Did anyone see Stacey Dooley's programme last night? And are you all really happy with having so many clothes

[Helpmepleasenow48]

Because we have caused this....
www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/14/techno-fest-in-ship-graveyard-aims-to-revive-vanished-aral-sea

I've got loads of clothes - I love fashion but after seeing this programme I have to admit I feel ashamed...

All my clothes fit in one drawer. I hate shopping and the only reason I buy new is an item of clothing has fallen apart,

The looks and treatment I get off some people is a huge issue and I wonder if I dressed better I would be treated differently.

I think the attitude to people who don’t buy into the fashion industry needs to change and the rest will follow.

Olivers I've always been a careful spender but coming on these boards this morning having seen that programme last night and I feel you are right!

My lack of clothing is because I hate shopping. Not anything to do with careful spending.

I sometimes spend a day with friends. We have lunch and chat. Which is great. We then wander around department stores and shops. I am actually bored to tears.

How many handbags do you need to look at? They are usually leather so have that putrid smell wafting around them.

Why do you need a handbag. The most I have on me is my keys a credit card and a phone.

All go in pockets.

And don’t get me started on sniffing candles.

I had more fun last night looking at copper piping and drills with Ds than looking at skirts and shoes with friends.

I think it’s easy to take the moral high ground if you’re not interested in fashion or shopping. For those of us who are, there’s a thread somewhere on slow fashion that could be promising.

It is shocking and the programme was eye opening. I have been thinking about the environmental impact generally of fast fashion for a while and have tried to cut back on my clothes shopping. I try and buy things that I need rather than want. This is easier said than done, with social media, cheap clothing and being bombarded with the latest 'must have' all the time, it's easy to go 'oh I'll just buy that top' etc.

Speak for yourself. I have enough clothes so that I can do the washing twice a week and to cover work, weekends and special occasions. The average amount of time I tend to keep an item of clothing is around 10 years (unless I change size or it falls apart.

I shop at Asda, Sainsburys, FCUK (in the sale) & Debenhams mostly.

Floisme will have to look for that. Not taking the moral high ground. I've been a massive consumer of fashion!!!

I am awful though. If I decided that i need a new item of clothing eg last summer I decided I needed a new pair of jeans then I spend ages looking in every shop, trying on, until I find the perfect pair. I don;t impulse buy.

But how many skirts, trousers, pairs of shoes do you actually need.

I suspect there are a lot of people who moan that they can’t afford a holiday/car/house who have a few £1000s of clothes and shoes they never wear or have ever worn hung in their wardrobe or stuffed in a cupboard

I'm no impulse buyer either - I go on eBay and pick up other people's impulse buys now... but that's still not that great I don't think..

It wasn’t directed at you op

I watched it and felt hopeless- it will involve a massive shift of consumer habits before this can change and I don’t think it will ever happen. I don’t buy a massive amount of clothes despite working in retail but I see many people who do- we’re just too fickle as a society to make the changes that are needed.

I spend about £70 on clothes a year, and I try to buy a lot second hand. I don't have a lot of clothes. Why are you assuming everybody does?

I have a lot of clothes, but I also hang onto things for a long time. I’ve got plenty of things I’ve had for ten years or more, and I avoid buying things I know will only work for one season. And, tbh, as long as I’ve completely limited the future contribution of my gene pool to the destruction of the planet, and China and the gulf states carry on as they do, I’m not taking on any guilt.

Hedgehogblues m,aybe because I'm posting on the S&B boards?
Floisme

I'm really interested in style and beauty. You can be stylish and into and love, clothes without having lots of them

Ok

There was a woman on the radio the other day saying that washing clothes is also an environmental problem because particles of the fabric get into the ocean. Or something like that.

I have lots of clothes. I feel queasy at the amount sometimes. I have got better in the last few years but spring and summer I go mad. I hate winter clothes so not so much of an issue then.

But if I go away for a week I usually take a fee days worth of clothing and use a washing machine and rewear. I often thing how better I feel with just having a few things that go together in different permutations, just the feeling of not being swamped with stuff.

I am not buying any new clothes between now and end of March. Its a start!

The only clothes that I buy are second hand, i am given a couple of items for my birthday, which is a treat.

If we don't change our habits as a species we will head like shit in a fan to a very unpleasant and messy future. One that is not so many years away now.

So individuals making environmental and ethical decisions now will help towards a not quite so fucked up planet. If those few individuals become a stream, then a river, well we may just make a difference.

It is all about taking personal responsibility.

I was quite shocked by the programme, and as a serious style and beauty addict I did feel a pang if guilt. HOWEVER. A couple of years ago I decided to do away with fast fashion and only buy pieces that were good quality and would last. Shops such as Primark and Zara, PLT and new look are anathema to me. I appreciate that I’m fortunate enough to afford higher end stuff, that said I only buy in the sales, right at the end when every thing is at least 50% off.

More recently I have really started to clear out all the stuff I don’t wear and have started to recognise not only what suits me in terms of style and colour, but also what I will wear again and again. There are staples each season that I have to replace simply because I wear them so much. As I’m getting older I’m recognising what my key style is, and getting fussier about quality, it least because it looks better, but also because it’s ethically-made.

Carrying keys, phone and a credit card might be fine for some, but others like me need to carry an A4 folder, work lunch, actual purse with money and travel pass and driving license for ID, bottle of water, umbrella, spare phone charger, notebook, pens...

I have not carried money for so long I can't remember when I paid for something in cash.

If you are carrying an A4 folder and your lunch then you need a briefcase not a handbag.

Men seem to manage without a handbag

Yes I saw it. Dreadful. I don’t have a lot of clothes but even so, it will make me think before I buy anything else which is not from charity shops.

Last week I bought a butter soft leather coat. Unworn with labels. I’ve worn it twice and have been met with genuine incredulity when I say it was brand new in a charity shop. I think many people just collect clothes and then bin them sometimes before they’ve even had them on 😐