Are you ready? Let's go 2024

How to get started, things to watch out for - and the joy to come

Welcome to all the new subscribers in this group! You’ve just made the first step to a better relationship with your wardrobe, a more sustainable future and a much more joyful relationship with fashion. Rule of 5 is a challenge for those who want to buy less, value their possessions more and still enjoy getting dressed - with all the confidence, empowerment and fun that brings. Let’s get started!

This newsletter is a resource of tips, tricks and inspiration, better shopping directories and strategies. It will help you engage with mending, altering, swapping, borrowing, dress making (yes! 2024 goal) and second hand. It’s all free, but the more you support us, the more we can give. And by paying, you are also pledging your own commitment.

Let’s get started

First up - avoid the sales! It’s that time of year and the force is strong here. No doubt your email inbox and your social media feeds and maybe even your doormats are overflowing with ‘money off’, ‘one time only’ bargains that you just CANNOT afford to miss. Well - you can. Sale shopping is dangerous as it is rarely what you need. Do yourself a massive favour (so you don’t fall at the first) and unsubscribe from every fashion site, turn off fashion ads and what ever you do, don’t go to the shops!

Embrace the Rules

I set these out as more of a guideline to help you. There is no ‘success’ or ‘failure’ other than making you more conscious about what you are buying, ending the overflowing wardrobe crisis and trying to solve this horrible situation of fashion waste. Why 5? It’s all laid out here, but briefly the climate scientists crunched the numbers and found that broadly if you live in the west and you are in the top 20% of earners, (meaning you earn more than about £44k or $56k or €50k a year), we, as in the world, can only afford for you to buy five new fashion items a year.

* (please see bottom of this post for a bit more on this).

So the rules:

What’s Allowed

Lingerie (but don’t go mad)

Tights and socks (but don’t go mad)

Renting

Mending and altering

Swapping

Borrowing

Dressmaking (extra points if you upcycle your own or deadstock material)

A small amount of second hand (but don’t go mad. I allow myself 4 items)

What’s Not Allowed

Buying more than 5 new things

Gifts (they count I’m afraid)

Shoes and accessories (they are part of your ‘five’)

The Seasons

I also found it helpful last year (the first year I did it), to break the year into five seasons, allowing myself one purchase per season. This is what those seasons look like:

Winter: Jan 1st to March 7th

Spring: March 8th to May 25th

Summer: May 26th to August 16th

Autumn: August 17th to October 31st

Christmas: November 1st to December 31st

A word of warning here. For many of us that did it last year, the holidays were the hardest bit. It’s when your wardrobe needs to change (you are doing something active or different from your day to day, you are in a different climate etc) and it’s also when you want to relax and have fun. Why not treat yourself to a new dress/pair of sandals/hiking boots? Plan for this!

The Wardrobe Audit

This is a great place to start. Plan a date night with your closet. Get it all out on the floor and have a good and honest chat together. What’s working and what’s not? What’s forgotten that could be revived? What’s leading you down the wrong path? There’s more advice from top stylist Cathy Kasterine here:

Wardrobe Clear Out? The Dos and Don’ts

Make a Plan

This is the fun bit. What do you need? What’s missing? What have you always wanted and not got? What could you save up for as a reward? When you pinpoint something you need and really want, take your time.

Do Your Research

I spent 6 weeks looking for the perfect white shirt last year, and was overjoyed when I found it. I tried so many on, really nailed what it was that I wanted, then set out to find it. The thrill of the hunt! Discover new brands with values you want to align yourself with, look for new influencers and activists sharing information you are curious about that can help shape your decisions. Learn more about where clothes come from - it’s fascinating, I promise.

A few to get started with:

Brands: With Nothing Underneath, (shirts) Navy Grey, (knitwear) Another Tomorrow, (luxury fashion) ELV Denim, (jeans and things) Wehve, (knitwear) Branwyn (transformative underwear).

Influencers and Activists: Collective Fashion Justice, Dirt Charity, Greenwith Studio, It’s Not Sustainable with Tiffanie Darke

The other newsletter in this Substack family is It’s Not Sustainable where I write every week on fashion. Last year we looked at the purpose, mission and values behind companies like Veja, examined the climate impact of Phoebe Philo’s new brand and saw what happened when Asos crashed a climate summit. I also confess all my dirty laundry from the time I was a fashion editor in Rupert Murdoch’s world.

Some helpful strategies

What really worked for me was the cool off period. When I really wanted something (and it happened a lot), I gave myself 2 weeks to think about. If I still really wanted it at the end of two weeks then it was probably a keeper. Almost every time, the desire went away.

Remember: Don’t buy something because you like it. Buy it because you LOVE it!

You can inject wardrobe newness in so many different ways from buying new. When you are bored of all your clothes think about what else is available: renting is the easiest, but so too is altering - find a good dressmaker or learn some skills yourself. I gained two new skirts and a beautiful peplum top last year from my existing unworn wardrobe and have more plans for this year.

Think more strategically about styling. Layering, print clashing, colour blocking, underwear as outerwear - so many hacks! Get a friend round to style up some outfits for you - they might see something in your collection you haven’t spotted yet. You can do the same for each other, it’s fun. More hacks here:

Warddrobe Refresh, 12 Easy Hacks

Finally, if you do fall off the wagon, just get back on again. This is basically a fashion diet and we are all prone to failure. If you do buy something, regret it, can’t take it back, then promise yourself you will wear it to death or re-home it where it can be properly appreciated. And just resolve not to do it again. The beauty of the seasons (above) is that if you have a splurge, you can re-set. No shame in that!

The Joy to Come

Some people have found this challenge hard, some easy. Personally, I found it quite hard. But I suppose with everything in life, (sigh), no pain no gain, and without doubt the triumph I felt at the end of the year, coupled with the greater understanding I gained about my personal style, and the true treasures I now have as part of my wardrobe family - most of which I really, really cherish - has without doubt made up for it.

So - good luck! Please let us know how you get on in the comments, or you can follow me @tiffdarke over on Instagram for more daily chats. Remember - this is fun. I absolutely promise you you will walk away at the end of this year having discovered more about yourself and about fashion than you ever had before. Or your money back.

Until next time,

Tiff (and all the Rule of 5 team who showed it could be done)

*As a planet we are consuming resources at 1.7 times the rate we can afford, so every body needs to cut back and it starts with us. Also, our rampant consumerism has been something of a mind trick by marketeers - the idea that collecting objects and stuff will make you happy. To a certain extent this is true (Chanel shoes, anyone?) - but what sort of happiness is this? Just sit with that for a bit as it’s quite a personal question.

Also, please leave a comment or ask questions as always lovely to hear from you. I found committing to this publicly last year forced me into it - there was no giving up or backing away once I’d declared myself!