Get intimate with
your clothes!
I don’t think it’s any secret or revelation that we as a society don’t look after our clothes like we used to. Clothes have turned into something largely seen as throwaway. They are easily replaced as they can be so cheap to buy. This change in how we see our clothes is affecting our psychological relationship to them. To many they are no longer a luxury or something we care for, they are disposable. This post is going to explore that a bit deeper, and shed some light on why you should get more intimate with your clothes.
Obviously fast fashion is the main contributor towards this issue, but I don’t want to completely hate on fast fashion as I know for some people this is all they can afford and that’s not who I’m talking to here. However, I will speak strongly on people abusing cheaper clothing by buying obscene amounts of it to then only wear the pieces once, or throwing them away because they simply don’t fit.
There is an element of greediness and materialism when it comes to fashion as it’s become a commodity to buy in a consumer-based society. The rise of influencers and ‘hauls’ on YouTube definitely influenced me as a teenager. I thought to be ‘cool’ I needed to go out and buy loads of clothes from all of these trendy brands like Jack Wills, Victoria Secret, River Island etc (they were cool at the time okay) to then show off later on Instagram or to my friends. But did that really make me happy, or was I doing it to conform to what I was being shown online? Woah big deep questions I know, but it is important to ask yourself these questions otherwise nothing will ever change! With the rise of online culture we’ve been almost conditioned to think this behaviour is normal. If they’re doing it, I should be doing it type of mentality. And I can safely vouch that as an easily influenced teenager trying to fit in, I definitely took on these behaviours I was seeing, and emulated them myself. But now I can see how damaging it is.
With the increase in the speed of supply chains, clothes can be made quickly and cheaply. We are in undated with new trends almost daily with the rise of social media. But what we may fail to realise is the impact on the planet because we can’t see it. Good tailoring and design is not what it used to be (my Grandma tells me this all the time) and the vast majority of us don’t make any of our own clothes. My Grandma who features in our mending and making post would make a lot of her own clothes. It was a hobby for her, but also it meant that she could have her clothes be completely fitted to her as well as in the style she wanted them. I think we’ve lost that sense of ownership and pride in wear our clothes are from, and by reconnecting with that we can help ourselves to consume less.
Shopping second hand is a great way to be more sustainable, and I do shop a lot in charity shops, but I’ve recently noticed the amount of items in there that still have the original tags on. This blows my mind, maybe because I’m a student and don’t have masses of disposable income, but it comes across to me like such a privileged behaviour that we aren’t aware is actually a privilege. I am NOT blaming anyone for consuming too much, it’s how we’ve been marketed to and we have subconsciously adopted these behaviours. But buying clothes and not even wearing them before donating them is wasteful. However, if we are now at the stage where we are acknowledging our mistakes, we now need to actually work on changing our motivations towards consumption. And all of this is to say that this why you should get intimate with your clothes!
The ‘psychology’ behind it is that if you are in love with your clothes you will be more likely to hold on to them and not want to constantly replace them. So, after you’ve read this go to your wardrobe and go through each piece and think about how you feel towards them. Do they make you feel happy? Comfortable? Uncomfortable? Cosy? Itchy? Evoke memories? You might be scared of commitment, but don’t let that affect your wardrobe. Any pieces that don’t stimulate positive emotions or good memories are probably just taking up space and you won’t reach for them. Donate them so someone else can look after them. But, and here’s the really important part, don’t buy pieces like that again! Learn from your mistakes. You should feel confident in your clothes, and I understand that this can be linked to deeper reasons, but just for now think purely about the textures and how your clothes serve you.
The more you learn to fall in love with your clothes, the more you’ll want to wear them and keep them. This will hopefully in turn get rid of that feeling that you need to buy a load of new clothes to satisfy a need. Foster that love you have for them, rather than focusing on the newest or next trend you TikTok fyp is showing you.
