Tips for Smart Shopping
I’m back girls! I hope you all had a fabulous holiday weekend. I was not about to try to compete with hotdogs, boats, or alcohol on the Fourth of July, but we’re back this week hotter than ever!
This week I am going to ease everyone into the ins and outs of fast fashion by discussing smart ways to shop. Join me on a hot girl talk so you can save your wardrobe and the environment!
The easiest way to help the environment is to reuse the clothing that you already own, but in some cases we either just really need or really want to shop! If you find yourself in a position where you are definitely buying new clothing, I have three tips to help you decide if it is a “smart” buy.
Determining the Cost Per Wear and the Impact Per Wear
To calculate the cost per wear of an item, divide its price tag by the number of times you’re planning to wear it/you’ve worn it. The more often the item is/will be worn, the less the cost per wear will be! The lower the CPW is, the smarter the purchase is. To calculate the impact per wear of an item, divide its environmental impact by the number of times you’re planning to wear it/you’ve worn it. This is not a realistic calculation to make while shopping (the environmental impacts of each clothing item for each brand is not often accessible), but it’s good to keep in the back of your mind. This is also a topic I would suggest researching for more information if it deeply interests you.
Purchase High Quality Items
High quality items can sometimes come with a price, but it is definitely worth it for a timeless piece of clothing. For example, investing in business casual clothing that you would wear every day for a corporate job would be a smart way of shopping. You would want clothing that you wear every day to hold up, so you don’t have to keep replacing the item. Amazon and Shein may seem like the easy way out for work clothing (or other clothing that is worn on a daily basis), but the smartest thing to do is to invest in everyday pieces that will last as long as possible. My mom invested in high quality blouses years ago that I wear today! (Thanks girl love you)
THRIFT OR BORROW
I cannot stress this last tip enough (I don’t know if I would even consider it a tip I might make it mandatory if you’re hot). Thrifting, buying used, and borrowing clothing is an incredibly smart way to “shop”. Most clothing items are made from synthetic materials, which take hundreds of years to decompose in landfills. When you thrift or borrow, you help extend the life of clothes, which can reduce the volume of clothing sent to landfills each year. This also means fewer wasted resources: Making clothes takes a lot of water (along with labor, carbon omissions, etc). In short, the longer a piece of clothing lives, the longer Earth lives!
I could yap about the topic of fast fashion and smart shopping for ever and ever and ever. The fashion industry can be seriously harmful to the environment, but it doesn’t have to be! Educating yourselves is the best way to help out. Keep coming on hot girl talks, and for more information check out my Instagram Account @hotgirltalkk for updates/links to helpful resources.
Smart shopping is HOT!
