Sustainable fashion has never been a more necessary topic. You might have seen the hashtags #slowfashion or #thanksitsrented cropping up more frequently on socials, meaning that many of us are turning to our own wardrobes to ask ourselves the question, ‘how can I dress sustainably?’.
We’ve curated our top five books to help you learn more about how to make a change to your fashion buying habits. You can not only look great, but feel great about your wardrobe choices.
About the Author - @laurenbravo
Lauren Bravo is a freelance journalist who has written for Grazia, Refinery29UK, Cosmopolitan, Stylist, Time Out, the Telegraph and more. She writes mainly about fashion, popular culture, food, travel and feminism, and has been writing about fashion since 2009.
Give me the gist
How To Break Up With Fast Fashion will help you to change your mindset, fall back in love with your wardrobe and embrace more sustainable ways of shopping - from the clothes swap to the charity shop. Full of refreshing honesty and realistic advice, Lauren will inspire you to repair, recycle and give your unloved items a new lease of life without sacrificing your style.
Who is it for?
This book is for anyone looking to learn the fundamentals: What is slow fashion, and what small changes can I make to my lifestyle today.
Buy from Bookshop.org Here*
About the Author - @tara_button
When she received a Le Creuset cast iron pot for her birthday, Tara realised that she would never have to buy another one. This was a beautifully-made, solid product covered by a lifetime warranty: a true buy-for-life item. ‘Buying for life’ became Tara’s mantra. Tara is the creator of BuyMeOnce: the destination store to find the longest-lasting products on the planet.
Give me the gist
Now more than ever, we live in a society where we covet new and shiny things. Not only has consumption risen dramatically over the last 60 years, but we are damaging the environment at the same time. In this book, Tara explains more about how to live by her mantra of buying to last, and champions a lifestyle called ‘mindful curation’. Instead of surrounding ourselves with throwaway stuff, in this book Tara gives 10 steps to build habits where we can celebrate what lasts.
Who is it for?
This book is for anyone suffering with throw-away guilt. We know we shouldn’t be doing it, and life doesn’t need to be this way.
Buy from Buy me once Here *
About the Author - @OrsoladeCastro
Orsola de Castro is spearheading a global movement calling for change in the fashion industry. An Associate Lecturer at UAL, Visiting Fellow at CSM and a keynote speaker, educator and mentor. She is a leading speaker on fashion and sustainability. She has partnered with individuals like Lily Cole, StellaMcCartney, Lauren Laverne and Emma Watson at Fashion Revolution, a Global Campaign she founded in 2013.
Give me the gist
With the growing popularity of fashion rental services and pre-loved marketplaces, our opportunity to get our hands on an old ‘new’ outfit are growing, but as we all know, the most sustainable items are the ones we already own. How can we fall in love with those items again?
This book will equip you with a myriad of ways to mend, rewear and breathe new life into your wardrobe to achieve a more sustainable lifestyle. By teaching you to scrutinise your shopping habits and make sustainable purchases, Orsola will inspire you to buy better, care more and reduce your carbon footprint by simply making your loved clothes last longer.
Who is it for?
This book is for those looking for more of a challenge. That dress in the back of your wardrobe that you only wear with a cardigan because it has a stain on the sleeve? It’s time to fix that.
Buy from Bookshop.org here *
About the Author - @DanaThomasParis
Dana is a celebrated fashion journalist based in Paris. She is a regular contributor to The New York Times Style section and has written for The NewYork Times Magazine, The New Yorker, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and more. She is a bestselling author, and Fashionopolis is her third book.
Give me the gist
In this book, Dana documents her world travels where she has discovered the visionary designers and companies who are pushing the industry toward amore positive future by using more traditional methods teamed with cutting-edge sustainable technologies to produce better fashion.
From printing 3-D clothes, clean denim processing, smart manufacturing, hyperlocalism, fabric recycling—even lab-grown materials. This book explores the innovation side of fashions future at manufacturer level.
Who is it for?
You might have already started your fashion journey by looking at your own shopping habits, and now you’re looking to learn more about the industry asa whole and delve a bit deeper into your choices.
Buy from The Portobello Bookshop here *
About the Author - @SozoBlog
Zoe has a passion for sewing, reusing materials and debunking fast fashion, and documents this on her sewing blog. Through her work as a dressmaker and sewing teacher she is on a mission to inspire and assist others in making/remaking their own clothing.
Give me the gist
It happens, clothes eventually get damaged, we grow out of them, or they’re just simply not fit for purpose any more. Does that mean it’s the end?Of course not! If you’ve ever taken a bag of clothes to your local recycling bank and felt the anxiety of the unknown before you’ve dropped it into the abyss, it could be time to take matters into your own hands and see what you could achieve!
In this book, Zoe shares handy step-by-step illustrated guides to common stitch and repair techniques.‘Mend it, Wear it, Love it’ has everything you need to mend and care for your clothes, and stitch your way to a more sustainable wardrobe.
Who is it for?
You’ve heard a lot about the need to reuse and repurpose our garments, and now you want to try it for yourself!
Buy from Blackwells Bookseller here *
If you’re wondering how you can help save water, CO2 and prevent plastic pollution through your washing habits, then why not try Oxwash? Our space-age technology means that we can filter up to 1,000,000 tiny plastic microfibres per KG of washing, preventing this from entering our waterways. If you’re looking for ways to introduce sustainability at home, this could be a great way to start! Sign Up Today.
*These books are also available at Amazon, but we prefer to support smaller brands.
