Five ways to repurpose
unwanted clothes
Sand, The Ultimate Solution To Cut World’s Mineral Waste Production
23 MAY ‘22
6 minutes
Words by Sara Campidelli
Picture by Nugroho Wahyu
Time for swapping your seasonal wardrobe and want to do it in a sustainable way? We got you covered. We have listed the five ways to repurpose your pre-loved clothes below to help you out and make this activity more fun.
Picture by Nugroho Wahyu
Time for swapping your seasonal wardrobe and want to do it in a sustainable way? We got you covered. We have listed the five ways to repurpose your pre-loved clothes below to help you out and make this activity more fun.
Picture by Ron Lach
First things first: assess
the status of your clothes
Once you went through them and decided what to keep, put them away. Now you are left with the pre-loved pile. Among those you can further divide between the below four categories.
This will help you assess the best way to repurpose them.
- clothes you are still very attached to but they don’t fit or have to be repaired;
- clothes you loved, worn and in good condition but they are not your style anymore;
- clothes you loved in the shop but eventually have never been worn;
- clothes that are not in good condition anymore and have lived through their life.
After your sorting spree is completed, check out below the five ways to repurpose your clothes.
Picture by CLOTHESfriends
Picture by CLOTHESfriends
Upcycling
This is the most creative and rewarding option. Upcycling means creating something new by using waste, hence increasing its value.
You will be giving a second life to your pre-loved clothes by customizing or repairing fit or details. You can do it yourself or work with a seamstress, if you need the sewing skills of a pro. You can repurpose the clothes you still love by using material from those not in good condition, for a 100% sustainable approach.
Swapping
Swapping is not a new practice: if you are the second sibling or you have older cousins you know what swapped clothes are. If your mom would swap your baby clothes with the relatives, you can now swap to repurpose your own wardrobe!
The most fun way is joining a swap party event like those from @berlinclothingswap . You can meet sustainable-minded people like you and find a home for your pre-loved clothes or the ones you don’t know why you bought.
Selling
You even have the option of making money from selling your clothes!
You can bring them to a vintage store or even sell them on apps like Vinted or Vestiaire Collective. The better the conditions the higher the chance to sell, so you need to make sure that your clothes are well maintained. Can’t find a better way to repurpose the clothes you have never worn, or the pre-loved ones that no longer fit with your style.
Donating
Charities always appreciate donations of clothes in good condition to be given to people in need. The Red Cross or Collection4Clothes are two organizations operating in this field, but there may be some local ones in your country or city. This is a great way to repurpose your pre-loved clothes and help those in need at the same time.
Renting
After doing all this sort and repurpose work on pre-loved clothes, you might feel like restraining yourself from buying new ones. After all, we found out we didn’t need all the clothes we had.
When we need a fresh piece of garment, we could consider renting instead. We keep the rented garment for a period of time, send it back and rent something new.
Renting is sustainable because it maximizes the use that is made of clothes in their lifetime, keeping them away from landfill. On average we wear clothes we own 10 times, but with rental the garments could be worn 100-200 times.
Picture by CLOTHESfriends
Picture by CLOTHESfriends
Picture by Daria Shevtova
Apps like CLOTHESfriends give access to an unlimited wardrobe without taking up the space, and you can get to wear brands you could not afford to buy.
We hope you now feel less anxious about this season's wardrobe update with all these options. Let us know in the comments what is your favorite way to repurpose your pre-loved clothes!
