In a time of fast-moving trends and disposable fashion harming the world we live in, what can we do to beat it and save the environment? Here, Jack Jahan from Ramsdens Jewellery tells us how we can create a jewellery capsule collection to beat fast fashion.
So far, 2019 has seen an increase in awareness of our human impact on the environment and sustainability is now set to dominate all aspects of our lives, from food and packaging to clothing and jewellery (Pinterest). Fast fashion and throw-away trend pieces are now being swapped for something more environmentally conscious.
Buying pre-owned jewellery is a great, affordable way to reduce your impact on the environment, and you can use these pieces to start your own jewellery capsule collection. Pick a few statement pieces you can wear with most outfits again and again in order to beat fast fashion.
Clear out anything you won’t wear
When starting your capsule jewellery collection, your first step should be to look through pieces you already own to see if you can find any timeless items to keep for your new collection. Take out anything you don’t wear anymore, but don’t throw them away. Valuable pieces can be sold to earn you a little extra money to spend on your new jewellery collection. For cheaper costume jewellery, you could reuse the beads and add them to soft furnishings or clothing. If you’re particularly creative, there’s no limit to what you can do with old jewellery.
After you’ve cleared out your current collection, you’re going to feel a lot better for it, and you’ll be in the right mindset to start collecting new, staple pieces.
Choose staple pieces
When creating a jewellery capsule collection, start with a few staple pieces before building it up. These pieces should be items you can wear with almost any outfit, that won’t succumb to the transience of trends. They could be a pair of diamond studs, a basic ring, a pendant necklace, a cocktail ring, a leather strap bracelet, or a pair of hoop earrings. Try to stick to timeless pieces that won’t go out of fashion so you can keep them for years to come.
Choose a mixture of different styles, if you can, so you have something small and minimalist to wear every day but can also dress up an outfit with a bigger statement piece if you need to. For instance, diamond drop earrings are a classic style and are great at turning any outfit into something dressier, as well as going with almost any colour.
Mix your metals
If there’s one thing guaranteed when it comes to jewellery, it’s that silver and gold will never go out of style. When you’re collecting staple pieces, I’d recommend picking a mixture of precious metals, so you always have something to wear with any outfit. So, you could add a pair of silver hoops, as well as a pair of gold hoops, switching between them depending on your outfit choice for the day. If you find that you have a strict preference for one type of metal, invest in more of that colour instead of buying pieces you’ll rarely wear.
Pick an accent colour
Inject a bit of colour into your jewellery capsule collection with a few gemstones. These can add some personality to any outfit and won’t go out of style any time soon. You could choose to wear your birthstone, or simply pick a colour you really like and will wear often.
You could also go with neutral coloured gemstones, such as opal, moonstone or something with an interesting mixture of colours, like labradorite. Again, the important thing to consider is how often you’re going to wear each piece.
Fast fashion is heavily criticised for its contribution to our current environmental crisis, but you can avoid being part of the problem by recycling your jewellery and collecting timeless pieces that you can wear with any outfit, for any occasion.