Christopher Legard is Managing Director of the men’s classic clothing retailer Joseph Turner. Here, he shares his tips for sustainable fashion for men tips by creating a capsule wardrobe that’s full of pieces you’ll love and wear for years to come.
At a time when we’re all becoming increasingly aware of the impacts of our purchases, you might have started to look for ways to live more responsibly and sustainably. And, revising the way you shop for clothes is a great place to start. Due to the rise in popularity of low-quality and trend-led clothing, the fashion industry has become the second largest polluter in the world (Sustain Your Style), just after the oil industry, so being mindful of what you buy and wear can make a huge difference to how negative of an impact your lifestyle has on the planet.
One of the best ways to create a more eco-friendly collection of clothing is to put together a capsule wardrobe of high-quality and timeless pieces that you’ll be able to wear again and again. Here, I’m going to give you my top tips for doing this.
Sustainable Fashion For Men
How to Create a Capsule Wardrobe
Stick to neutral colours a much as possible
When you’re building a capsule wardrobe, you want to ensure lots of the different pieces you have work together. So, you should be able to pair most of your tops or shirts with the majority of your trousers and jeans. The easiest and most reliable way to do this is by sticking to a colour palette of neutral tones as much as possible. This way, most of your garments should be interchangeable.
Blue and black denim, beige chinos, and some grey trousers would make a great collection of bottoms. For tops, I would recommend sticking with whites, greys, blacks, and navy blues to begin with, although you can eventually branch out and add some burgundy and even forest green pieces if you’re confident you’ll get enough wear out of them. The important thing is to ensure you’re always choosing colours that will complement each other, rather than clash.
Have some simple accessories on hand to mix things up
The trick to creating a capsule wardrobe that you’ll love for seasons, or possibly even years to come, is to take steps that will ensure you don’t get bored of it. Accessories can really help with this.
A lot of men have a tendency to underestimate the power of accessories. For example, you might have one watch, one pair of shoes, and one hat that you wear. But having two or three of each in your arsenal can offer a way to change your looks up so you never get tired of them. Of course, you should still stick to a relatively simple colour palette. So, you could enhance your wardrobe with some black boots and a smart pair of brown shoes, two watches in silver and a gold or gun metal tone, as well as ties in grey, navy, or burgundy. You could even add a couple of beanies in grey and black. Having these accessories on hand will mean you can give your look a slightly different feel depending on which combination you choose to wear on any given day.
Only buy things you can wear at least five ways
To build a capsule wardrobe that’s truly going to work for you, you need to shop smart. So, whenever you’re considering adding a new piece to your current collection, think about whether you’ll be able to wear it in at least five different ways. If it’s a top, will it work with all your trousers, and could you layer it over or under a shirt? If you’re interested in buying a new pair of chinos, consider whether they’ll work throughout the seasons, and if the colour is going to complement most of the tops you already have.
If you buy pieces that aren’t very versatile, you’ll only be able to wear them in one or two ways, which will get boring very quickly. As a result, you’ll be far more likely to buy more clothes. So, in order to stick to your capsule wardrobe pledge and still feel inspired by your clothing, it’s best to choose pieces that you can already imagine wearing in a handful of different ways.
Take good care of what you have
Finally, it’s incredibly important that you take good care of your capsule wardrobe. Wash everything in line with the advice given on the label, look into getting your pieces repaired if they start to show signs of wear and tear, and make sure everything is stored properly. The main reasons behind creating a capsule wardrobe should be to limit your consumption of fast fashion but, if you aren’t taking good care of your garments, they’ll soon lose their shape, fade, or become stained, which means they’ll need to be replaced. So, help your clothing look its best for longer by taking steps to prevent any of this from happening.
Curating a capsule wardrobe of a small number of pieces that you love, and that will work well together, is a great way to limit the impact you’re having on the environment. Plus, it will make it much easier to get dressed in the morning, as well as ensure you always look put-together. Take these tips on board, and you’ll be able to create a great capsule wardrobe that truly works for you.
