I’ve been noticing a heightened awareness around the impact of fast fashion on social media over the past few weeks and I am here for it! I love that style bloggers and influencers are becoming more mindful when purchasing clothing and are passing that message along to their audiences.
I lived for fast fashion in college. Being on a tight budget, stores like Forever 21 and Charlotte Russe allowed me to stay on trend when going out and didn’t deplete my bank account. After graduation and upon starting my first job, I found myself throwing away or donating all those clothes I purchased in college to keep up the with trends. Not only was all that stuff NOT work appropriate but it was no longer a reflection of who I was a person and didn’t have a need to stay in my closet.
Since then, I’ve become more in tune with defining my personal style and am more conscious about what I am adding to my wardrobe. This can be really hard for someone that loves clothing but to hold myself accountable while shopping, I ask myself the following questions before making any purchase.
- Does this represent my style?
- Can I wear it to work?
- Can it pull double duty and work for non-work events?
- Does it work within my shopping budget this month?
- Do I have at least three other items, already in my closet, that I can wear with this?
- Can this piece be repurposed in any fun and new ways?
I’ve shared these list of questions with you all in the past but the last question is a newer one.
While I’ve already cut most (I’m not perfect!) fast fashion out of my “clothing diet” and keep the pieces I own for years, I’ve been exploring how I can do a better job of having a more sustainable wardrobe. One way that I can improve upon this is by reinventing or re-imagining my clothing . One example is altering clothing that I’ve fallen out of love with to create a new piece. Another way to create a more sustainable wardrobe is purchase pieces that can serve multiple purposes and worn multiple ways.
Enter my most recent purchase.
I found this skirt on super sale at LOFT and was able to snag it for $14. The material is this thick silky material which makes it the perfect slip skirt. This was a trend I had been eyeing since last fall but never found a skirt I loved enough to pull the trigger until I saw this one in store.
I was in the dressing room and went through my list of questions.
- Does this represent my style? – Yes, a feminine silhouette, floral print, accents of pink
- Can I wear it to work? – see above
- Can it be worn for events besides work? – Yes, it would be so cute for a night out.
- Does it work within my shopping budget this month? – Yes
- Do I have at least three other items, already in my closet, that I can wear with this? – So many black tops, pink tops, white tops and blazers to mix and match
- Can this piece be repurposed in any fun and new ways? – I bet this would look cute as a strapless dress.
For some context, back in high school my girl friends and I were at one of our houses and stumbled upon a bunch of silk pleated skirts that her mother was getting ready to give away. They were so gorgeous and we couldn’t resist trying them on. Long story short, we decided they looked awesome as a strapless dress. We wore belts around the middle to create a waist and paired them with cardigans so we could actually wear them to school. We all picked a day and showed up in our fabulous new dresses.
When I saw this skirt, I thought back to this day and decided to try it out.
I’ve been working on some other projects that support this concept of reinventing what you already own. One in particular is taking a maxi dress I found on sale and turning it into a short sundress. I plan on using the extra fabric to create a top and or skirt depending on my final designs. Excited to share more on this process in future posts.
So here is my wrap up question. Have you ever re-imagined a piece of clothing? If so, I’d love to hear from you or see a picture!
