I mentioned last month in May I would be taking part in the Me Made Made challenge. By chance on the Sewing For The Weekend podcast they mentioned The Conscious Closet by Elizabeth Cline was a good book to read for those doing a wardrobe cleanout so I borrowed a copy of the book from my local library.
The book is divided into 6 parts
- Part 1 – Goodbye Fast Fashion
- Part 2 – The Art of Less
- Part 3 – The Art of More
- Part 4 – The Sustainable Fashion Handbook
- Part 5 – Make It Last
- Part 6 – The Fashion Revolution
Each part is then broken into a series of chapters. The book is predominantly aimed at those who buy their clothes from a store and not for those who sew their own clothes so a lot of the parts and chapters aren’t 100% relevant to those with a me made wardrobe but in saying that there is a lot that those with a me made wardrobe can takeaway from the book.
The book starts of going through the main personality types when it comes to fashion
- The Minimalists – Those who only like to have a minimal amount of functional clothing
- The Style Seekers – Those who like to keep up with latest trends
- The Traditionalists – Those who like to be stylish but don’t necessarily want to follow the trends
I would consider myself a traditionalist but with some minimalist tendencies. I don’t really care about styles and trends. I want pieces of clothing I can wear for years that are comfortable. I’m wanting to more to minimalism in general which includes clothing as I only want items around me that I’m actually using or in terms of clothing wearing.
After deciding on your personality type the book guides you through how to clean out your wardrobe to fit in with your type. What I really liked was this book doesn’t say “declutter your wardrobe then donate it all to charity” It makes you think about each item. What is the condition of this item? Is it broken/stained/worn out? Basically would you pay money for this item? It talks about how charities are often overrun with donations they can’t actually use as the items are in poor condition and they end up having to place them in landfill. If an item isn’t fit for sale could you do something with the fabric yourself such as use it for cleaning rags? If it is reasonable condition could you give it away in clothing swap or perhaps list it for free in online group? If you can’t do any of that can you wash the item and place it in a textile recycling program?
Once you have cleared your wardrobe it focuses on looking at what you have kept, It discuses ideas on ways to put together outfits so that you will start wearing the clothes you actually have more. This is inline with the concept of Me Made May. Finding new ways to wear what you already own.
The next part of the book looks at moving forward to future items. Making conscious decisions about how an item will fit in with what you already have so you don’t fall back into the wardrobe you originally started with and repeat the clothing consumption process once again.
The last parts of the book going through ways to prolong the life of the clothing you own and ideas to take into consideration about future purchases in terms of the fabrics choices. There are lots of tips and hints about laundering your clothes and mending them. If you don’t sew it gives instructions on how to do basic mending yourself.
Although parts of the book weren’t relevant to myself I enjoyed reading it and took a lot away from it.
- Be more mindful of them items I donate to charity – Thinking first can I do something with the item
- When making future fabric choices think of how the colour or print will fit in with my existing clothing
- Think about the quality of the fabric so that I can make items that last
- When making clothing really pay close attention to the sewing process so that I make quality items that will last. Properly reinforce high stress areas and ensure that I don’t skimp on the quality of finishing hems so that I won’t have to mend items so often
- Think about the way I wash my items. Tackle stains straight away, put things away as soon as they are dry so they aren’t exposed to excess sunlight (I dry my washing outdoors undercover)
- Tackle mending jobs as soon as I see them so the fault doesn’t become too large
- Respect my clothing between wears. Some items I don’t wash after every use so properly store them not just dump them on a rack
A good book gets your brain ticking as you read it. This book certainly did that. Whether you only have ready to wear clothing or make you own this book will open your eyes up to ways to help you create a wardrobe of clothing you will actually wear.
Cassiy