New clothing roundup of 2023
One of my secondhand purchases of 2023 - this smiley dress I had been eyeing for over a year.
what if i told you i acquired 53 pieces of clothing last year? does that sound like a lot to you or not very much? well, i did not acquire that much but that is the average number of clothing americans buy per year according to this source. i’ve seen other estimates which puts that number somewhere closer to 64-68. and i truly wonder what the average is for folks who receives pr items like myself because i would assume it’s much more than the average person.
last year i acquired 13 clothing items. that includes things i bought new, secondhand, and were gifted or part of an ad campaign. the break down of that is:
2 new items
3 secondhand items
8 gifted/ad pieces
A new gifted sweater (Sezane) paired with secondhand Levi’s and bloodstones I’ve had for over a year.
one of my core values is to reduce my consumption for the benefit of the Earth, my wallet, and my mental health (i have a hard time when my closet feels huge and overflowing and there’s too many options). I’ve been working hard to keep these numbers on a downward trend over the last few years. I went from buying 33 pieces (includes secondhand) in 2020, to 16 in 2021, and to 5 in 2023, so I am proud of that. I unfortunately lost track in 2022 because of a horrible first trimester of pregnancy :’(
I remember being so shocked the first year I kept a close watch on what I was buying. I would’ve assumed I maybe bought ~15 items of clothing per year but then I realized especially when buying things secondhand, things add up quickly! even when i was an avid thrifter, i’d typically leave the store with about 5-7 pieces each trip and would do that probably at least 4-5 times per year. that alone would put me at 20-35 pieces.
at least buying secondhand eliminates a lot of the waste and greenhouse gas emissions that comes with buying new, but even the secondhand clothing market is still riddled with issues like so much ending up in a landfill or other countries who then are left to deal with excess and waste. it just feels like globally, we have an overwhelmingly amount of clothing in existence and so many more being made every day.
and i know - a lot, if not all, of the responsibility should fall on the brands that are *making* so much and pushing it on us. and that’s true. but it aligns with my personal values to do what i feel like i *can* in order to reduce my negative impact on the planet. no one is perfect, im not shooting for 0 negative impact or even close to that because we all do things that everyday that contribute to greenhouse gases (e.g. driving, flying, cooking, using electricity, heat, etc.). we all have to decide for ourselves what areas we can, and to some extent want to, cut back in.
and for me, as i mentioned, i tend to get overwhelmed when i have too many options in my closet and so i try to reduce consumption and turnover for that reason too. it’s why i typically only sell clothes about 1-2x a year and why i tend to skip out on a lot of trendy pieces.
An outfit I wore quite a few times in 2023, all pieces from prior years.
what helps me to refrain from buying?
my budget is honestly the most useful tool in keeping my shopping to a minimum. this year especially, i wanted to divert more funds to things like getting ready for our baby and doing an update of our kitchen. so i cut back a lot on my clothes budget a lot. and you can read more about my budgeting approaches here and here.
another is that I avoid fast fashion when buying new. buying from slow fashion brands often comes with a much larger price tag because we’re paying for more sustainable practices, better materials, and (hopefully) livable wages and safe working conditions for all involved in the manufacturing. because these have a higher price tag, it really makes it hard for me to over consume as long as my budget remains relatively low. e.g. if I only allot $50 to my budget per month, it might take me 3 months to save up for a new dress.
other things i consider before purchasing something:
can i think of at least 3 outfits i would wear with that right now?
what role is it serving in my closet?
do i have something similar already?
can i find it secondhand? (if it’s not already)
what’s the fabric composition?
is this a trendy piece or a more basic piece?
i also try my best to critically think before opting into trends. I wouldn’t say I avoid every trend - honestly that seems really unrealistic (and I sorta roll my eyes at everyone who pretends they don’t buy into trends lol). but I do try to be aware that it’s a trendier piece because trends are what drive a lot of the consumerism. I don’t think we need to buy 0 trendy pieces but I personally try to keep it to like 2-3 or less trendy pieces per year.
e.g. I remember that a few years ago cow print was EVERYWHERE. Like everyone had a cow print bag or shirt or pants or whatever. I consciously chose to skip that trend and now I rarely see those items. Similar to the checkered trend - I opt for gingham because I feel like it’s similar but feels more timeless to me as I have loved plaids and ginghams forever. But one trend I did opt into recently was a chunky colorful scarf - it felt practical and useful (as Portland keeps getting colder) so I recently got a new scarf after not owning one for the last ~7 years.
An outfit featuring a few new gifted pieces - included my new scarf.
what makes it hard?
I would be lying if I said being an internet person doesn’t make it hard. it can be hard to not be influenced by the people I follow and also to say no to a lot of the PR offers I receive. However, I have realllyyyyyy slowed down and become super picky on what I accept for free from brands.
I typically don’t accept clothing in exchange for any content requirements. and I only try to accept stuff that I would actually buy and see myself wearing.
This is the area I really have to practice self discipline in because my budget, which is my biggest tool for shopping less, does not help when it comes to free things.
what’s up for 2024?
I don’t typically shoot for a certain number of clothing purchases per year because I never do well with goals that feel too restricting. however, sustainable sabs wrote an interesting piece summarizing why buying 5 pieces of clothing per year may be the optimal number in order to slow climate warming. so that is definitely in the back of my mind! I would like to stay pretty close to that or what I did last year.
Another outfit of past year faves - jeans and a tee forever.
Do you keep track of how many things you bought last year? If so, how many was it? What helps you to keep things low? I would love to hear from ya’ll on this topic, as it’s one of the most important to me.