Follow up from my last post on Wardrobe Data – Inventory: Jan 2020
On top of attempting to be more conscious of what’s in my wardrobe and where it all comes from, I’ve also been exploring my consumption behaviors, trying to understand which pieces have been good investments and which were spontaneous purchases that I should be more careful to avoid in the future.
👚 Conscious Consumption Tips / Resources
- Ultimately, the best way to consume consciously is to not consume at all
- The next best option is to purchase secondhand from thrift stores or consignment A couple of options for purchasing secondhand or renting clothing include:
- ThredUP: online thrift store to buy and sell secondhand clothes
- Poshmark: social commerce marketplace to buy and sell new or used clothing, shoes, and accessories
- TheRealReal: authenticated consignment store for luxury goods, definitely on the higher end but great source for high quality staple pieces that
- Rent the Runway: rent pieces through membership or one-time options, background story of the company on the NPR podcast How I Built This
- If you are purchasing something new, keep in mind fair labor practices, sustainable materials, and the quality of the pieces that you’re consuming A couple of options for sustainable and ethical brands:
- Everlane: focused on ethics and by showing its markup process for each garment and details on the factories where each item is manufactured
- Reformation: this brand calculates the environmental footprint based on the carbon dioxide emissions, water usage, and waste produced in what it calls the “Refscale” to help understand the impact of each garment
- Patagonia: most people are probably familiar with this brand, but on top of sourcing from more sustainable materials, they also buy and resell their own pieces
💵 Cost-Per-Wear
Below is a summary of the cost-per-wear of the pieces documented in my wardrobe with the cost-per-wear calculated as the cost of the item/number of wears and the number of months each item has been in my closet. The data isn’t perfect since the number of wears is based on when I started documenting my wardrobe data and the cost of the items and number of months its been in my closet are mostly based off my best estimates.
📊 Cost-Per-Wear Insights
- This sheet is filtered on my Aritzia St. Moritz Parka, which has been the largest purchase I’ve ever made on an article of clothing, but has been well worth it! It was definitely painful shelling out the $$$ on this coat, but I’ve worn it almost every day for the past two winters and it’s kept me warm through the -30° polar vortex in Chicago last year. Unlike the Canada Goose coats, Aritzia’s are sourced with responsible goose down, meaning that none of the features came from live birds. The fur on the coat is also completely vegan, while still giving a warm and luxurious feel. I do wish sometimes that the fur was removable, because it feels a little extra wearing such an over-the-top coat, but know it’s not worth the investment in another piece when this one definitely has a lot more wear left in it.
- On the other hand, I purchased these Black Wedge Booties from Target over a year ago because they were on sale for $25 and had been eyeing a similar pair from TOMS for years. Unfortunately, I’ve worn them only once and they were pretty uncomfortable so I’ve avoided putting them on again. I’m conflicted every time I see them on my shoe rack between if I should just put them on again and try to break them in, resell them, or donate them. I always end up picking up another pair of shoes that I like more to wear, but I also hesitate to get rid of them when I’ve barely worn them and risk causing more pollution when they ultimately might wind up around the world or in a landfill. Although I regret this purchase, this analysis holds me accountable to avoid some of this unnecessary consumption in the future.
For the most part, there’s several pieces in my wardrobe that have been well worth the investment, as well as some purchases that I definitely bought on a whim. I also tend to gravitate towards a handful of pieces, while a majority of my closet is barely being touched. Ultimately, there’s a lot of opportunity for me to utilize the existing pieces I have and avoid making more unnecessary purchases.
Thoughts / feedback always appreciated!
Much love,
