Curating A Sustainable Fall Wardrobe

Time to put away your flip-flops to make space for your favorite sweaters and fuzzy socks. Fall invites us to layer up and cuddle in. Here are three steps to curating a sustainable fall wardrobe you love.

1. Assess What You Have

It’s easy to forget what you have in between seasons. Getting organized will help you take stock of what you have, need, and donate anything you don’t have use for. This is the ultimate 1, 2, 3, for a sustainable fall wardrobe. Make a date with yourself! It’s a fun surprise every time.

Organize

Organizing what you have can go a long, long way here. Seeing what you have may inspire new outfits and spark fresh ideas for staples in your wardrobe.

Level up your closet by trying a new folding method like the Marie Kondo folding method.  Marie is best known for her organization techniques that allow you to see what you have, save space, skip the wrinkles, and spark joy and appreciation for what you have.

Donate

I don’t rant, boss, or guilt trip, but I beg you not to throw away clothing, like ever. Every year, billions of pounds of usable clothing end up in landfills. A number of companies are working to change this, so the options have never been more accessible to responsibly repurpose unwanted clothing and accessories. 

Consider donating to your local Goodwill or turning your unwanted items into store credit or cold hard cash using ThreadUp’s free closet cleanout service. 

Other brands, such as Nordstrom and Pact, offer similar cleanout services through their partnership with Give Back Box, which provides a prepaid shipping label for boxes of gently used clothing, shoes, and accessories. 

Retailers, including H&M, GAP, Patagonia, Levi’s, and Madewell, have announced in-store programs allowing customers to bring in worn garments in exchange for discounts and coupons. Save the earth and some dollars, score.

Repair

Instead of tossing out your old faithful sweaters you’ve loved for years and years, spend a little time bringing them back to life. 

Make any pilling sweaters look new with a sweater shaver like this one. It’s rechargeable and simple to use. Simply turn it on and run it over any fuzzy areas to make it look polished and new. Click here for me to show you how. 

Consider having holes patched or mended to extend their life. Crowd-source a local tailor/seamstress- they can work wonders and often for very reasonable prices (and support a local business in the process- win!).

I had my favorite jeans patched up not too long ago. They look great, fit perfect, the patch saved me paying for a new pair of jeans, and the patch prolonged the life of these jeans for who knows how long! Sustainable wardrobe win.

2. Purchase Timeless Pieces

Investing in a capsule wardrobe or timeless pieces that won’t go out of style anytime soon will save you money and reduce waste. Not only will it be a sustainable fall wardrobe but a sustainable year round wardrobe.

Research

There are several great ethical and sustainable brands out there. Before purchasing, check to see if the brand you are purchasing from uses environmentally friendly materials, is transparent about where its products are made, and holds its production to high environmental standards.

Purchase Second Hand

Even if you don’t have the time to visit local vintage, thrift, and consignment shops. So many quality brands have made it easy to do it all online.

These are a few of my favorites:

• For designer items, try The Real Real, an online luxury consignment shop, or Thrilling, curated vintage from indie shops
• For kids, try the Kidizen, an online shop full of gently used and new fashion items 
• For women’s clothes, try ThreadUp Madewell Forever to trade in your items and shop preloved clothing
• For gently used items for everyone and everything, try eBay
• For an online marketplace the entire family can enjoy, try Poshmark

Quality Fabrics

Materials matter. Choosing items made from high-quality or organic fabrics will last longer and are more likely to be sustainably made. Avoid items made from polyester, acrylic, rayon, and nylon.

Instead, try to choose items made from the following materials:

• Wool 
• Organic linen
• Organic cotton
• Recycled cotton
• Organic bamboo

3. Renting Fast Fashion

Renting clothing is a good option while trying to save up for quality pieces or to fill in the gaps in your wardrobe for more on-trend details for the season. 

Several online rental options like Nuuly or Rent The Runway will send your choices right to your door each month. 

Renting clothes is a simple way to reduce buying cheaply made, hard on the environment items you may only wear a few times.

What are some of your favorite eco-conscious clothing brands? Share them below.