Sustainable Wardrobe
Sophie Benson’s Sustainable Wardrobe suggests accessible, fashionable, and eco-conscious alternatives to fast fashion.
This full-color coffee table book is broken into sections: general knowledge about clothes and their environmental impact; tips for assessing and repurposing a wardrobe; information on best practices for shopping with purpose; advice for maintaining clothing for its longest life cycle; and notes on how to repair items at home. Within each section are interactive elements including a checklist for creating a personalized and long-lasting wardrobe, an all-natural recipe for hand-dyeing a t-shirt, and instructions for sewing on buttons. Brief, relevant interviews with industry experts end each chapter to give a closer look at each element of wardrobe sustainability.
Delivered with easy simplicity to make understanding even the most convoluted aspects of the fashion industry possible, the book defines its terms well throughout the text and includes a glossary to further contextualize its reading. The instructional sections are useful and range in complexity from everyday tips (as on how to make a natural dye from avocados) to more advanced ones (as on sewing two half-shirts together to make one new piece). Some of the instructions are lengthy and difficult to visualize beyond the handful of pictures provided, though they still serve as stepping stones for inspiring sustainable practices.
A former fashion stylist and a journalist specializing in clothing sustainability, Benson is a credible guide through the field. Statistics with sourced references are included throughout the text as well.
With its informative tips and interactive tutorials, Sustainable Wardrobe is an approachable and fun guide to getting the most out of your wardrobe while living more sustainably.
Reviewed by
Allison Janicki
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
