3 hours ago
2
I’ve loved sustainable fashion since my early teens, always more interested in stealing my dad’s band T-shirts than anything remotely designer. Originally, it was a money-driven choice, but when I turned 15 I became acutely aware of the fashion industry’s damaging impact on the planet and the unethical labour conditions behind high-street brands. I decided that wasn’t something I wanted to be complicit in.
Charity shopping became my favourite weekend activity and cheap, mismatched clothes began pouring into my ready-to-explode wardrobe. My obsession for secondhand clothes continued to grow, partly fuelled by social media and new fashion trends.
When I moved to London earlier this year, I felt inspired by the big-city fashionistas around me. I was in a new place, with a new job and it was a new season to buy more clothes. I was addicted to Vinted. I scrolled at work, I scrolled in bed – sometimes it was the first thing I’d do after waking up. Shopping on Vinted became my favourite pastime and an easy dopamine hit at any time of the day.
Sometimes I’d pick up my phone to reply to a text, and end up with a new top arriving and a dwindling bank account. Half the time I couldn’t remember what I’d ordered and I never felt satisfied with the clothes I had. My shopping may have been eco-friendly, but I was desperately overconsuming and that didn’t agree with my politics.
I thought back to a traveller I met on a recent trip abroad. She’d been on the road for a year, just her and her backpack. I was intrigued by her wardrobe situation as I couldn’t get my head around wearing the same few outfits for a whole year. She explained her one in, one out policy where if she wants something new, something else has to go.
Inspired, I decided to implement this into my new life in London. Adapting this approach has been a success so far. I love wearing my old clothes and styling them in a way that reflects my ever-changing taste. I truly consider new buys and dodge impulsive purchases.
If I want a new item, something else goes on Vinted and I earn cash in return. If it hasn’t sold after a month or so, it goes to charity, maintaining a virtuous cycle of secondhand buying and selling. If I want to buy on Vinted, I only use what’s in my in-app pool of credit – known as your Vinted balance.
As a gen Z shopper, it’s so easy to fall into overconsuming. Influencers set the bar high: no repeating outfits, only exercising in expensive sets, and retail therapy framed as a self-care ritual. But my new approach has made me more intentional about what I buy and excited about what’s already in my wardrobe.
Repeating outfits doesn’t have to be boring and owning the same clothes for years should be standard practice. I’ve brought back some old charity shop buys that I hadn’t worn for ages, and now they’re some of my favourite pieces. They reflect a part of who I am, rather than a lifeless social media trend. And more than anything, mindful shopping has taught me to trust my gut, wear what makes me happy and ignore everything else.
