Yesterday was Boxing Day, and my inbox was filled by sales emails. Tina from a few years ago thought it was a pity not being able to take advantage of the sales; Tina nowadays feels she has everything she needs, in particular in terms of clothing.

And let’s be honest, two years of pandemic have decreased the need of being appropriately dressed: even now that we are slowly going back outside, I still maintain a relaxed dress code. This means that I have naturally bought less and less clothes.

Even pre-pandemic I had started to monitor my buying habits: as many people, I was a very willing victim of fast fashion and of the “I don’t know what to wear” mantra, so much so that, even after a few rounds of Marie Kondo, my wardrobe offers still enough clothes to wear something different every day for a couple of weeks without worrying about laundry.

Do I need all these clothes? No.

Do I like to dress nicely? Yes.

Can I keep being stylish while reducing my impact on the Earth? Of course!

Mind you, whatever I’m about to say it’s probably not THE Green Way, I suppose nudity would be the most sustainable way… just kidding. I haven’t done much research on the topic (yet), but I believe we buy TOO much of everything, clothes included.

A small percentage of my shopping still come from the traditional way of shopping, i.e. new clothes from high street shops, but what I buy is carefully selected and has to pass a hard questioning:

1. Do I really need this?
2. Can I modify/upcycle something I already own?
3. Can I sew it myself?
4. What can I wear this with?

But now most of my clothing comes from charity shops, I have few great finds I’m very proud of over the years, including a leather jacket for a tenner, and a basically new coat from Zara for 15 euro. Buying second hand, however, shouldn’t be an excuse to buy more than needed “because anyway it’s going to be reused”, so I still limit my buying with the questions above.

Sustainable and local brands are also becoming more common and available, but I tend to be a bit wary of green washing, so before buying I tend to research on their claim.

It’s overwhelming trying to do the right thing because carbon footprint is not straightforward, but I am always open to learn to be better, as being sustainable to a journey!