Emma Chamberlain is done with hauls. In her latest YouTube video, the influencer shared that she did a huge closet clean-out and got rid of (almost) everything, leading her followers to do the same on TikTok.
“I really thought that having a closet full of clothes could bring me joy,” Emma Chamberlain says in the intro, with her voiceover playing over clips of herself in the past, surrounded by clothes. “I thought I would be infinitely more stylish. I could not have been more wrong.” She'd clean out her closet only to go shopping again and was “rarely satisfied” with her outfits.
According to Chamberlain, she recently narrowed down everything in her closet to the things she actually wears, saying goodbye to “95 percent” of items, including things that were “flashy, too trendy” or things that didn't fit right.
In true Chamberlain fashion, the idea of a comprehensive closet clean-out caught on on TikTok, as fans shared videos of themselves cleaning out their dressers and closets in pursuit of a “capsule wardrobe” of pieces that can be mixed and matched.
Though some of the videos were made with a tongue-in-cheek twist, it's clear that her video did strike a chord with like-minded fans who also find themselves overwhelmed with their closets.
TikTok content
TikTok content
Of course, all of these videos raise some major flags about our overconsumption habits, and Chamberlain acknowledges this by saying her prior purge-and-rebuy cycle wasn't healthy for herself, her style, or the planet.
There’s also the question of where all the cast-off clothes end up, for one; sure, you can donate them, but that doesn't guarantee they'll find a new home. The United States generates tons of textile waste, some of which is shipped overseas. You may have seen the pictures of clothing washing up on shore, for example. That‘s why donating responsibly, reselling or even swapping is imperative. While we've still got a long, long way to go to a more sustainable fashion future, taking ownership of your habits and trying to wear what you own instead of buying new clothes for every occasion is a great first step.
