How to afford slow fashion
Whenever I start to talk about investing in clothes, inevitably, people say: That sounds expensive. How can I afford this? It is definitely a valid question. Though not everything worthy of your investment will be expensive, some things might be. Quality, paying employees a living wage, not causing damage to the environment–it just costs more. (I would also like to say that there are lots of hidden costs to ‘cheap’ items, but that is a subject for another post).
There are tools and strategies that can help you invest in pieces that you will wear and love forever.
Here are five of my favorites:
#1: Buy less, but better.
This one is pretty straightforward. You don’t need a closet crammed with stuff. You really don’t. And when I say ‘you’, I’m talking to myself as well.
Instead of buying five pairs of tall boots, buy that one special pair you really, really love.
Sometimes we pass up on buying a high-quality piece of clothing because it’s a bit more expensive (in the short run-see #5 on the list). At the same time, we might continue to buy lots of less expensive things that are either of lower quality or perhaps we don’t adore. You might actually end up spending the same amount of money (or more), but don’t realize it. You can skip all that and just buy that one special piece.
#2: Save up money for clothes.
You could put aside money in a separate bank account every week or every month or even every quarter. It could even get automatically transferred to your ‘clothing’ account. Then when you do find something worthy of a purchase, you will already have the money set aside for it.
#3: Be careful when it comes to sales.
I did a full post on this one, so I guess I feel strongly about it. If you have your eye on something, and you wait for it to go on sale, that’s fine. But if you are buying something only because it’s on sale, I would be careful.
Do you really love it or is the deal too good to pass up? If it’s not something you *really* wanted to begin with or needed, you end up actually wasting money that you could put towards something else.
#4: Use layaway.
Layaway is back big-time, especially with independent retail stores. Take advantage of this when you can--typically smaller stores charge no interest rates. Smaller, independent stores are trying to differentiate themselves and offer superior customer service--and this is one of the services they can easily offer that distinguishes them from the big box retailers.
#5: Look at costs over the long run.
This might be my favorite strategy. If you start looking at costs over the long run, suddenly something that might initially seem costly starts to look like a value. You could look at the cost per year or cost per wear and suddenly that dress that seems expensive starts to look very reasonable.
I don’t have all the answers to everyone’s personal situation. These strategies/tools have helped (are helping!) me. This definitely takes effort and requires becoming more conscious of your shopping habits. I believe it’s worth it, though, because it will help you have clothes you love, cherish, and want to wear for a very long time.