We all have long-forgotten clothes gathering¹ dust at the back of the wardrobe. 

 

我们的衣柜里总有一堆被遗忘的旧衣服在积灰。

 

But new technology could see the end of that, with the garments themselves giving owners a gentle reminder² of their existence. 

 

'Smart clothes' could help us clear out our drawers by sending messages or tweeting us if they haven't been worn in a while. 

 

If these alerts are ignored, the garments will get in touch with a clothing charity and ask to be recycled, with an organisation³ automatically sending out donation information. They could also be programmed to put themselves up for auction⁴ on eBay. 

 

As a society, we own four times as many clothes as we did 20 years ago, but regularly only wear about 20 percent of them. 

 

Academics at Birmingham City University are developing the 'connected wardrobe' to encourage more ethical⁵ clothes consumption. 

 

The concept sees garments tagged using washable contactless technology, known as radio-frequency identification. 

 

Mark Brill, senior lecturer at Birmingham City, said: 'Think of the surprise when an owner suddenly receives bids for items they didn't know were in their wardrobe. 

 

'The connected wardrobe is a practical, engaging concept to encourage people to think about their clothing consumption. Ultimately, I hope it will encourage more ethical fashion consumption.'

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