I’ve been trying to make the best of my extended quarantine by continuing my transition from fast fashion to slow fashion. Quarantine has given me the time to reflect on my shopping habits, make up purchases, and what pieces I actually wear in my closet.
Click here to read why I decided to make the transition from fast to slow fashion; and start your own journey into the slow fashion world by taking on the five simple steps below!
Step 1: Break up with the fast fashion brands in your closet.
Time to rip off the band aid and break up with all the fast fashion brands in your closet!
For step one, you need to go and make a list of all the brands already hanging in your closet. Don’t bother looking at never ending lists of fast fashion culprits on Pintrest. It’s overwhelming, and in my experience you never do anything with them after glancing over them once. By making your own list, you’ll be able to self reflect before making manageable changes.
The pintrest lists can help after you have a list of the brands hanging in your own closet. See any brands from your list on the fast fashion culprit lists? Time to dump them!
If you don’t see them on any fast fashion list, you’ll have to do more in-depth research to determine if it’s a fast fashion brand or not. Go to the brands website. Do they have a page that explains where the clothes come from? How they’re made? Who works at their factories?
Brands who are aligned with slow fashion will tell you on their websites. There’s no reason to hide that your brand is helping our planet (there’s plenty of benefits to sharing though!).
Fast Fashion brands won’t have that information up.
Click here to read my post on 5 common fast fashion brands you need to break up with immediately!
Step 2: Unfollow any influencers that promote fast fashion brands.
This step was weird for me because it felt mean unfollowing people… but I knew it needed to happen. After all, this whole switch to slow fashion was triggered after I was influenced to buy boots from Zara.
Whenever I catch myself wanting something from a fast fashion brand, I unfollow anyone who had promoted the item that previous week. They’re obviously good at their job if I’m being influenced to buy something. The only way to completely avoid the temptation is to unfollow them.
But don’t worry! You can alway refollow them in the future. Just give yourself a break when you need it.
Step 3: Transition to cruelty free and toxic free beauty products.
Similar to step 1, it’s best to look at the brands you already buy to decide what brands to keep and which brands to dump. Go through your makeup, hair, body and skin care and write down all the brands you come across.
Next, look up lists of cruelty free makeup brands on pintrest. If you see a brand on a “cruelty free” list, you’re good to go! Don’t get too excited when you see your brand on one of those lists though… that’s only test number one.
Test number two is the toxicity test. At first I was only concerned with my makeup being cruelty free, but then my friend showed me the “think dirty” app. The “Think Dirty” app lets you search up different brands and specific beauty items, and then gives you a full report of the “cleanliness” of that brand or item. I’m all about saving the animals, but it’s important to choose brands that are good for me too!
I used to be obsessed with the Kat Von D Tattoo Liner (vegan and cruelty free), but it’s an 8!?!? on the “Think Dirty” app! Nooooo thank you!
Step 4: Transition to eco-friendly and sustainable brands
You’ll need to replace some items after assessing your clothes and beauty brands. Personally, I started with my beauty products. I used up the “bad” products I still had and replaced them with cruelty free and vegan counterparts.
Sephora actually has an entire “vegan makeup” page and section now! Which was very exciting to see and easy to use. I love how companies are making it easier to be a conscious consumer. 😁Just make sure to check the products on the “Think Dirty” app before you purchase!
Since we’re in quarantine, I haven’t really been replacing any fast fashion items with anything new just yet. I’ve purchased some lounge wear from women owned brands to support my fellow females, but that’s about it so far.
Step 5: Learn to use what you already have… and swap or borrow for what you don’t!
Thanks to instagram and the rise of fast fashion, we tend to think we need something new every time we go on a trip or an event. But we really, really, REALLY don’t.
Learn to use what you already have and swap or borrow when you can’t! The transition to slow fashion is much easier with a supportive community. Find some friends who are down to do clothes swaps or join a clothing app like Poshmark, ThreadUp, or Tradsey.
I’m personally a huge fan of Poshmark because you can follow people with similar styles and trade clothes. I’m big on sharing my finds on Poshmark, so make sure to follow me! @kkantoinette13
This post is the Overview of the 5 baby steps to Make the switch to Slow Fashion. See all the posts in this series below!
Great Suggestions! Very practical.
Thank you so much for the feedback Christa!