Fashion : Decrease the amount you buy

Obsessed with fleeting trends and seduced by bargains, we've never bought so much - but a new book says it all adds up to more clothes, less style | Mail Online

We also embraced ‘hi-lo dressing’ — spending a large amount of money (sometimes upwards of £800) on an It-bag or a statement shoe from one of the major luxury designer labels before bulking out the rest of our wardrobes with cheap garments.

Therefore our cupboards have become places of extremes, and this suits brands at either end of the market. Discounters claimed a huge slice of the fashion market while the luxury houses made money hand over fist.

(By the way, do not be fooled by the fashion week collections unveiled by luxury brands twice a year. These are largely cosmetic. Today, these venerable luxury labels are conglomerates dedicated to shifting as many It-bags, pairs of status shoes, belts, watches and perfumes as they can. It’s all about flogging accessories, not clothes.)

Now, we’re at a style crossroads. The price of cotton — the lifeblood of cheap fashion — has soared. If you’re unable or unwilling to break an addiction to cheap clothes, get ready to wear a lot of synthetics, but don’t expect them to have much of a future in your wardrobe.

We must opt out of this churn. Buy things with an eye on the future. Set a budget you can afford and plan how your wardrobe will develop in the long term, not just what you will wear to lunch next Sunday.

Reassess your idea of style as well. It’s not simply what the latest Hollywood ingenue is wearing.

Decrease the amount you buy. You can spend the same amount buying one good piece you’ll keep for five years rather than 30 things you’ll wear once or not at all.

Swap, loan, mend, restore. These are words that can become more important again. Buy with knowledge, power and purpose. It won’t just make you feel better. You’ll look better, too.

To Die For: Is Fashion Wearing Out The World? by Lucy Siegle is published by Fourth Estate at £12.99. To order a copy (p&p free), call 0843 382 0000.