Is a love for fashion unsustainable?

The most sustainable person I know is probably my mother-in-law.

She buys very few pieces of clothes a year, mostly second-hand, mends what she can, and even for special occasions like our wedding, manages to find a dress in her wardrobe rather than buying something new. If everyone had her shopping habits, fast-fashion and the multitudes of issues that come with it would close to disappear.

The catch? My mother-in-law couldn’t care less about fashion. She always looks lovely, but she would be the first to say she doesn’t care much for shopping, trends or brandnames.

I, on the other hand, I’ve started to grow a great appreciation for the fashion industry over the past few years, which has led me recently to this ethical query. I can’t help but crave more as I learn more of what exists. Reading about Coco Chanel’s creation of athletic inspired womenswear gave me not only a theoretical appreciation for their suits but a desire to have one of my own. Keeping up-to-date with the fashion show seasons opens me up to new trends, following fashion accounts on TikTok and Instagram make me realise what “must-haves” I don’t have.

A typical past-time for me: reading about fashion while enjoying a cappuccino and the local coffeeshop

Even learning about sustainable fashion comes with the potential to over-consume.

Many learning about sustainable and ethical brands want to suddenly switch over their wardrobe to these brands instead of wearing the clothes currently in their wardrobe until they wear out. Paying attention to what’s in style through sustainable influencers means you might relegate portions of your clothes to the dark corner of your wardrobe not to be worn whilst you crave a new style with pieces you don’t have. And indeed, many self-labelled sustainable brands like Reformation aren’t as sustainable as we’d like to think, with companies still relying on the pattern of issuing dozens of new releases each year to keep in trend and make people buy more. So what’s left to do?

Shall I throw away my copies of Harper’s Baazar and Vogue, in fear that they might make me want to buy something new?

Not so fast. First of all, I’d gently remind the reader that nearly all hobbies require consumption of some kind. Painting requires canvas and brushes, knitting requires needles and yarn, sports typically include specific clothes and equipment. We shouldn’t be punishing ourselves for consumption of any kind, but rather be willing to evaluate whether that consumption is benefitting ourselves, our community, and the world.

While reading about Chanel could push me to spend a large amount of money on clothes or a bag, I could also choose to take another lesson from it. Who are the Chanel’s of today, the small brands from artisans and designers coming from backgrounds with less opportunity? I can spend time finding and supporting those artists, using my money in a way that feeds a local economy and contributes to workers who make the clothes rather than fattening the pockets of already wealthy CEOs.

I could also consider alternative ways of enjoying fashion that aren’t clothes-centred. I might attend a lecture from a fashion historian, read journalism covering the labour practices of clothes brands. I can read about garment construction, fashion marketing, and the psychology of fashion to become a more informed consumer.

There are lessons to learn from my mother-in-law.

I can find a cheap sewing machine and learn to alter my own clothes and learn more about washing different fabrics such as wool and silk to elongate their use. I can try to keep my occasion wear less trendy so that I can wear the same pieces for years on end. And, although I already shop mostly second-hand, I can focus on buying pieces that suit me instead of using shopping as an emotional crutch.

The key takewaway is this. Is the love of fashion unsustainable? Maybe, just in the way that a love for many things on this planet could be harmful if left unchecked. I am finding myself constantly in the need to reflect on my own mental state and actions. I need to consider whether I am pursing my hobby in a way that is good for me. I can easily slip into the desire to buy too much and to buy products contribuing to bad labour practices if I’m having a bad day. But, in recognising that tendency in myself, I can continue to struggle through it. Ultimately, any love can become unsustainable if left unchecked. Especially with the fashion-world as it is right now, it can be especially tiresome to do constant self-evulation.

You don’t have to stop loving fashion- but we can also moderate ourselves by learning from people like my mother-in-law. This reminds me why I have a love for fashion in the first place. I believe humans were made not just to exist and survive, but to create beautiful things out of ordinary things, like the clothes we have to wear every day.