A Cohesive Wardrobe is a Sustainable Wardrobe

Posted by: Maria Macklin, August 16, 2024

A Cohesive Wardrobe
A Cohesive Wardrobe is a Sustainable Wardrobe

“When your wardrobe is cohesive, you’ll automatically be sustainably stylish” ~ Maria Macklin

A cohesive wardrobe is a curated collection of clothing, shoes, and accessories that work well together, allowing for easy mixing and matching to create a variety of outfits. The value lies in having a streamlined selection of pieces that reflect your personal style, are versatile, and are appropriate for your lifestyle.

These elements working together ensure a cohesive wardrobe:

  • Colour Palette
  • Personal Style
  • Lifestyle Appropriate
  • Quality over Quantity
  • Wardrobe Staples (personal to you)
  • Versatile and Flexible
  • Fit and Comfort (both physical and emotional)

Most of us actively wear about 20% of the clothes we buy. Most of us don’t have a cohesive wardrobe; instead we have a mish mash of separates that we can’t make into outfits – we have everything and nothing. Most of us buy clothes on a whim without due consideration - we buy everything and nothing.

It doesn’t matter whether you buy new or second hand, you are not being sustainable when the clothes are sitting unworn, taking up space in wardrobes, and then being discarded. That behaviour ensures that clothes are sent to landfill, usually in other countries. That behaviour lacks due consideration and value for each garment. That behaviour is costing the planet. That behaviour is giving you zero return on clothing investments.

I know through working with my clients that style/clothing education arms consumers with the tools to buy the right clothes for them. When people understand which clothes suit them, offer them emotional comfort, are appropriate for their lifestyle, they can shop with assurance and confidence. As they become extremely fussy and strategic with their choices, they are automatically more sustainable. They know what to buy and, more importantly, what NOT to buy.

How can you be sustainably stylish? Before you acquire any new garment, ask yourself the following (and be honest):

  • Does it fit with my personal style
  • Does it belong to my colour palette
  • Will I wear it many, many times
  • Will I still love it in 2/3/4 years’ time
  • How many outfits can I make with it, from the clothes I already own
  • Is it practical for my current lifestyle
  1. Understand the clothes that suit you best. Know your personal style. Know which clothes honour and express who you are. By default, you’ll also know which clothes to avoid.
  2. Take account of your lifestyle – spend your money where you spend your time.
  3. Know what you have and what you haven’t in your wardrobe.  Keep a visual file or a list of what’s there. That will stop duplications. And keep a note of where your wardrobe gaps are, so you buy what you need rather than what you want.

I guarantee that when you have a strong sense of your style, what to buy for you, what to avoid, you’ll automatically be sustainable. You’ll be picky, fussy, strategic. You’ll buy less and you’ll buy better. Everything in your wardrobe will blend and harmonise with everything else. Making many outfits with fewer clothes will be easy. That benefits the planet and your bank balance.

We all have a duty to buy less and buy better. We all have a duty to make all our clothes work harder. We all have a duty to wear all our clothes many, many times, until they fall apart. We have a duty to value our clothes and to treat them as investments.

(This piece is a result of my reading lots of articles on sustainability which don’t take account of this point. Know what to buy; know what not to buy.)