(Even if You’re on a Budget!)

Thinking about trying Slow Fashion? Do you want to have a more ethical wardrobe? Feeling inspired by those beautiful Minimalist fashion pins on Pinterest? Want to live a more sustainable, eco-friendly life? Want to simplify? Have a less stressful morning routine??

YES. Oh yeah we all want those things, right? Sign. Me. Up.

Just when you’re ready to get your own ‘gram-worthy closet goin’ . . . Gulp. STICKER SHOCK. Holy son-of-a-sea-cook some of those super simple, suuuuuper beautiful clothes are pri-cey!!

Yup. I’m right there with you.

How come no one said Slow Fashion was gonna be so darn expensive????

I’m here to tell you – It doesn’t have to be.

You can slow down your closet and make more ethical fashion choices without spending a fortune, or anything at all.

Here’s how to start with Slow Fashion (even on a budget) :

1. Shop Your Wardrobe

Sure, Slow Fashion sometimes looks like gorgeous pricey handmade garments. BUT Slow Fashion is much more dynamic than that. The best way to shop slow is to not shop at all.

Now, I myself am no shopper. Changing room mirrors with their horrible lighting give me hives. But I know for some of you this hits hard. But take a leap of faith with me. Try it.

Pull all your clothes out of your closet and put them on your bed. This step alone might make it easier to purge!

Start off by eliminating the low hanging fruit. Stuff that you never wear, items that don’t fit. Take it easy on yourself – you can put these in a box for now, but be brutal.

Cut it down until you only have the pieces you ACTUALLY WEAR and feel not just ok, but amazing AF in.

At this point you should have the makings of a pretty solid capsule wardrobe.

Money spent? Zero. Zilch. Nada.

You’re already on a roll! Go you!

2. Care For What You Have

Slow Fashion is about being mindful and taking care. Looking after the clothes I already own has saved me hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.

I long for a closet full of ethically made, beautiful, eco-conscious clothes as much as the next girl. Unfortunately, I live in the real world. You know. The one where money matters. 

My closet has a few key slow fashion pieces, but it’s primarily made up of inexpensive fast fashion I bought a long time ago. The difference between my fast fashion closet and most? The average piece of fast fashion is worn seven times. SEVEN.

Having a smaller wardrobe that you actually look after will mean you can get a lot more life out of the items you do have. With only two pairs of jeans and two button-down plaid shirts (one of my uniforms, which we’ll talk about later) I don’t have much choice but to wear each item more than seven measly times.

Many, MANY more times.

You can better care for your clothes by

• washing more delicate items by hand
• washing less often
• wash in cold with natural laundry detergent
• hang your clothes to dry
• store them properly (not on your floor!)
• learn old-fashioned means of cleaning stains
• learn how to mend

Once you start viewing your clothes as something that you need to make last, you’ll start to look at new purchases differently.

How will it wash? Will it stain easily? Will the fabric look better with age, or will it disintegrate? Is it possible to mend? This shift in thinking alone will help you to slow down your wardrobe without even trying. It’s these types of mindset changes that will truly help you embrace the spirit of Slow Fashion.

For example, mending can become quite a meditative pastime. If I have had a long day with my kids or work, I get an obscene amount of satisfaction from curling up with a glass of wine and my mending basket.

Mending means I can binge-watch old Grey’s and not feel guilty about wasting time when Netflix finally checks to make sure I’m still alive. Win-win.

3. Thrift

If you’re gonna shop, shop second-hand. Slow Fashion and Thrifting are BFFs.

Yup, I know, for some folks this is a tough one. Honestly, it is for me. Thrifting is a skill, people. It takes time and effort and a certain je ne sais quoi to be able to turn thrift store finds into something that fits both your body and your style.

That said, if you know what to look for and are willing to spend an afternoon doing it, you can mindfully add pieces to your wardrobe that will bring a style that says – You can’t find me in the mall. As a bonus, thrifting often benefits local charities, buying used diverts waste from landfills and eliminates the need to consume a gazillion gallons of water to make one five dollar t-shirt.

Drop off your unwanted clothes from step one (and maybe get a discount voucher) and you’re #winning!

Don’t have any wicked thrift stores nearby or are like me and don’t have time to go treasure hunting? I had a great experience with ThreadUp buying second-hand clothes from the comfort of home.

The main key for me when thrifting is that I know my style.

I wear a super limited colour palette ( which doesn’t have to be plain jane just ’cause you’re shopping green, btw ) and have a very clear sense of my style. I like warm neutrals, jewel tones, red, anything with lots of texture and because I’m a farm girl – anything plaid or gingham in those colours.

When it comes to fabrics, I stick to natural fabrics like cotton, wool, leather and linen because they’re more likely to last.  Most importantly, they’re easily mendable and won’t leave a pile of pleather in the landfill a million generations from now.

4. Buy Classic, Timeless Pieces

There’s a big difference between being fashionable and having style. Fashion is passing, transient and inherently wasteful. Style, now style LASTS.

Historically, French women are absolutely fan-freaking-tastic at this. You can find a lot of inspiration searching “french girl style” on Pinterest. Focus your resources on adding simple, well-made, well-structured pieces to your wardrobe.

Buy these in your neutrals. ( That doesn’t mean black and white and beige, by the way. ) Neutrals for your palette could be emerald green, camel and a deep plum. Or dessert rose, ocher and moss green. Make these your favourite colours, ones that go with most other items in your wardrobe.

If you could get dressed in the dark (which, let’s face it – I’m a mom to two kids – I do often) and still look good – you’re on the right track.

Ideas for timeless, classic pieces for a slow fashion wardrobe include

• a crisp white button down
• linen pants
• a good, well fitting pair of jeans
• ethically made cotton t-shirts in your neutrals
• a fantastic statement wool coat
• a great, simply cut dress that you can accessorize

When picking classic pieces look for

• Quality Fabric : linen, wool, cotton, leather
• Well Cut : Does it fit you well? Get it tailored if need be.
• Comfortable
• Does it scream “this is sooo x year” – if so, pass
• Mendable / Durable

5. Make Your Own

Ok, so we’ve shopped our own closet, chucked everything we don’t love and learned how to make the clothes we do own, last. Now for the mother-of-all-slow-fashion moves . . . MAKE. YOUR. OWN.

Ok, so I’m not a sewer. I wish I was, but I am not.

I do, however knit. ( Very slowly, mind you, but I knit. )

Knitting for me is much like mending in that I find it incredibly meditative. There is something about doing repetitive work with my hands that’s so darn soothing.

Not only is making your own clothes enjoyable, it is freaking empowering. No sweatshops. No wondering if the company is really  as ethical as they claim to be (and what does that even mean, anyway??).

If you totally want to geek out, you can even get wool from a particular farm and get to know the land, people and animals who helped clothe you. There is some amazing work being done out there, largely by female farmers working towards climate beneficial wool.

Yes, you heard that right. Your knit jumper could actually help the fight against climate change. Ah-MAZE-balls. But the story of Fibershed is one for another day.

Let me just say, as a farmer, folks who put that kind of passion and interest into where their food or fibre come from fill my heart right up.

Slow Fashion doesn’t have to be expensive.

At its heart, Slow Fashion is about making mindful choices about the clothes we wear.

It is about considering the quality of life of the people who make our clothes, the resources that go into them, and what happens to them after we no longer need or want them.

Being mindful of all of those things needn’t cost a dime.

Have you embraced the idea of Slow Fashion? Share your wins, favourite brands and biggest challenges in the comments below!