I have been buying predominantly (nearly exclusively) secondhand clothing for the past five years going onto six this summer. My journey of #NoNewClothes began winter of 2019 after I watched The True Cost for the first time. It came out in 2015 and I remember hearing about it, but had never watched it. However, my passion for the fashion industry between designing and human rights sparked after seeing on the news, 15 years old in 2013, the Rana Plaza collapse. The largest garment factory disaster in history watching families surround the rubble as people pulled bodies out from beneath and cried out for those still buried underneath. As they pulled labels out along with bodies, I vowed I would never purchase clothing from those brands again.
I don’t exactly remember what drew me at that particular moment to watch The True Cost, I think I was meaning to write something for a paper for school at the time (attending a Bible college, so I can’t imagine for what class I was writing this for). This documentary marked me like no other. I think it was the first movie I had ever cried while watching as I felt drawn to the story of the garment worker who had to be separated from her young daughter in hopes of giving her a better future. I was also moved by the words and the work of Vandana Shiva who is actively fighting for seed sovereignty in India and other nations. I was emotionally wrecked and challenged to completely rethink my life’s direction in a way that these men and women could have access to and live the lives they deserve that large brands and Western consumer’s lifestyle have taken away.
Since then I’ve become intentional and aware with spending and purchasing habits. However, it wasn’t a smooth transition as my overconsumption in fast fashion transferred to and nearly worsened when I switched to secondhand shopping. The reality and the fact of the matter is that overconsumption is the same whether it’s fast fashion, luxury brands, sustainable brands, or secondhand. If you’re buying more than you can wear or buying without intention, you haven’t done much in shifting your habits which is the goal. The impacts of your purchasing power hold some benefit, sure, but at the end of the day waste is waste.
My biggest hurdle when going from fast fashion purchasing (which I fell back to again when I started working at Nordstrom the year after and was getting caught up in influencer aspirations) was slowing down my consumption. I think when a lot of people switch over to secondhand they instinctively increase purchasing because they can buy so much more “for less.” However, this may look different in the past five years as many secondhand clothing chains have increased prices. The amount of times I have seen SHEIN priced higher or the same as it sells online, but have found incredible vintage pieces for less than shitty quality fast fashion still shocks me. Looking at Value Village for this one and also wanting to set fire to them for selling leather coats for $100. This for profit chain needs to figure out what they’re doing. I digress.
My journey to no new clothes hasn’t been perfect. The times I have broken it were for new shoes - from small brands - or the concert t-shirt that I couldn’t pass up buying because #memories. But it is a strong commitment I feel and personal convictions that cause me to continue on this path. One of those “once you know you can’t go back.” I’ve heard just about every excuse as to why people refrain from going fully secondhand, whether it’s because they can’t find items that are “their style” or they don’t know how, that it’s too much work, it’s unhygienic, etc. From these excuses I can only reason that the stigma attached to secondhand clothing and shopping continues to hinder people from going all in, whether it’s the status that people feel they have shopping the latest trends from Aritzia, Urban Outfitters, SHEIN, Zara, or otherwise. When the amount of clothing in existence could clothe the next six generations, why are we still buying new?
The rate of growth of impulse purchases has grown over 70% since 2020 and from 2016 to 2021 we consumed over 75 percent of what we did during the entire 20th century. The rate of production, consumption and waste is wreaking havoc on nations that cannot keep up with our consumption and waste. For 10 years in Accra, Ghana a landfill was filled each year with waste from the USA, Canada, and the UK not accounting for the clothing that was dumped in ditches, and other places before making it to the landfill.
Guilt and shame has always been a poor motivator for change, which that is not the goal of this post at all. My journey to secondhand purchasing has been imperfect. I’m still trying to reduce my own consumption regardless of whether I’m buying secondhand from a friend’s curated store or not, I need to limit my consumption. Last year I styled every dress I owned, not including special occasion dresses, and I found I owned roughly 45 dresses. I will be the first to say I own a lot of clothes, yes I wear 90% of them, but it’s an unnecessary amount, admittedly. It has taken time to wrangle my consumption as my style changes, working to adapt my purely 60s-90s wardrobe as my style shifts and changes on occasion without feeling the need to buy more. Since travelling and having a limited closet to pull from I have grown to appreciate and love the clothes that I have and finding different and creative ways to style the limited pieces I have. Becoming more familiar with your closet and finding ways to style pieces in new ways is a great way to transition out of fast fashion and trend pushing.
If you’re debating on taking the challenge, or are wanting to break free from the shackles of trends and TikTok telling you which trend you need to get ahead of, and the clothes you need for your Europe vacation or whatever, here are some tips and things that helped me as I transitioned from fast fashion to exclusively secondhand and vintage shopping.
Know your closet:
Do a real inventory of your closet. How many items you own, the items in regular rotation, what you naturally gravitate towards, things you’ve tried and haven’t liked and will never work for you. Items that you need to repair, items that you have outgrown and don’t fit anymore. When transitioning, one of the biggest mental hurdles will be your repair pile. Tailoring is one part of the industry that remains unexploited (more or less) so the prices are often shocking to people when they need to hem pants, or replace a button or take in or let out a garment. However, if you’re wanting to learn a new skill, now is the time to do so, or find out what the true cost of clothing is. The best way to slow your consumption is through tailoring and repair.
Once you’ve taken inventory, really consider what you want to keep and what you are going to consign or donate. My closet remains the size it is because I hold onto clothes for years before letting them go. My style tends to be quite fluid so I will say I enjoy having options and shopping my own closet. I also get excited every year when I flip my closet over at the end of each season and rediscover pieces I have missed wearing or ~honestly have forgotten about.
When you’re donating or consigning, try to keep your donation locations as local as possible. Avoid donating to Value Village, or Goodwill, or Savers first - the large chains, as they often ship their items overseas (for profit) contributing to waste colonization. The smaller and more local, the better. And if you know the items you’re donating are not in sellable condition, either turn them into rags, or find a textile recycling organization in your city - if they have one. If they don’t dispose of them in your city rather than shipping them off to another country to deal with.
Where to Shop:
If you’re embarking on your first #NoNewClothes journey know where to shop. Thrift stores can be daunting if you’re new to them AND if you don’t know your personal style. Trying to go through racks to fit certain trends can leave you disappointed and frustrated. I love my reselling community and I will always defend them against people who don’t thrift and think the prices are too high and blame them for increasing prices at thrift stores. Correlation does not equal causation. They aren’t taking all the good pieces. They aren’t the reason prices are higher. The reality is the pieces are donated and these companies see opportunities to make more money as any business under capitalism does. Be angry with the corporations, not the small businesses.
That being said, resellers, or reselling platforms, even Facebook Marketplace are great starting points. You can easily search for brands you love and styles you are looking for. Especially if you know your sizes with these brands you can have (more or less) full confidence in the pieces you’re buying. And if you’re unsure, a trip to the mall to try them on and then buy secondhand is a brilliant hack. Vintage can be tricky with sizing and not all people know how to a) measure clothes properly and b) measure themselves properly. If you do love vintage, I recommend braving the brick and mortar stores to try them on.
Resellers are great because typically the owners have their own sense of style and curate their shops in this way. There are so many great ones in Calgary that I go to for different reasons if I’m wanting to ~intentionally add something to my closet. They’ve done the hard work of searching for their pieces, oftentimes repairing and washing the garments making the price point higher, but well worth it if you’re just starting.
Find what your style is:
While the pace of production is unreal, it is likely you can find trending pieces, but my advice is to remember the pieces you naturally gravitate towards. Those are your basics - remember this always.
Your basics won’t be a blazer, a pair of denim, a jacket or whatever, they will be what you are most comfortable in and what you are naturally drawn to.
From there you can build your wardrobe. Knowing the silhouettes you are comfortable in, they styles you like and what statement pieces you can add to spice up your looks when you start getting bored.
A good way to find your style, or play with it (because it is never truly fixed) is to see which content creators you follow and whose style you truly admire. It doesn’t have to be exactly it, but sometimes seeing others love their style and live confidently can inspire you to lean into what you like the most. Once again, go back to your basics, what you’re most comfortable in and head to Pinterest. Search up one item at a time and pin outfits you’re drawn to. From there make a list of items you want to have in your closet. This is where your consumption can drastically slow down as you need to be patient with finding the perfect piece and believing that it’s out there. You won’t always find what you’re looking for and sometimes you may in the wrong size so you have to consider investing further into the garment through tailoring.
This journey takes commitment and a complete mindset shift. Be patient and enjoy the process. As you have your list of items, you can then break down the thrift store into sections. Make sure you’re in a positive and motivated headspace as any seasoned thrifter can get frustrated and overwhelmed quickly if they’re not in the mood.
Be encouraged that the change won’t happen overnight:
The first time I approached no new clothes I tried to loophole it (which you can make the challenge and the lifestyle whatever you want it to be!) and limit myself to a number of items I could buy new. I honestly don’t remember if it worked or not, but I had vowed that year to be a no new year limiting myself to just shoes and the summer everything to be secondhand and it was the easiest transition. Since then I have tried to do a no buy summer and have failed every year. This year, as I am travelling, I may find success, but it’s hard to say :’)
Avoid shame, lean into guilt, and know that it is an imperfect journey, but the best journey to take for yourself, people and the planet.
With much and thanks and see you in the next one <3
Until then find me on Instagram.
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