On The Selected Curation Of Your Wardrobe As A Sustainability Practice
If you’ve ever wondered what a Sustainable Baddie staff meeting is like, it consists of planning, chit-chatting about the susty state of our lives, and talking about the media we consume. A few weeks ago, our editor and partnerships coordinator, Carla, recommended an episode of Nymphet Alumni to the team, “EP. 58 - Fashion Intellectualism w/ Avery Trufelman.”
As a writer and fashion girlie, I love nothing more than listening to other internet philosophers theorize about fashion, so I gave it a listen. Though the episode itself is more about the “intellectualization” of fashion, in one moment, the hosts discussed how the digitization of fashion will never fully work because a closet is one of the last remaining modes of collection. Digitization comes without attachment, and in a fashion industry that already lacks empathy, we need all the emotion we can get. That’s not to say we should embrace solely digital wardrobes either, which would strip us of our identities to a certain extent. Or, as Nympet Alumni argues, we’d become jealous of our digital selves in the wake of the growing disconnect between how we present ourselves online and who we are in real life.
We still support digital wardrobes as a way to view and maintain your inventory because digitizing one's closet can be a sustainability-positive practice. But this discussion got me thinking about the idea of collections and how the act of collecting is an inherently sustainable one. If I think of myself as a clothing collector–not a consumer–I’m a bird in the woods building its nest instead of a cog in the capitalist machine. We can apply the principles of collection to the way we acquire and maintain clothing to help us strike a balance between clothing as a personal identifier, a form of expression, and a material possession.
A collection refers to the act of gathering and assembling items based on a particular theme or interest. It has always been part of the human experience as a way to organize, appreciate, and curate objects of value or significance. Unlike materialism, which focuses on acquiring possessions for their own sake, and hoarding, which involves compulsive accumulation without discernment, collection involves deliberately curating items. Unless you’re a fashion girlie who likes to amass pieces from a specific designer, you might not have thought about your wardrobe as a collection before. If you were to look at it that way, it might be easier to foster a connection between yourself and your clothing. Embracing the concept of clothing as a collection offers a pathway toward a more sustainable and conscientious relationship with fashion, fostering an appreciation for garments and countering the culture of overconsumption and hoarding prevalent in the industry today.
Viewing clothing as a collection involves treating your wardrobe as a curated set of garments that align with your personal style, values, and aesthetic preferences. It emphasizes the importance of quality, versatility, and longevity in clothing choices, encouraging mindful purchasing and the thoughtful curation of outfits. This concept shifts the focus from trends and fast fashion to “timeless” pieces that can be mixed and matched creatively, promoting a sustainable and mindful approach to fashion. Timeless, in this sense, means that it can fit into whatever physical image you maintain over time, reflecting your understanding of your inner self. Think of the way a vinyl collector tends to their collection; older records might have special encasings to protect them from wear and tear, but that doesn’t mean they’re never played or shown off to fellow collectors. Each record is acquired because of an understanding of personal taste and because the record itself was special enough to maintain.
In the current fashion landscape, cherishing and valuing clothing plays a crucial role in countering the disposable culture perpetuated by fast fashion, where garments are often treated as short-lived trends rather than enduring pieces. Adopting a collection mindset, which emphasizes quality over quantity, thoughtful curation, and emotional attachment to garments, can contribute significantly to a more sustainable future for fashion. A collection fosters a deeper appreciation for the craftsmanship and artistry behind each garment. We hope that at the end of our time on Earth, our clothing collections are auctioned off at an estate sale instead of tossed in a donation pile.