Wear What You Already Own

Isn’t it funny how we get bored with our clothing so quickly? It’s almost like we buy things and after 1 months time it’s lost that “new” feeling. What a waste! Even though this may happen to us often, it’s still important to wear what we already own and find ways to make it look and feel different each time we wear an item.

I personally avoid wearing the same exact outfit more than once if I can (that may sound ridiculous to some, but its true.) As a clothing collector, I have many different ways to wear my clothes, mixing things together that I haven’t done in the past. Which is what I did with this look pictured here. Each item was bought separately for different reasons. And now, I am remixing them to create something completely new, not to waste the money I spent on these clothes and not to add to our worlds surplus of textile waste. See below 5 reasons why wearing the clothes that you already own is important.

5 LCM Reasons Why it’s Important to Wear the Clothes that You Already Own

1. Save Money.

Obviously if we are wearing more of the clothes in our closet, the less money we are spending on new clothes. Sometimes we can get into the habit of always buying something new every time we go to an event or party. However, we all probably have something in our closets already, that we haven’t worn for a while, that will do just fine. Wear different shoes, different jewelry, do your hair differently from the first time that you wore this item so that it feels new and different. 

2. Develop Personal Style.

When we wear the clothes that we own without constantly adding new trends or styles to our wardrobes, we will start to notice things about ourselves. Our preferences for how we wear the clothes that we have bought over the years will take shape and certain items will become favorites for different reasons such as fit, color, fabric and more. Knowing and loving the items in your closet are essential to having personal style.

3. Reduce Waste.

How often are we subject to cleaning out our closets? At least once a year, many of us get rid of tons of clothes that we no longer wear or want, which is a great thing especially if we are donating to people who may be in need and of course clearing out space in our homes. However, there is so much clothing in the world because our society loves to over produce everything. It’s a small part, but if we each learn to buy items that we truly love, and wear those items over and over, remixing them into new looks, we are helping to reduce all the wasted clothing that sits in the bottom of donation bins and trash piles. According to this video, 85% of donated clothing actually goes in the trash! Wasted textiles. 

4. Stand Out From the Crowd.

When we wear the clothes that we have been wearing for years, people will notice. Our own clothes (depending on the trendiness of the item) sort of become unique, or vintage so to speak. Our own clothing ages in our closets, making them different from anything you will see anyone else wearing. So the next time you want to wear something really different, go back into your oldest items and see what you can work with. Use your imagination! Getting dressed is supposed to be fun. 

5. Get your “cost per wear” Money’s Worth.

If you buy a blouse for $80 and only wear that blouse twice because you either took photos in it and don’t want to get caught wearing the same thing again or maybe it’s so left field from your typical style, that means you paid $40 each time you wore that blouse. For some, that may be okay. But for me personally, I feel it is important to get that cost per wear down to pennies! For example, the Donald Plinar booties in this outfit pictured, I bought from Macy’s for my 28th birthday for about $100. I’m pretty sure I’ve worn them 100 times already. You can do the math. See the first time I wore these same booties here. 

Outfit Details:

Shirt: Zara

Cami: &OtherStories

Pants: PACSUN

Shoes: Donald Plinar

* The clothes pictured in this post are not new, and may or may not be available in stores. The details with links above are to inform you of the brand or store that an item was purchased.