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Sustainable Fashion Guide for Fashionista Moms: Here’s What We Know

by Kevyn Gohu
July 4, 2024

We’ve been hearing the term “sustainable fashion” for sometime now. Here’s what we know about it!

While we would love to always stay fashionable and trendy, sometimes, it can get tiring and messy to manage! Because of how fast fashion trends change, we sometimes end up with unused clothes. These eventually turn into an overwhelming pile of clutter, a potential source of dust and dirt, and a fashionista’s worst nightmare: a pile of looks that have no right to make a comeback. Although some of us have found ways to declutter through social media groups, others have opted for sustainable fashion.

Here’s what we know so far about the trend:

What is Sustainable Fashion?

Sustainable fashion is when clothes are made with more sustainable materials and processes. Some terms we’ve probably heard and will recognize are recycled fashion and upcycled fashion. Although different in approach, they achieve the same thing: reduce the amount of waste caused by people’s desire to stay trendy and fashionable.

Sometimes, we might confuse the emerging fashion trend with slow fashion. But those are two different things with the latter emphasizing more on supporting local fashion designers and artisans.

But being sustainable in our fashion practices doesn’t just mean buying from shops that advertise that. Here are other ways we can get into it.

Environmentally Friendly Fashion: Preloved, Recycled, and Upcycled

Sustainable fashion is an umbrella term for three other ways to practice environmentally friendly ways to style up: preloved fashion, recycled fashion, and upcycled fashion.

Preloved Fashion – Also known as Ukay-Ukay fashion, these are formerly loved fashion pieces that have been given away. In some cases, the shops in the Philippines usually go through the fashion waste of other countries so some sizes may be bigger than usual. Also, don’t be surprised – some pieces found in that pile can be made from the Philippines!
Recycled Fashion – Instead of selling the actual piece, shops that do recycled fashion reduce the piece back into its raw materials and then make something new. As to how they do it, some of them “shred” the old clothes and re-align them to form a new piece.
Upcycled Fashion – A less extreme version of recycled fashion, upcycled pieces are old pieces that are just cut here and there to be sewn into something new. A common favorite is taking old Japanese kimono fabric or Philippine weaves and elevating them into something new.

Things to remember when going into sustainable fashion…

With fashion brands now becoming more sustainable, the next thing we have to worry about is giving into our shopping impulses. After all, we’re looking trendy and helping the earth! It’s a win-win but before we give into our shopping impulses and rationalize that we’re helping the earth doing so, here are some things to remember:

1. Most upcycled pieces are statement pieces.

For the modern-day minimalist, upcycled pieces can look overwhelming. But look a little closer and we’ll realize that it’s because these pieces have personality. Their goal is to make the wearer become the center of attention. Most of the cut-up fabrics used to turn into upcycled pieces had patterns hence its “loud” appearance.

2. Recycled pieces tend to be a mix of new threads also.

Most fashion brands often put a tag on their pieces, saying something like, “made from 65% recycled cotton” to show that it’s a recycled piece. But that means a part of it is still new threads and that’s usually because the harvested clothes, despite being the same color, have different feels and sheens. To keep the piece consistent in look, they just match the threads and buy new threads to make up for the lack thereof.

3. Preloved pieces do need a bit of investment.

While some are lucky enough to get a preloved piece that they’re happy with, there are some that still need a little nip and tuck. Assuming that some of these pieces go for around PHP 250 to PHP 500, we have to ask ourselves if we’re still going to change it. It’s a bonus if we have some experience in sewing and designing but for those who don’t, they’ll need someone who can alter it, especially if it’s too big.

Most alterations cost around PHP250.00 ~ PHP1000.00, depending on the changes. If it’s just going to cost more than a brand new piece then, maybe that preloved piece isn’t worth getting.

4. Engaging sustainable fashion ≠ throwing out all the clothes in our closet

Engaging in sustainable fashion doesn’t mean throwing out all our clothes to replace them with sustainable pieces. That’s just senseless! However, what we can do is upcycle them with the help with an alteration shop or a modista to update the look. Or, if they really can’t fit us, we can pass it on to the kids. But remember, once we pass it to them, they can cut it however they please.

Being environmentally-friendly and trendy

As we engage in sustainable fashion, it may feel overwhelming at first when we look at all the clothes in our closet that haven’t been worn for the last couple of years. But the important part is we repurpose a lot of these pieces. While we may feel bad for cutting up some of those pieces, think of it as getting our return of investment (ROI). After all, that piece probably cost a lot back in the day when it was still trendy.