As an environmentally conscious fashion brand, we like to keep up to date on the world of sustainability and make sure we are informed on best practices to improve our imbalanced environment. We'd also like to share our tips on how to integrate sustainability into your wardrobe and help you cultivate a compact, ethical and circular economy within your own closet! Here are our top 10 tips on how to curate a sustainable wardrobe that won't require sacrificing great style. 

1. Start Shopping Consciously

First a foremost, switching to a sustainable wardrobe will require a small paradigm shift. Making slight changes in shopping behaviours is key to the transition. Instead of heading to Zara after work on Friday to pick up a dress for an event that weekend, think about reinventing an existing item within your wardrobe. Instead of compulsive shopping sprees, try to plan your wardrobe to be realistic and strategic about the amount you buy. It's like when they say "never go grocery shopping when you're hungry", the same theory applies when shopping for clothing!

1. Research Brands

When you do start to plan your seasonal wardrobe, take a little time to research the brands you purchase from. There are more and more sustainable fashion labels popping up and a quick search on Instagram for key hashtags will open you up to a new world of accessible ethical fashion. At OhSevenDays we offer customised size options, so it's now possible to find sustainable fashion at any size. Suggested hastags to follow: #sustainablefashion #ethicalfashion #capsulewardrobe #slowfashion 

3. Choose Your Fabrics Wisely

Before you purchase, take a look at that little tag stitched inside the garment to better understand the fabric make-up and care instruction for the garment. Try and look for fabrics which you know will be comfortable, breathable and long lasting. We suggest natural or semi-synthetic fibres such as cotton, linen, wool, viscose, Tencel, Modal and Cupro. 

4. Care For Your Clothing

Take the time to investigate the care instructions for your garments, and follow them! Each item should have brief instructions stitched into the inner seam of the piece. For further instructions, get in touch with the brand to better understand how to care for the piece (we love hearing from customers for tips!). Hand washing is labour intensive, but generally allows for a prolonged lifespan for your clothing. Steam is your friend! Investing in a small hand steamer will give new life to your garments and make them feel crisp, clean and new again.

5. Try The 30 Wear Challenge 

Try to buy pieces you think you'll wear at least 30 times. Let's collectively aim to break the trend of single-use, throw-away fashion! Once you become aware of the process of how a garment is made, the lives it touches and the environmental disruption it causes, you will quickly understand that single-wear would be utterly senseless. Completing the 30 wear challenge will also help you to clarify your purchases and even help you to be more creative with your styling. 

6. Clothes Swap Party 

Host or attend a clothes swap party. They're not only super fun social gatherings, but they also create an opportunity to give new life to pieces you might otherwise dispose of. Who knows, your next door neighbour might rock that midi-skirt you never felt quite right in!

7. Build a Capsule Wardrobe

A capsule wardrobe is essentially a carefully curated collection of pieces that mindfully coordinate well together and can be worn in a number of different ways to cater for multiple occasions. The items should be made up of separates and include a handful of seasonal pieces you can change according to the weather, destination or occasion. There are some great apps available now to help you create a super stylish and well curated capsule wardrobe. Our favourite app is Cladwell, a beautiful app where you can visually compile your wardrobe and even include some OhSevenDays pieces!

8. Shop Vintage

For your staple capsule wardrobe pieces, we recommend buying from high quality and sustainable brands like us! But for those statement pieces that might not be quite so versatile, why not shop in vintage and thrift stores? Trends are generally very cyclical, so if you search hard enough you're guaranteed to find relevant thrifted or vintage pieces. 

9. Repair and Reuse

Find a great local tailor who can do custom alterations and repairs. Instead of disposing of that pair of ripped jeans, you can just patch them up and give them another few years in your wardrobe. You can also make adjustments to quality vintage or new pieces you buy online that don't fit quite perfectly. We at OhSevenDays offer custom alterations to our pieces, so if you're not sure of your size, just send us your measurements and we'll check for you and make the necessary adjustments!

10. Recycle 

When you are done with a wardrobe item (ideally after 30 wears), why not recycle it. If the item is still in good enough condition, there are plenty of clothing donation programs available to send them off to. Otherwise familiarise yourself with ways to recycle the actual textile. Initiatives such as Relooping Fashion are taking great steps to finding a solution to turn old textiles into brand new ones. We at OhSevenDays accept your old items to be returned to us for recycling also!

We hope this has given you some inspirational tips to take steps to create your own sustainable wardrobe!