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I am celebrating Earth Day by sitting down with stylist Liz Teich to talk fast fashion, sustainability, our excess of clutter, and how we can model living a more sustainable and green lifestyle for our children.

With practical tips for making your wardrobe last longer, to suggestions for carefully curating the pieces and toys in your home, this episode will be the perfect way for you to kick off thinking about manageable shifts you can make to take care of the planet this Earth Day and beyond.

 

Liz (00:00):

I try to be creative in ways of showing them how to reuse things that we already have. Maybe we have a great box that we got from a gift or something, and then we reuse it into something that they can put stuff in. So little things like that, rather than having a huge talk about it, it’s just the little actions that are really going to be more impactful than anything.

Dr. Sarah (00:25):

This week we’re celebrating Earth Day, and one of the best ways to take care of our planet, which is actually beneficial for our mental health too, is to live a more sustainable and environmentally conscious lifestyle. Whether that be in our closets with our kids’ toys or in lessons we’re passing down through our words and our behaviors. There are so many things, big and small that we can do to leave the world a better place for our children. So here today to talk about ways that busy parents can be more sustainable and focused on a greener lifestyle is The New York Stylist, Liz Teich. As a professional commercial stylist for over 15 years, Liz now teaches women how to shop smarter and in a more thoughtful and sustainable way. So if you’re anything like me and your wardrobe after pregnancy or a few kids is still in need of a rehaul, or if you just need to be intentional about clearing some of that clutter in your life, but doing so in a way that keeps it out of a landfill, this episode will have practical tips and simple takeaways that you can start implementing today.

(01:37):

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(02:38):

Hi, I’m Dr. Sarah Bren, a clinical psychologist and mom of two. In this podcast, I’ve taken all of my clinical experience, current research on brain science and child psychology, and the insights I’ve gained on my own parenting journey and distilled everything down into easy to understand and actionable parenting insights so you can tune out the noise and tune into your own authentic parenting voice with confidence and calm. This is Securely Attached.

(03:07):

Welcome, Liz. I’m so excited that you’re here. This is a real treat to have you on to talk about fashion and Earth Day and everything related to just being a mom in a world full of stuff.

Liz (03:25):

Yeah, thanks for having me, Sarah. I feel like this is such an important topic and it doesn’t get talked about in the parenting space enough, so I really appreciate it.

Dr. Sarah (03:34):

Yeah, I feel like you blend those worlds very nicely. And for people who are listening who aren’t familiar with you, can you tell people a little bit about what you do and how you got into sort of this niche?

Liz (03:47):

Yeah, I actually just kind of fell into this niche, but I’m a wardrobe stylist. I’ve been a commercial fashion stylist for over 15 years. I have been doing personal styling for the last five or six years after I found there was such a need to help other moms after they have a new life, a new body, new needs for clothing, and I had them reach out to me on Instagram saying, I need help. And so that’s how my business kind of pivoted and expanded. And then the sustainability part just came from over 20 years of working in the fashion industry and seeing all the ways that goes into it. And there’s something that just needs to be done about that, and it’s something I’ve always talked about before it became trendy, but now it’s such a popular thing, which I’m so happy to see, but it’s still has a ways to go and it’s something that we definitely need to discuss.

Dr. Sarah (04:41):

Yeah, yeah, I mean, I like there’s, and I think as a mom who basically overhauled my wardrobe after having kids, because my body changed so much, it took me a long time to be able to say, I have to get rid of all of these things that don’t fit me, that are just sort of reminding me of something that I don’t have anymore. But it’s like I had this really hard time letting go of it because I think as a society we are addicted to stuff and separating and letting go of our stuff is very difficult and there’s a lot of weird emotional stuff attached to that.

Liz (05:16):

I’m sure. It’s a very psychological process and very emotional. Talking about your clothing, I go into people’s homes, so I have this service called The Closet Refresh that I go into people’s homes and go through their wardrobe and help them try to edit out things that aren’t serving them for different reasons. But my goal isn’t like Marie Kondo, to get rid of a bunch of stuff that isn’t sparking you joy. There’s a reason why things are in your closet. So I try to go through and see why it’s not working and how we can make it work, and that’s when we edit it out if it’s not really serving you in any way. But a lot of times people don’t realize tailoring and maybe even just the different styling pieces that they need can make them wear more of what they have. So it’s really rewarding and it’s amazing because people tell me all the time when they become a new mom, I need a whole new wardrobe. I don’t know how to dress anymore. And we go through their closet and they realize they have so much more, it’s, they didn’t look at it from a different perspective. So it’s really great to be able to save wardrobes and be sustainable in that way rather than having to buy a whole new thing.

Dr. Sarah (06:26):

Right. Saves money too.

Liz (06:28):

Yeah, so always nice, especially when you have kids who cost a lot of money.

Dr. Sarah (06:31):

I know. Well, that’s a, yeah, I didn’t really thought about this sort of waste in the clothing industry for kids too, because like, oh my God, my kids go through. They grow so fast and I feel like I’m always buying more clothes. And what are things that you see parents doing in that area that could be helpful?

Liz (06:51):

Yeah, well, that’s something that I’m also passionate about as well, and I’m even telling my clients and my Instagram followers to focus on that because it’s really actually even more wasteful than women’s fashion. It’s unbelievable because kids go through their clothes, they outgrow them, they get them dirty. So there’s so many great ways to do that without having to spend a lot of money. A lot of people say, oh, I’m just going to go to Target and get the $5 shirts. But then you’re creating more waste. You’re actually buying more because you’re buying them every season. So there’s a couple things. One, there’s a service called Rent a Romper where you can get bundles of rentals just like Rent the Runway, but for kids. And you can either get bundles of rentals based on your needs, or you can rent maybe a Halloween costume or that dress for a special occasion and then you give it back.

(07:42):

And so there’s less waste that goes into the industry with that. I also find that pre-owned shopping is the best way to get kids clothes. I tend to go on Poshmark and buy bundles of clothing on Poshmark for my kids, and it really is such a great way to get everything they need from soccer cleats that they wear for a season to maybe their swimsuits that they wear for just the summer. And it’s so actually easy and rewarding and then you can sell it again. And I also love supporting local consignment shops. There’s one, a great one in Scarsdale that we go to I love. But yeah, so there’s so many great ways to do it without having to spend a lot of money and also being more conscious.

Dr. Sarah (08:27):

Yeah, that’s so important because having been in the fashion industry, don’t curious being able to see behind the scenes when you say it, there’s so much waste in that indu industry. I know that’s true, but can you talk a little bit about what that really means and what looks like and fast fashion and what that is?

Liz (08:48):

Yeah, thank you for asking about that. So when I first started in the fashion industry, I had interned and freelance for a clothing company that they were making all their samples in New York City, which is wonderful. But then even the samples had so much waste fabric, and so there would be so much leftover and they’d had drawers full of all this waste fabric that they would literally just dump at the end of the season. And I would beg for them, can I have all that? And I’d make handbags and different things out of it, but that think about, that’s just for their samples. This happens all the time when people are cutting garments, all the waste that goes into it. So I was seeing all of that. And then also when I was styling, I was seeing that brands actually destroy their clothes so that way they don’t have to pay taxes on it.

(09:36):

So we were instructed after the photo shoot to cut up some of the clothes, which is horrifying. Oh man. So things like that. And I would actually take the discarded samples that they couldn’t sell and turn them into new things. And I just got really frustrated by that. And we’re trying to sell these cheap garments that people probably wear for a season, and then I call disposable fashion and things just need to be changed. We’re seeing that people are so excited to go get that deal at Zara or h and m and then they toss it and it ends up in a landfill. There’s actually a really great documentary on Netflix called The True Cost, and it has such a great insight on where your clothes go when you’re done with it, and a lot of it ends up in a landfill in Bangladesh or somewhere overseas. You think you’re doing a great thing by sending it to Goodwill, but it actually ends up going into a landfill.

Dr. Sarah (10:33):

It doesn’t go to Goodwill if you send it to Goodwill?

Liz (10:36):

Sometimes it does. I mean, obviously Goodwill has a lot of stuff in there, but things that they can’t sell end up in a landfill.

Dr. Sarah (10:43):

Got it. So there’s a lot of how we think of recycling and we’re like, oh, I’m putting my hands in this garbage bin or this recycling bin as a sort of an illusion to ourselves because it’s not actually being 2% or some crazy low percentage of our plastic being recycled.

Liz (11:01):

I know even in New York City, there are so many buildings when I’m working on photo shoots, we put everything in a recycling bin and they end up commingling it, and I’m like, well, we have to keep it separate. And they say, oh, it all goes to the same place. And they end up tossing it anyway. They just do the recycling bins because it’s legally something that they have to do as a building, which is awful. So it’s the same thing with fashion. It’s something that you can be a little bit more conscious about. If you do have holes in your shirts or stains and you send it to Goodwill, it’s probably going to end up in a landfill. So in that case, you want to send it to a fabric recycling place that you can actually get a new life out of it in that way. There’s a lot of farmer’s markets that accept it. So there’s a lot of great ways to do that.

Dr. Sarah (11:47):

Interesting. So if you have clothes that you want to donate, but they’re physically actually not, they’re damaged in some way, we should be actually sending those to a different place. We should be recycling them, sending them to textile recycling places.

Liz (12:01):

Exactly. Or you can even find other ways, other uses in your house, maybe turn it into a rag when you’re cleaning your house, maybe I actually making dolls and stuffing pillows with old socks and things like that. So you can get creative as well.

Dr. Sarah (12:16):

Yeah, I mean I’ve got so many art clothes and smocks that my kids wear that are just exactly ruined stuff that I’m like, that’s going to be what you wear when we do art projects.

Liz (12:27):

Exactly. So there’s a lot of great creative ways that you can go about that as a parent too.

Dr. Sarah (12:31):

Yeah, I love that. I think too, getting our kids involved and understanding the sustainability, do you have conversation, I know you have two kids. Do you have conversations with your kids about understanding where things come from and the way that they receive things? Because I kids are like, oh, I want this, and two days later it’s in a package on the doorstep because that’s how our commerce system works now. And so that’s another piece that, how do you talk to your kids about this stuff?

Liz (13:04):

Yeah, I was actually really fortunate that my mom talked to me about it all the time, and that’s why I’m so conscious about it. We didn’t grow up with a lot of money, so everything got reused down to old clothes of ours were made into clothes for dolls or we would recycle literally everything. My whole dollhouse growing up was made from the little eggs that you get from a gumball machine, and she would make it into lamps and a lampshade, or she would go to get carpet and we would have the leftover carpet, and that was made into the carpet for the dollhouse. So those things are passed down to my kids, and they’re seeing that, which is really exciting. And then I try to be creative in ways of showing them how to reuse things that we already have. Maybe we have a great box that we got from a gift or something, and then we reuse it into something that they can put stuff in. And so little things like that, rather than having a huge talk about it, it’s just the little actions that are really going to be more impactful than anything for them.

Dr. Sarah (14:08):

That makes so much sense living it out in reality and watching us model it and watching us integrate it into our life in a real intentional way versus us being like, let’s have a serious talk about recycling.

Liz (14:21):

Right. Yeah, exactly. I mean, it’s important. They definitely see what monkey see, monkey do. They definitely see us putting the things in the recycling bin, and they definitely can comprehend that, but there’s nothing more than just telling them, this is how I’m going to reuse this then rather than having a huge talk about it.

Dr. Sarah (14:40):

Yeah, and I feel like all this stuff is translatable too for us as grownups. So I know you are a big fan of Rent the Runway and other types of more options for still being able to, I mean, you are very fashionable and stylish and love have great stuff, so it’s, you’re not necessarily so much about doing without, it’s just being intentional about how you do. What’s your method when you’re thinking about whether it’s your clothes or a client’s clothes? What’s your framework?

Liz (15:15):

That’s a great question. So I approach everything in the terms of you don’t need to buy a lot. So when I go through somebody’s wardrobe, for instance, I create a list of all the things that they can focus on shopping for that will make it easier for them to wear what they already have. Maybe I had one woman that said that she felt like she needed a whole new wardrobe and she didn’t have the right pants, and then we just realized she didn’t have one shoe that would make it easier to wear all those things. So once she found that, she realized, oh my God, I have so much more to wear. So sometimes it’s just that little thing that you need and you can approach that with even your kids. Maybe your kids aren’t playing with their toys because you don’t have it organized in a certain way or things like that. So sometimes we just have to take a step back to see the bigger picture, and it might just be a little tweak that can really make a big impact.

Dr. Sarah (16:12):

And so I’m assuming there’s certain anchors that you want to have in a wardrobe, and then you, what do you feel like every person wants to have one of these things, categories or whatever?

Liz (16:28):

I tailor it to everybody, so everybody is totally different, but the things I see the most that people are missing are maybe it’s a great pair of jeans that you feel amazing in that can translate from work to weekend. And I see a lot of people that buy cheap blazers or cheap shoes, and those are the two things that I think really can make a big difference in how you feel because there’s nothing like putting on a power blazer and feeling like you could throw it over a t-shirt and be completely polished. So I think that’s something I see across the board that people really are looking for and don’t know how to look for it. And then I see a lot of times little things, maybe you’re overlooking that a belt could polish everything out and it’s different for everybody. But I do think that sometimes it’s just those little things that can make a huge difference.

Dr. Sarah (17:21):

But then that makes me think of quality over quantity too. What’s your take on that strategy?

Liz (17:31):

Yeah, I mean, it’s hard to say. As you can see behind me, I have a lot of shoes, so everybody’s different. I can’t judge anybody for having a lot of something, but I would rather somebody has one great pair of jeans than 10 cheap ones from the Gap.

Dr. Sarah (17:47):

And I think, I don’t know, I’m, as a parent, I feel like I’m inundated with stuff all the time. And this idea that having fewer things that I actually value more has been a big difference maker for me. Not in my clothes, but certainly in everything. My kids’ toys, my approach to our home. I get stressed out when there’s so much stuff, but I feel like I, no matter how much I try to be intentional, there’s just more stuff.

Liz (18:25):

It’s so hard, especially being a parent, you just constantly have stuff. I try to utilize the local Facebook marketplace groups and just even friends and family, just to be able to give stuff to other people and feel good about it. And then also that’s a great way to get stuff. So I just had somebody like this weekend who is having a baby, and she just bought a few things and I was like, you know what? I have all this other baby stuff. Can I just give you a bunch more? It just feels good to unload it. And it’s funny, my mother-in-law called my decorating style sparse, and then you go to her house and it’s overwhelmed with stuff, and I’m like, I feel so much better when I have less that I can see and that I curate my home. Just kind of how I curate my wardrobe. Every single thing in my home, I have to love it. And if you don’t love it, then it doesn’t make you feel good and you know, just feel overwhelmed with stuff.

Dr. Sarah (19:22):

And it’s really overstimulating too.

Liz (19:24):

Yeah, I’m sure you see that with kids toys all the time when they have too many choices in toys, they get overwhelmed, and that’s how you get tons of messes and they just keep playing with the same thing over and over. And if you just, even with their toys curate less or even put out less, then it makes it easier for everybody.

Dr. Sarah (19:45):

And there’s been studies, research that’s shown that kids play longer when there are fewer toy options to put to pick from.

Liz (19:53):

Oh, that’s so good to know. Well then I feel like I’m doing something right.

Dr. Sarah (19:56):

Yeah, no, it makes sense, right? Because think about it too, if you’re trying to do work, and I’m going to totally be guilty of this myself, but if you’ve got 50 tabs open on your computer screen and you have five notebooks sitting next to you and 25 posted notes, it’s so much harder to remember what you need to do and to stay focused on one task than if you were to have one little list of three tasks to do and a clear space to do it in. It’s just so much easier to know what’s next. And for kids, their play is work in a good way. It’s their job, it’s their work, it’s their sort of directed fo, goal-oriented, focused outlet. And so when there’s visual stimuli all over the place and it, it’s harder for them to stay and get into a flow state.

Liz (20:50):

Yeah, it’s so true. I actually probably should implement that more in my own work life. Me too. But even with the kids’ toys, I learned from the second time around, the first time around, I was like, oh, I need this toy that lights up and has the bells and whistles and all these things. And I realized the second time around, if I get these beautiful wooden toys or Montessori style things that I actually having out in my home, then it’s better for everybody. And guess what? I can sell it when I’m done with it and people are going to want it more. And there’s less plastic that goes into the environment. So there’s a lot of benefits to really even curating your toy is the way you would curate your wardrobe.

Dr. Sarah (21:33):

And just thinking about your comment about the mom who’s having the baby, and I know there are plenty of people listening to this podcast that are expecting, and I think that the baby industry just over terrifies people into buying a ridiculous amount of stuff.

Liz (21:50):

That is so true. And it is something that when you become a new mom, you’re like, I need this and I need this. And I can’t believe how many things that I felt like I needed when we grew up with nothing. I had a wood cradle that my dad built if we survived without all these crazy toys and different things. I will say the SNOO was the best thing I ever did splurge on, but I sold it for almost the price I paid for it. So there’s a lot of great things that you can do. There’s a site called Mark Kidd that is a marketplace for baby gear and young toddler stuff. So that way it makes it easier to not have so much stuff. And then again, I love Facebook marketplace and local groups like that that you can really utilize to help have less stuff.

Dr. Sarah (22:38):

And I think a lot of the need for stuff is almost an anxiety management thing for a lot of people. And I think that it’s not uncommon for me to hear people say, the second time I realized I didn’t need so much because we’re more confident the second time around, and we’ve done it before. We know we can figure it out. I don’t think it’s because people are like, well, I already have all the stuff I need. It’s like, no, I realize I don’t eat as much stuff, actually. And I think that really comes from confidence and also just a little bit of experience in learning how kids play and how they are and what they do need. And being able to, I mean, I’m a big fan of RIE, which is this parenting philosophy created by this woman named Magda Gerber, but it’s very much, it’s a similar Montessori.

(23:36):

Montessori is a little bit similar, but it’s a bit different. But the idea is allowing our children, these opportunities for open-ended play and independent play from the very beginning, from birth. But the play items are so intentional in this sort of pedagogy. So the first thing that you give your child to play with is a peaked napkin. Because in infancy, you know, lay them on their back and recognizing that where they look, they’re gays, they’re where their hands are, where their feet are, that’s play, and they don’t actually need anything else but their body and their brand new world. And then something like small, a peak napkin where that’s something that with their limited mobility they can really do from their back is at this at infancy, is move their head around. And so when you have a big play station up above their head, for example, that’s interesting for them for a moment or two, but it can become very overstimulating.

(24:44):

And then there’s nowhere for them to avert their gaze. They’re kind of trapped under this thing. And so if you have something to the side of their heads instead they can look and they can look away and then they can look back and they can look away. And as they get a little bit more mobile, their arms might brush up against that napkin. And oh, it’s so easy for them to just rectangle it in their fingers and now they’ve figured out how to grasp and they can play with it. And so that’s not an expensive toy and you probably already have it in your home, or you can use some recycled old clothes for that. There’s a lot of value in these very simple open-ended toys. And that’s all my daughter played with for the first couple months of her life. And it was glorious. It was not a deprived child who had no toys.

Liz (25:35):

That’s so true. And I think about when I was a kid, my favorite thing was going to my grandmother’s house and she would take out all the pots and pans and her clothes pins and I would play aim the clothes pins into the pots and pans. And that was the best toy and it didn’t cost anything. And my friend Jennie Monness of Union Square Play, she does such a great job. Her entire philosophy is just to play with household stuff, and she has all these playgroup in her space and literally just puts out walls of kitchen utensils and just the most mundane things that you wouldn’t even think of a salad spinner. And it is the most exciting thing for these kids, but we don’t have to buy new toys for it.

Dr. Sarah (26:20):

No, and the nice thing about it is that these toys are different every time the child revisits them for play because of their open-ended nature. That bowl can be a target for your clothes pins, it can be a drum, it can be a hat, it can be just something that they’re playing with the texture and the sound and the feel of it can be anything. So it’s everything. And you don’t actually need to buy. If you have closed-ended toys, like a toy that can only do one thing or must be played with in one prescriptive way, then it’s that thing. And you need a lot of different things if they only, so a wooden block can be a phone, a car, anything, a building, anything. So I love Jennie, I love everything she does, and her stuff is very RIE informed. It’s all very open-ended and child led.

Liz (27:16):

Yes. That’s what I love about it. And the same kind of goes for, I say all the time to my clients, they have all this costume jewelry, they don’t know what to do with or old handbags, give it to your kids. My daughter cherishes these things that I would’ve tossed. And they’re the most fun things. And she feels like she’s mama because she has my purse or she has my jewelry and it’s great because she now doesn’t have to go into my closet and steal it.

Dr. Sarah (27:42):

And then it’s so much better than buying these super cheap industry dress up clothes.

Liz (27:50):

Exactly.

Dr. Sarah (27:52):

But these are they what want to dress up in.

Liz (27:56):

My favorite thing when I was a kid was my mom created a dress up drawer in our house of all, it was literally just vintage clothes that were things that she found at thrift stores, garage shells, maybe a communion dress or something that turned into a wedding gown for me when I was a kid. Things like that. That was so fun. I didn’t need to go get the Disney princess dresses.

Dr. Sarah (28:23):

And if you want them, you can figure out a way to make them with what you’ve got.

Liz (28:29):

Exactly. Or even get it.

Dr. Sarah (28:31):

Yes, totally. No, I think this is so interesting and can definitely give people a new sense of excitement in, okay, what can I do? And even if I feel like if a parent is listening to this and they’re like, oh my God, I buy everything on Amazon and I go to the Target sales and I will buy everything new every season, and half of it my kids don’t even wear, still have the labels on, but they’re now, they’re too small and they’re feeling overwhelmed by all of these ideas. What’s one place to start? What would be one small thing?

Liz (29:07):

So I think just assessing what you already have first and seeing what’s working, what’s not working, and why the kid hasn’t worn the things that still have the tags on him. And maybe it’s communicating with a friend that maybe has kids around the same age that would want it. And I think everybody can probably source a local consignment shop that will buy and sell kids clothes. And that’s a great way to start because you’re supporting a local business. You are able to get things really affordably and you’re also giving new life clothes that you already have. So that’s one of my favorite ways to do it.

Dr. Sarah (29:46):

And I feel like that probably, I guess my question is, do you find that people spend more money on items that way, but they’re buying less and so the net is the same? Or is it actually that they spend less no matter what?

Liz (30:02):

I mean, it depends on what you’re buying, but I think you’re going to spend less if you’re buying, I tend to buy in bulk when I’m buying pre-owned because I’m like, oh, look at all these great deals. And I’m getting, so it’s hard because you’re not buying with intention. You’re buying a lot of times because it’s such a good deal, but it’s a great way to get that deal. And then also I’ve searched for things that I specifically need, the soccer uniform or the specific thing that the kid is going through at that moment that I need something for. And it’s a really great way to do it.

Dr. Sarah (30:38):

Yeah, no, that’s a really good idea. And I feel like I’ve seen things you’ve put up before about having a running list of what my kid needs or brands that I like on these sites so that you can be scanning for the items you’re looking for every once in a while versus having to in desperation, go to the big box places.

Liz (31:00):

Exactly. I hear that all the time. People are like, well, I just needed this, so I had to run to Target and go get this, or I needed it and I ordered it from Amazon. And it can be a little bit more work to search for the things, but it pays off. I’ll search. I love French baby brands and kid clothes, and so I’ll search for something in that brand and then I’ll see that that person has a lot of things that I like because we have similar taste, so it’s great cause I’m taking it all off their hands, but then I’m also getting a good deal.

Dr. Sarah (31:32):

So you’ll bundle from the same person and say, if I buy all this stuff, can you give me a discount?

Liz (31:37):

Yeah. I just said that that’s this weekend. I said, oh my God, my kids are, we’re going on vacation. We’re going to need some new clothes for that. I need new swim trunks. So I found swim trunks for my son in a brand. And then I said, oh wait, they have all this stuff. And I just was like, I offered maybe a hundred dollars less than because I or I ordered 12 things.

Dr. Sarah (31:58):

That’s a great idea. I love that. And then I feel like you can feel good about it while also getting to have the things you really, you don’t have to compromise.

Liz (32:10):

Exactly. Yeah. I mean even if you still like the Cat and Jack stuff from Target, that’s fine. You could just buy it in bulk from somebody else and you’re doing lot for the environment and for your wallet.

Dr. Sarah (32:22):

Yeah, that’s perfect. All right. This was so helpful. I feel like I have some ideas too, just for what I need to do to, I also think, and this is something that I find is my big Achilles heel when it comes to buying stuff for my kids, and you just spoke to this, which is that I don’t plan ahead. So things are like, oh my God, we have this thing in a week and you have to have a dress for this, and I don’t have a dress, so I got to go on something fast that can get it to me quickly and is just accessible. But if I took the time to sort of plan out, oh, we have a vacation in a month, what will we be needing? And taking a little bit of time to plan ahead for the kinds of things, the purchases, camps coming when camp happens, what are we going to need? And then toward just thinking seasonally and thinking ahead of time, that is also probably a strategy that would help people to anticipate so that they have more time and don’t need it in the two hour prime shipping kind of thing.

Liz (33:34):

Yeah, we’re all guilty of it. I mean, we’re all busy parents. It’s hard to really remember these things, and especially God, when you have Amazon Prime and at your fingertips and you can just get it the next day, why not? But I think if you approach it in the same way that you’re approaching your own wardrobe of, okay, I’m going to sit down and the season’s changing, what do I need? This is going to be so helpful. And so I try to do it right before the change of seasons with my kids, with my own clothing. But I’m also guilty of it too, where I’m like, oh my God, we have an event that my kid needs something for last minute. But that’s the opportunity to search Poshmark, search your local consignment shop rent, rent a romper is a great way to do it because they’ll send it to you fast. Even if you do buy from a store, look for sustainable brands or look for things that are maybe organic or something that is vintage, but there’s so many other ways to do it. Then the Amazon Prime, I do love Amazon Prime, I hate to say, but there’s even an Amazon. There are great sustainable brands, but definitely doing your research first.

Dr. Sarah (34:44):

Right, and I think it’s 80/20, right? Or whatever, it’s just about doing it. You don’t have to be perfect, right? It’s not like you could never shop Amazon. Or if you do, you’ve done something wrong and you need to feel guilty about it. It’s just like if you could make a little bit of a change in one area and that could add up to make a pretty big difference. And then once that feels habitual, once that feels automatic, you could make another change in another spot. So it’s like this is a ongoing process of becoming more intentional and aware of our impact on the environment and our impact on waste waste in general.

Liz (35:20):

And it’s something that, like you said, it doesn’t happen overnight. This is something I’ve been working towards being completely sustainable. I made a vow in about 2020 to really shop a hundred percent sustainably as much as I can. And it’s something that I have been working towards for I would say, since I started having kids. And it definitely doesn’t happen overnight, but it’s something that, like you said, you can work towards and just make small changes because the more that all of us make these small changes, the more impact it’ll have on the environment on how the industry is all running. We’re already seeing it more brands are being more conscious of it. So I think it’s really important.

Dr. Sarah (36:02):

Yeah, I think that’s all really helpful and hopeful. We don’t need to feel like, oh, I feel like if we think of this as an impossible task, we won’t do it. But if we think about it as a doable small change here, a small change there, and get the benefit of having accomplished that and feeling like, oh, I could do this. This isn’t as hard as I thought, we’re more likely to keep going with it.

Liz (36:30):

It’s so true. It’s any habit that you do, it’s if you cut out a little bit of sugar and it gets easier and then all of a sudden you cut out all sugar and then you don’t crave sugar. It’s the same thing when you are like, okay, I’m going to quit fast fashion a little bit. And then you completely quit all fast fashion. You feel like, oh, I don’t need this.

Dr. Sarah (36:49):

And how freeing to just not have so much stuff. I need less stuff. Clearly. I’m like…

Liz (36:54):

Well, give me a call because that’s what I do.

Dr. Sarah (36:56):

Amazing. If other people want to give you a call or learn how to work with you or what can they do, where can they go?

Liz (37:06):

You can follow me on Instagram @thenewyorkstylist. It’s all spelled out and I actually share a lot of my tips and tricks and different free resources and I link a lot of things. So it’s a great way, if you don’t have the budget to hire a stylist, just follow me and I give a lot of free tips, but people can also find me at thenewyorkstylist.com and I can also share tips and tricks on there. But I also can send you my brochure for all of my services.

Dr. Sarah (37:36):

Okay, amazing. And we’ll put links to all of this in the show notes. But I have to say, I follow you on Instagram and I absolutely love your reels and your hacks. I feel like I’ve learned so much about how to dress better by following your advice. And the whole switch from skinny pants to not skinny pants was very intimidating for me as a millennial mom who has been wearing skinny jeans for I don’t even forever. And now I’m moving out of it. And I feel very empowered.

Liz (38:06):

I know, but my philosophy is that if it’s something that works for you, then keep doing it. Just do it in a better way. So if you are a person that loves skinny jeans, I, I’m not saying get rid of them, just maybe be more open to not a jegging or something with a little less stretch if you are going the skinny jean route because it’ll look a little bit more polished, a little bit more elevated and more flattering. And then if you want to try something different, renting it is a great way to do it. Or buying pre-owned, a nice way to get a foray into it rather than investing in a lot. But I think keep doing you if it’s feels good.

Dr. Sarah (38:43):

And I think just me, one of my am ambivalences about trying out jeans that weren’t skinny jeans is not because I didn’t want to, or that I felt like I didn’t feel good in that, it was like I’m intimidated cause I don’t know how to style that. Cause I’ve never worn it. I’m like, what shoes do you do with it? How do you balance out the tops? It was just a new language, which is sounds totally really, if you don’t really understand proportion and how different shapes go together if you, there’s, there’s this skillset here and a lot of it is like it’s a learned skill. And so I just felt intimidated by it because I just didn’t know how to put it together. And that’s why I like your stuff so much because you’re like this, you can try it this way. And it’s like, oh, I didn’t realize that you could do that. That works.

Liz (39:33):

Yeah. That’s why I share what I do because I see it all the time. My clients are like, wait, okay, and I’m starting to wear straight jeans, but none of my shoes go. What do I wear with it? And it’s definitely a learning curve on a whole new way to dress, but it’s something that is totally doable and you can do it. And if you don’t feel like it’s for you, that’s okay.

Dr. Sarah (39:55):

And you’ll also have great stuff on how to style skinny jeans because I do. It’s not like you have to leave that area. It was just for me, I was like, it’s so funny because I mean, there was that whole big movement couple years ago and I think some women were just like, I don’t know what to do. I feel left out.

Liz (40:16):

Yeah, I get that all the time. But I mean, there’s so many great options right now. Right now there’s so many styles of jeans that it can be overwhelming, but it’s also really exciting because kind of anything goes. So I think just have fun with it. It is fashion at the end of the day. It’s not like you’re getting a tattoo. It’s something that you could just play with and then move on and somebody else will love it.

Dr. Sarah (40:38):

Yes. Right, because we’re going to be recycling our clothing.

Liz (40:42):

Exactly.

Dr. Sarah (40:43):

Thank you so much for coming on. This was really great. I hope you have a fantastic Earth Day and I hope that you come on again soon and we could talk more about sustainability.

Liz (40:53):

Anytime. Thanks, Sarah.

Dr. Sarah (41:00):

Thanks for listening. Are you enjoying the podcast? If you are, it would be amazing if you could go ahead and hit follow on whatever platform you’re listening to right now, and if you could leave a rating and a review to let me know what you’re liking, what you want to hear more of, or what questions you want me to answer, I would be so grateful. Your comments make a huge difference in getting the podcast heard by other parents just like you. So until next week, don’t be a stranger.

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