A year and a half ago, just before New Year’s, I was sent a Vogue article about a journalist who only bought 5 new clothing items over the course of a year as an experiment. If everybody would only buy 5 items a year, the carbon footprint of the fashion industry would be manageable for our planet. Only, the average European citizen in 2023 bought 42.
The combination of traveling around a lot (hauling stuff), moving to Amsterdam (low funds), and the perfect (weak) moment right before the new year made this my resolution and challenge for 2024. I only needed one article to radically change my shopping habits to just 5 items for the entire year. The rules are simple, yet ambitious. Everything counts: vintage, shoes, and (my worst nightmare) even bags. (You’re allowed to buy sportswear, socks, and underwear.)
Rules are meant to be broken, so of course, I immediately created my own set of cheat codes. My loopholes were:
1. Swapping or borrowing clothes (with friends) is allowed, since it doesn’t increase demand.
2. Receiving clothes (even if they’re newly bought) is allowed.
3. Most importantly: making or upcycling clothes with my mom is definitely allowed.
If people ask me why the hell I do it or if I would advise it, there’s an ugly truth I learned and an unexpected benefit I received.
I thought buying was a completely rational process. So that if I would limit myself to a certain amount of items, I would only buy things that I deeply wanted and enjoyed. And that would last me a lifetime. Unfortunately, this couldn’t be farther from the truth. The first year, I bought 5 random impulse items that I eventually ended up not being that happy with, so I gave them all away to friends. (Haha, ouch.)
What I received was a very, very calm and peaceful mind, though. You get bombarded with so many buying opportunities during the day — Instagram ads, shop windows, etc. Having a standard ‘no’ as an answer creates a lot of space in your head; it gave me much more peace of mind.
But yes, there are moments where I see something I’d like, and slap myself for this stupid rule. For me, the good definitely outweighs the bad. The inspiration, the freedom, the money and space for other things.
With pride and pleasure, I can say that 2024, in terms of clothing, contentment, and creativity, was at its peak. So this ‘rule’ has definitely followed me into 2025 (cheat codes included, of course). ;)
What would you miss buying the most, if you could only buy 5 items? And which cheat codes would you need to give it a try?
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