process. You are getting rid of clothing which is taking up unnecessary space in your wardrobe! We can donate to charities and thrift shops. If you live in a city there will definitely be plenty of charity shops willing to take your worn clothes. If you live in a small town, just google your closest shop! There are also many clothing donation banks The. Salvation Army website shows where each one is located.
Brand take-back programmes can also be used in our quest to become more closet conscious. A lot of brands such as H&M, Levi and North Face are starting to reward customers in return for taking unwanted garments back to the shop.
One Man’s Rubbish is Another Man’s Treasure!
Turn your clothes into cash through the most popular resale shop Depop. I myself use Depop and absolutely love it! Millennials are making six figure salaries from selling unwanted clothes! The advantage of Depop is its wide range of prices – starting at £3 to thousands of pounds. So you can get pretty much anything on there! The key is to have a groovy back drop and a good quality camera to capture your items of clothing. Remember to do some research on the estimation price of your clothing before you list it and include as much detail as possible on the items themselves.
What do you do if your clothes aren’t worth very much?
Usually clothes less than 3-5 years old and still on trend will sell best. Branded clothing usually sells well too. There has been a huge rise in vintage trends. So any of your mum’s old Chanel bags could be worth a lot! (ask permission before selling of course).
Keep it in season! Many shoppers want stuff they can wear now. So if you have a lot of summer wear such as dresses and hats, hold on to them until the summer kicks back in! Steer away from selling damaged goods, unless it’s worth getting fixed or washing yourself first.
You don’t want customers leaving bad reviews on your shop for others to see. Selling basic clothing such as plain t shirts and leggings, could be trickier to sell, due to buyers looking for a bargain or something a little bit more luxurious. Putting Depeop aside there are also websites like Cudoni, Rewind Vintage, and eBay of course, that you can sell your pre loved items on.
Although it is really beneficial recycling and reselling our clothes. We can’t ignore that social media is hitting us in the face with the wear it once culture. I say scrap that culture and show off your favourite pieces again and again! That’s what makes you, you!
Influencers are constantly trying to persuade us with discount codes for products they most likely don’t use or like themselves. Any of you Harry Potter fans out there? Emma Watson is a famous outfit repeater and we should applaud her for that! Lets become more closet conscious!