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Upcycle to Complement Your Wardrobe

8 comments
Upcycle to Complement Your Wardrobe
upcycle your clothes

So far my buy no new clothes has been successful - I was tempted by the post-Christmas sales at a sustainable fashion brand, and even thought that by buying it I would still be doing something good because it was an organic pair of pants (I love pants!). The only reason why I didn't buy it was because I had to rush off somewhere else and didn't get the chance to click "buy".  

I haven't upcycled much lately either because so far my wardrobe makes me happy - why would I want to change anything?

My only thoughts are that perhaps what I should upcycle / sew should complement what I already have. On reflection, perhaps there are some pieces that shouldn't have been made in the first place because it can't be worn with anything else and I would have to buy something else to get the look I wanted.  Realistically, it might have been better to have sent it to the thrift store or gifted to a swap.

Try to Aim for a Capsule Wardrobe
This concept has been around for over 30 years, and was made popular by Donna Karen, who launched her "7 Easy Pieces" range in 1985. I quite like the idea of having pieces that can be worn from work to play just by changing a certain item that you are wearing.  I'm not sure about just 7 having items only considering some of us live in extreme climes, and where I live we sweat buckets!  This article, has suggested some key pieces to put in your capsule.

Jennifer Scott talks about a 10 piece wardrobe in her TEDx talk, and gives some tips.




Complement Your Wardrobe
I think everyone knows that traditional colours will always be your staples whether it's work or play. But when you're upcycling a thrift store dress or a something from a clothes swap think about whether it will go with your blacks, creams, whites and navies in your wardrobe. I think what's more important is that you don't let too many colourful prints overwhelm what you have. I've usually found that I get distracted by the beautiful prints in the thrift store or swap, reconstruct it and THEN (only then) do I think about what I'm going to wear it with!  Let's break that habit.

Wear it 30 times?
Lucy Siegle has this rule of wearing something at least 30 times. She said that if you can't wear it at least 30 times then don't bother buying it. We should apply the same rule to upcycling our clothes. Why upcycle it when you're not going to wear it?


Have you thought about this when you upcycle your clothes?



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Abdelghafour

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8 comments

  1. Great post!
    I recently promised myself I'll wear every item as long as it is good enough to wear and only then replace it. Formal attire until the colors fade and shape disfigures and home wear until it gets worn out.
    And actually it's going really well! It makes me think twice (or more:) before buying something, because I know I'm supposed to stick with it. I buy less but better quality and style.

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  2. Love this I have been trying to do better about what I buy and having key pieces of clothing so I do not have to keep going shopping. I love this.

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  3. Hi Aggy,

    I like that you raise the question, many upcycling projects may end up not worn, even more sadly, in the bin... I wouldn't throw that pajama away, though (from the video), rather would mend it and wear it (obviously was comfortable) ;) I often find myself mending and altering, because the garment is quite good, just needs a little lift up.

    To have successful upcycling project we need to consider 3 main things:
    1. What is our style? If we don't know, it's good to figure it out slowly (it's a process)
    2. What are our colours? What we like, what suits us best
    3. What designs will enhance our body shape.

    From there we can go and make those garments that we really need;) I really hope by blogging about those things on my blog, I will add some value for many sewing enthusiasts. It's important to have that extended community if we want to somewhat manage the unsustainable path that fashion is on today!

    Have a great day,
    Mariana

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  4. I took the Shop Drop Challenge to not buy retail for January and have been successful. Yay! I am thrilled to pieces with my thrifted stretchable corduroy pants for $1.50. Washed, hemmed and am wearing them today.

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  5. my wardrobe became more of a capsule (in its own way) after my sewing..... i found I naturally gravitated towards certain colours in the charity shop (rather than the constricted pallette of the fashion shops) and the cut of my handmade clothes are more comfortable tban most of store bought. v happy with my makes and also glad i got to revisit my sewing skills which had gotten slap dash in the intervening years.

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  6. great post love the idea of if your not going to wear it 30x and staple pieces

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  7. Great post! I don't really struggle with buying clothes because I hate shopping, but I do struggle with being bored with my clothes at times, so this is a great idea to help add a little something without having to go buy something.

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  8. Wear it 30 times. I hadn't heard of that before, but that means that you would focus on higher quality itmes that will last, rather than the trendy pieces of lower quality. I will have to remember that! Thanks for posting on the #WasteLessWednesday blog hop!

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