One of the most accessible ways to be sustainable when engaging with fashion is by taking care of what we already own. Clothes that are well cared for last longer, which allows them to remain in use longer – and in circulation on the secondhand market if necessary – and, thus, out of landfills. Unfortunately, clothes care isn’t as familiar a topic these days as it used to be, or ought to be. Speaking for myself, it took me years to realize what I was doing wrong and figure out how to do better. I blame washing machines — they make you think you know what you’re doing when, in reality, it’s not quite as simple as it seems. I’m by no means an expert now, but I have a good enough handle on it to allow me to keep my clothes in “good nick” (as the English say). And, good enough is good enough; even small tweaks can help a lot.

Washing Clothes – How Often is Too Often?

Listen, I know; this is a hot button topic for people. Just like there are people who wash their hair every day and refuse to believe that a person can be clean otherwise, there are people who believe that every item of clothing must be washed after every wear. Experts (and I’m not talking about myself here) all agree this is not correct, but I expect that will not convince some of you. It’s fine; if you’re in that category, there are other ways to increase the longevity of your clothes, but know that your clothes will wear out comparatively faster (no matter what else you do) due to washing frequency.

For everyone else: what should we be doing?

The answer, as always, is “it depends”. It will depend on everything from the type of item in question, to fabric content, to lifestyle, to personal factors such as proneness to sweat. This Vogue article provides some general guidelines. You will see, for example, that Levi’s recommends that jeans be washed after every 10 wears. Other experts suggest that wool sweaters can be washed at the end of the season. Whether you follow these guidelines to the letter or come up with your own (shorter or longer ones) is up to you and your own comfort level.

I’ll share my general approach, not because I’m suggesting it’s what you should do, but because you might find my thought process helpful.

A few things you need to know about me: I don’t sweat a lot (unless in a highly stressful situation); I live in a cold climate and spend most of my time in climate-controlled environments; I don’t do a lot of highly physical and/or outdoors activities; I am 100% WFH. All of these things factor into my decision-making about clothes-washing frequency – your mileage may vary.

Perhaps the most important consideration for me is: am I wearing the item directly against the skin, particularly in areas prone to sweat? Wearing base layers – which I tend to do for both practical (weather-related) and style reasons – helps to minimize how often I have to wash certain items. So, for example, if I’m wearing a cotton sleeved tee underneath a blazer, I am going to need to launder that blazer less often than if I wore it with a sleeveless tank. A piece that’s more tight-fitting and more likely to rub against my skin will get more frequent washing than something that fits loosely.

It’s basically the same principle that people in Ye Olde Days applied. They used wool, linen, and cotton underclothing – from chemises to petticoats and assorted other things, which were all regularly laundered – to protect their nice, expensive (and hard to clean) silk and velvet outer garments from contact with the body, which in those days was subject to a LOT less cleaning itself.

There are certain things I wash very infrequently, unless they become stained or impregnated with smells like smoke, etc. Jeans, most sweaters, coats, and skirts fall into this category for me. In contrast, I wash base layers frequently, every 1-3 wears depending on the item and fabric. Dresses, tops and blazers are a case-by-case situation. Because blazers usually require dry cleaning, which I like to avoid for both financial and environmental reasons, I usually try to wear a (sleeved) base layer under them to defer the need for cleaning as long as possible.

Something else I do to extend the time between laundering is to steam my clothes and air them out after wearing them and before putting them back in the closet. Steam is a very efficient sanitizer (though, obviously, it won’t work on stains), especially for pieces that are hard to clean via regular laundry. It takes very little time, doesn’t put extra stress on the clothing, and it really makes a difference. I also steam clothes before wearing them if I need to get wrinkles out, but mostly because I find it more convenient than ironing.

Washing Clothes – The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

By now, I hope we all know that the dryer is the main culprit in shortening the lifecycle of our clothes. I use it sparingly for things that aren’t (a) underclothing, (b) athleisure, or (c) loungewear (aka “house clothes”). Using a drying rack can be annoying at times, especially in a small house, but once you’re not washing everything constantly, it’s manageable.

I know some folks are “throw everything in the washing machine” people, but I am not quite that adventurous. My rule of thumb is: cotton, linen, polyester, acrylic, and blends of any of the above can go in the washing machine. Wool, silk, and embellished materials are handwash only. I will also make exceptions for items that are super valuable to me, and handwash those just to be on the safe side.

The only things I regularly dry-clean are blazers and heavy coats.

Leather care is a whole other topic, which I’m still learning about, tbh. Currently, what I do is gently wipe down leather items as needed, and steam clean the interior lining. (I also do this with fully-sequined pieces – turn them inside out and steam clean the hell out of the lining.) I’ve been lucky to avoid staining my leather clothing but if I did, I would seek out specialized help.

One thing I recently started to pay more attention to is the spin cycle. Basically, the higher the speed, the higher the agitation and cleaning power. Agitation can be bad for certain materials like wool. Higher spin cycles are best for cleaning heavily soiled items on durable fabrics like cotton, linen, and polyester. If I’m washing a lot of knits or more “delicate” items (like dresses and tops that aren’t very dirty), I’ll use a lower spin cycle (and the delicate cycle). This Laundress article touches on this and other useful tips for washing machine use.

I don’t use bleach in my washing machine cycles. My family doesn’t wear a lot of pure white clothing, but if I need to get stains or yellowing out of a white item, I will pre-treat it with Oxyclean then throw it in a regular cycle with other light-coloured clothing (or hand-wash as the case may be). I also pre-treat heavy stains on all types of clothing, but that is a topic that could take up a whole other post. My advice is always: if in doubt, Google will tell you what you need to do to treat a particular type of stain.

Mending Clothes

I know my way around with an embroidery needle, but I am not handy at all when it comes to sewing. Still, I am able to do the basics, including sewing on buttons and fixing small holes in most fabrics (silk excepted). And if I can do that, anybody can! Anything more elaborate, like hemming or replacing zippers, I will usually outsource because it’s something I simply don’t have the mental bandwidth to tackle. And that’s okay! Know and respect your own boundaries. Of course, if you have the time and inclination, learning as many simple mending techniques as possible can save you money. But if you don’t, don’t beat yourself up. Just recognize that clothing that needs a little bit of work can still have a lot of life left in it and treat it accordingly. It’s more sustainable to pay a little bit to fix an old garment than to buy it new again.

Shoes deserve a special mention here. I am not as diligent about water-proofing and moisturizing my leather shoes as I should be, although I am careful about what shoes I wear in wet conditions to minimize wear and tear. What I am very strict about is replacing heel tips and re-soling. Doing so proactively, before the heel or sole is fully destroyed, is really important and can extend the life of leather shoes indefinitely. Good, comfortable shoes are worth their weight in gold, so this is an expense I will happily incur.  

I hope you’ll find some useful information in this post (and the links are even better, I promise) and feel free to share your tips in the comments.

Details: H&M top (retail), Everlane sweater (thrifted), DKNY skirt (Poshmark)

Thoughts: Ahhh, the saga of this outfit! It all started when I saw the H&M ad on the right in their store a few months back. It immediately triggered my deeply rooted 90s nostalgia. Doesn’t it look like all those cool CK ads from the 90s? I was never cool enough to be a CK girl back then. Kate Moss, c’est pas moi. But my 40s are all about boldly going where my teenage self feared to tread, so I set about trying to recreate that ad photo with a vengeance. The first step was breaking my no-retail rule to buy the extra long sleeved white cotton shirt from H&M. It’s not the worst thing; it’s a versatile base layer, and I know I’ll get lots of use out of it. The next step was acquiring a sheer panel skirt. Sheer is a big trend these days (oop!) but, outside of high end designers, finding a similar skirt proved difficult at first. Oh, I forgot to mention: the H&M version was long sold out by the time I started looking. But then! I lucked out BIG TIME. This amazing, vintage DKNY skirt popped up in my Poshmark searches and you better believe I smashed that buy button hard. Well, actually I made an offer and had it accepted but you know. I got it for a great price, and it’s far better quality than the H&M one, I’m sure. Love that for me, haha! It’s also a more wearable skirt because the opaque part actually comes down to just above the knees; I folded over the elastic waistband here so I could make it appear shorter. I love the extra versatility (and being able to control the sexiness quotient).

Details: White + Warren sweater, Nanette Lepore jacket (both thrifted), Contemporaine skirt (swap), Mia shoes (retail)

Thoughts: This was, of course, an homage to Clueless. I did substitute in a (p)leather skirt for a little extra edge. I also decided to give sheer black tights another try. It’s been years since I’ve worn them, but I feel like they were a 90s thing. I always wear some kind of tights with short skirts, because I don’t love the bare-legs look on myself. I still think I prefer opaque tights, but I might also just need more time to adjust to this version.

Details: Obey hoodie (thrifted), BlankNYC jacket (retail), Chicwish skirt (thrifted), Laredo boots (consignment)

Thoughts: This outfit was all about the juxtaposition and contrast — mixing girly with grunge. I loved wearing this outfit so much! I know Chicwish is basically a small step up from Shein, but I have to say this skirt is great for what it is; they didn’t skimp on the tulle layers, and they give the skirt a lot of volume and depth. I’m actively looking to find it in black as well. I must also give a shoutout to these boots. I was a bit unsure when I bought them because I had been looking for a pair of granny boots and these seemed more masc. But they’re perfect! I love that they have a bit of a combat boot vibe, without being full-on. They work well with skirts and dresses in that 90s kind of way. They’re also great with jeans, of course. And they’re super comfortable!

Details: Ralph Lauren sweater (gift), Gap skirt (thrifted)

Thoughts: The 90s loved their leather — leather blazers, leather trenches, leather skirts. This skirt is from 2000 — that was a GREAT year for Gap. I have a few other pieces from that year, and I love them. Similar skirts are all over the stores right now, and they’re selling for $500 and up. I paid $7 for mine. The burgundy colour is so good for fall. Here, I went really simple — the 90s loved their minimalism too — and focused on the textural contrast between the smooth leather and the chunky cable knit.

Details: Revello top (retail), Mexx cardigan, Vince dress, Fluevog shoes (all thrifted)

Thoughts: Is there anything more quintessentially 90s than this outfit? This takes me ALL the way back. Black and brown is one of my fave “under the radar” colour combos, and I think it has a minimalist vibe that works well in this context. The white provides the bit of high contrast that makes the other colours look sharper.

Details: Re/Done tee, Gap blazer, Gap belt, Oak & Fort jeans, Modern Vice shoes (all thrifted)

Thoughts: Last but not least, this outfit was inspired by the one and only Winona Ryder. Her street style, to be exact. Was there anything cooler in the early 90s? Anyway, speaking of leather and 2000 Gap things, this blazer: it’s so good. Just the right amount of oversized, a classic cut. I don’t even remember how much I paid for it anymore, but it was under $30. Good luck finding anything like that in stores now … well, unless you’re hitting up the thrift stores. Which you should 🙂

The r/FemaleFashionAdvice sub-Reddit has never been a destination for incisive fashion discussion, but it does, among other things, offer a good sampling of the Average Person’s secret fashion worries. FFA abounds with posts asking for advice on whether one looks too old, too young, too fat, too skinny, too rich, too poor … and how to look more or less of those things, depending on the poster’s mood and unacknowledged biases. It’s kind of exhausting, tbh. And that’s not all. Another topic about which posters fret an inordinate amount is trends. What’s trendy, what’s not. Looking dated, along with being old (a moving target generally positioned around age 30), is possibly the Worst Fashion Sin one can commit as far as the FFA commentariat is concerned. The flip side of that conviction, and equally fiercely held, is a devotion to certain trends.

Spend any significant amount of time on r/FemaleFashionAdvice and you will encounter the phrase “they can pry my skinny jeans out of my cold dead hands” with almost reassuring regularity.

It was so ubiquitous for a while that “cold dead hands” became something of a meme, not only on the FFA circlejerk sub-Reddit, but also on the main sub-Reddit as well. At least millennials have a sense of humour, right?

Perhaps it’s a measure of how little I love jeans relative to other people, but I found the transition between jean trends fairly painless. I’m not bragging, honestly. Trend transitions in general should never be a cause for fretting. The process looks something like this:

1. I spot a new style of something. Jeans, shoes, doesn’t matter. This might be on a runway, on a Fashion Girlie’s Instagram, in a magazine, in a store, or on the streets of my town. There are many phases and entry points to a trend as it ripples out from the centre. Unless you’re working in the fashion industry, it doesn’t matter that much when you become aware of a trend. If it’s late in the game, it’s worth considering how much you want to “invest” in that trend (financially and emotionally, hah!).

• I may not be sure if I like this new style. If it’s not an immediate “yes”, I sit with it before I reject it. Sometimes the eye needs time to adjust to something new. Other times, on calm and measured reflection, it’s just a “no”. Not everything is for everyone. This is ok. One is not any more or less stylish for not adopting every trend out there.

• Okay, maybe I do like it. Off to the thrift stores to see if I can find something similar to experiment with.

• I got it and I love it. Time to stop buying the old style and focus on the new.

• New style is fully embraced, but always with a light grasp. No cold, dead hands. I enjoy what I love, but I’m always open to new ideas.

I also don’t immediately throw out all the existing items of the old style in my closet. If I have several, I might pare down to one or 2, but I keep the best versions (best quality, best fitting, etc.). Trends are cyclical, always. It might take a long time in some cases, but things come back. Just look at bootcut jeans. If you have storage room, keeping good quality clothes (that fit you well) past their current “trend date” is a good approach in terms of sustainability.

I have been on the wide-leg denim wagon for well over a year now, and I still have a couple of pairs of skinny jeans in the back of my closet. And let me tell you an even darker little secret: I still wear them sometimes.

Here are some thoughts to chew over.

One.

Skinny Jeans As Outfit are currently “out” of fashion. That is to say: if the outfit is centered around skinny jeans, and skinny jeans are the first and maybe only thing you notice about that outfit … it’s out of step with current fashion.

But Skinny Jeans As Style Building Block are a different, much more fluid story.

People get very hung up on the idea of things looking dated. But it’s always a combination of items that looks dated – in the sense of being suggestive of an era that isn’t currently trending – not necessarily the items themselves. I’ve done enough wardrobe remixing in my time to know that the same piece can be used to create outfits reminiscent of very different eras.

I promise you that you can wear skinny jeans in Our Year of The Lord 2023 and absolutely not look dated. Will you look trendy? No. But you can look cool AF in a way that isn’t tied to any particular trend or era. That’s called personal style.

I saw a male-presenting person on Instagram rock black skinny jeans with a majorly oversized chunky knit cape thing and tall platform shoes in a way that referenced both Rick Owens and Lenny Kravitz with a healthy dose of Gen Z “no f*cks given” attitude, and let me tell you: that was fly as hell.

Two.

I sometimes wear Skinny Jeans As Outfit. I mean, I don’t post about it on Instagram because it’s the equivalent of that brunch plate nobody really cares about. There are times when function triumphs over style, though, and skinny jeans are damn handy when the snow is a foot deep and I need pants that I can tuck into my quilted winter boots. They’re also handy when I’m gardening in the fall, and I need long pants that won’t flap around or get easily damaged and will protect my legs from rogue thorns and other hazards.

It’s good to recognize the utilitarian value of clothes. Even as someone who generally looks at clothes as a tool of creative self-expression, I know there is more to it than that. Just because something isn’t trendy, doesn’t mean it hasn’t got a place or purpose in one’s closet and life.

I leave you with these parting thoughts:

Love the things you love. Wear the things you love. Use them as tools of authentic self-expression. Use them as practical tools for living.

Know there are other tools out there. Some useful to you, some not. Sometimes, you won’t know which until you try.

Honour the tools that have served you well. They may serve you well again. Be prepared to put them down from time to time. It will be okay, I promise.