Research by WRAP questions the old adage that women are better at clothes shopping than men, as they launch a new campaign to help us make the most of our clothes.
More than half of men decide what they need before going clothes shopping and stick to the plan, compared with just 35% of women, and 80% only buy what they need compared to 35% of women.
But while this might show that men may actually be savvier clothes shoppers, it seems that women appear to be cottoning on to the value of unwanted clothes. The survey reveals almost double the number of women sold their unwanted clothes on sites like eBay compared to men.
As a nation we have a staggering £30 billion worth of clothes in our wardrobes which hasn’t been worn in the last year and we bin clothing which is still worth at least £140 million. So, whether you’re a man or a woman, there’s plenty you can do to access those wardrobe billions for yourself and share your tips with others as part of the new Love Your Clothes campaign.
The campaign has been developed by WRAP, the organisation behind the highly successful Love Food Hate Waste campaign, which helps consumers waste less food and save money in the process. The unique twist to the Love Your Clothes campaign is that, while WRAP has the re-use and recycling know-how, we’re looking for those armchair experts in homes across the country to share their own experiences.
According to the survey, a higher number of women than men were willing to repair or refresh their old clothes, donate to charity shops or swap with friends, instead of putting them in the bin. The creation of a Love Your Clothes online community via the new website www.loveyourclothes.org.uk will encourage these accomplished stitchers to advise needle novices, everyday style queens to share hints and style tips on how they’ve made the most of their clothes and seasoned eBayers to share their successes with first-time sellers. Perhaps men will share their savvier shopping tips too!
The website has advice on choosing clothing designed to last longer, buying pre-owned clothes, using laundry methods that use less energy and keep your clothes looking good longer, repairing and altering your clothes, and donating, swapping or selling on unwanted garments. The site also explains how clothes that are too damaged or worn for re-use can still be donated for textile recycling rather than ending up in the bin.
In the run up to the launch, a @loveyourclothes twitter teaser campaign prompted people to test this out by going through their wardrobes and asking themselves three questions:
Do I love it? – meaning they’ll wear it again with something else, get it altered or repaired,
Do I want to liberate it? – meaning they’ll pass it on via sale, swap or charity donation, or
Do I want to lose it? – meaning they’ll discard it for recycling.
Twitter users tweeted photos of their clothing using one of the hashtags #loveit #liberateit or #loseit, with a selection of the best examples available at www.loveyourclothes.org.uk and the facebook page www.facebook.com/LoveYourClothesUK.
The campaign will be hosting a Twitter Q&A with fashion designer Niki Taylor today, whose Olanic label has been worn by Alexa Chung, Florence and the Machine and Marina and the Diamonds amongst others.
WRAP Chief Executive Liz Goodwin said: “Clothes cost money. Not getting the most out of them by mixing and matching garments, repairing favoured items, selling them on, or giving to charity shops means we’re not getting the most out of that hard earned money, and wasting scarce resources.”
Leading retailers, brands, suppliers, charities and recyclers in the clothing sector are showing their support for the campaign or committing to taking action themselves.
Coordinated by WRAP, 53 signatories and supporters of the Sustainable Clothing Action Plan (SCAP), including retailers Tesco, M&S and Next, leading fashion designer Stella McCartney, recyclers and charities, have today pledged a 15% reduction in carbon, water and in waste going to landfill, plus a 3.5% reduction in waste arising, per tonne of clothing by 2020. This will help reduce the environmental impact of clothing from design, and manufacture, through to sale and discard. Signatories and Supporters are showing their support for the campaign on social media.
Look out for the Love Your Clothes logo appearing on the high street soon in store, on recycling banks, in charity shops and on waste collection vehicles.
For more information:
www.loveyourclothes.org.uk
www.facebook.com/LoveYourClothesUK
www.pinterest.com/loveclothesuk
Follow the campaign on twitter @loveyourclothes
www.wrap.org.uk
@wrap_UK
More information can be found here