How to buy great fashion that doesn’t cost the earth

theguardian.com:

In the UK, the average person owns 115 items of clothing, 30 of which have never been worn. So, before you buy any more, go through your whole wardrobe. Pull everything out; reacquaint yourself with that once-loved dress and consider whether repairs or alterations would breathe new life into what you already have.

Also, consider selling, giving away or donating items you don’t wear. This will help make space for you to see, and appreciate, what’s left. Analyse the items you wear the most – think about colour, cut, silhouette, fabric and print – to home in on your personal style.

Doing this will really help avoid future failed purchases. Look at the way similar items are styled on fashion retailers’ websites to get ideas on how to combine them into fresh outfits.

With £140m worth of clothing ending up in landfill each year, many environmental campaigners advocate buying secondhand first.

Even if you don’t have a brilliant charity shop nearby, the market is booming online: there’s eBay, Vinted and Depop for high street clothes and Vestiaire Collective and The RealReal for designer.

Many charity shops have online portals, too, says Wendy Graham of the sustainable-living platform Moral Fibres.

Oxfam, the British Red Cross, Cancer Research and Barnado’s on Asos Marketplace are among her favourites. Thrift+ is also worth exploring.

Filter by category, size, brand, colour, condition and budget, and you can set up eBay alerts to find specific pieces.

Shopping out of season can reduce competition and therefore price (now is the time to seek out that Toast Fair Isle jumper).

If you have items to sell, do this first and use the proceeds to buy new-to-you secondhand items.

Swishes – events in which you swap your old clothes for other