Fashion

In my blog post about whether having fewer clothes actually makes your wardrobe more sustainable, I mentioned that charity shops might not be the best option for decluttering your wardrobe. I promised a blog post about it, so here we go…

Don’t get me wrong, I love charity shops. I have absolutely nothing against them being scattered around full of hidden gems and cheap as chips clothing ready to be worn. Of course I’m not going to start stopping you from shopping in them because not only does it generate money for charities which do such incredible work for different causes, it also makes for more sustainable shoppers and consumers. I would say most of my wardrobe is second-hand and I’ve written many times about why I want you guys to rediscover pre-loved items, too.

The issue of charity shops doesn’t stem from the shopping or what’s on the shop floor, it stems with what we send to them and what we believe is actually ending up there. I understand that some more local, individual charity shops may not experience what I’m going to discuss and that there is actually a need for more items in order to keep the shop up and running, but for the most part in fact, only 10% of clothing donated to charity shops will actually end up being hung up and put onto rails (according to To Die For by Lucy Siegle). We have to think about it similarly for clothes bins.

I remember a few years ago before ethics and sustainability were in my mind, I watched a documentary by the BBC about what truly happens to our clothes once they’re collected from places like clothes bins. I’ve started learning more about this journey not only from the aforementioned book, To Die For, but also from a new read of mine, Clothing Poverty, which describes this in its first chapter.

The clothing that can’t be sold in charity shops or genuinely recycled, is often shipped off in plastic-wrapped bulk bales to areas of Africa. The documentary I watched explored the capital of Ghana in West Africa where every three days, bales are delivered. They met a seller who purchases these bales, the t-shirts and trousers of which had all been purchased through UK charities. Our donations are bought for profit and then delivered to developing countries for locals to purchase themselves and once again sell on, in order to gain income.

You might be thinking at this point that it’s a great way to keep people afloat? Well, actually, there’s a huge risk in purchasing a bale. In To Die For, Lucy explains how one seller could only look through the plastic wrapping to work out what they would be able to sell on. When the communities are already suffering from poverty, they have to rely on what the sorters of our donations have decided to send on meaning that if the clothes are unwanted, they have technically wasted money they could have used to keep providing for their family.

It also adds to the decline of the fashion and textile industry in these areas due to the fact that the poor rely so heavily on our cast-offs to wear. After telling my dad this, he said to me that “It now makes sense why we see European brands and football shirts being worn in documentaries just like that”.

This is only a brief introduction into the cycle of where our donations end up. We might think when we do a wardrobe clear-out that we’re making the most conscious decision of sending them off elsewhere, but really, due to the amount of clothes being thrown out, there are many downsides to doing just that. I’ve watched a couple of YouTube videos about spring cleaning recently and it shows how easy it can be to dispose of an item we don’t want, to a charity shop or a clothes bin because we then believe we are no longer responsible for that item – it will go towards something good. I believe we need to stop relying so heavily on these easy-outs and start not only making much better, greener decisions, but also start profiting from our clothes ourselves.

Having a ‘closed loop’ industry is a big aim for many (where everything that is created is then recycled and put back into the cycle) and it seems to start with focusing on where our clothes are coming from – so why aren’t we focusing on where they go too? I’ve listed a few alternatives which might help you the next time you go to sort out what you already own…

Depop & eBay…

If you want to start profiting from your own clothes, one of the more modern ways of doing so is by creating a Depop or eBay shop. You can sell on items, name your price or start an open bid, and know that the person who will be receiving them will know exactly where it came from. You’ll earn a small (or large – depending on what you sell) amount and the more you sell, the easier it will become to sell in the future too.

Depop also works a bit like Instagram so if you’re not up for the fees and layout of eBay, that might be the one for you. Many bloggers and influencers use it for their followers to shop their wardrobes, so it’s great for buying as well!

Jumble, Garage & Carboot Sales…

I never know which phrase to use – my mum introduced me to the word ‘jumble’, I know that ‘garage’ is used in the US and I know that in the UK ‘carboot’ is very specific to fields full of cars with clothes hanging out the back, but really what I mean is; selling your clothes within your local community. Get out and join in with an event and pass on your clothes to those in your area. Go to specific sales for clothes or if you own a lot of vintage, sign yourself up to a vintage market. There are so many options and I’m sure you can find somewhere to sell most days of the week.

Clothes Swaps…

Not as common as the previous alternative, but clothes swaps are a thing. Nobody is left empty handed because you swap clothes between friends or Facebook groups (a good place to find them), almost like scratching someone else’s back whilst they scratch yours. Not only are these events fun and different, they’re almost always satisfying. It adds a story and some sentimentality to what you add to your wardrobe and what somebody else takes from it.

~ HOW I UPCYCLED WITH DYLON DYES ~

Friends & Family…

Speaking of friends and Facebook, why not donate your clothes to those who you know best? Not only will you immediately know who the item will suit, they’ll appreciate the offer and it won’t go to waste. This is especially good if you have newer items in your wardrobe so it will feel more like a gift than just a hand-me-down, which can often create a stigma in the realm of second-hand shopping.

Upcycle it!

There’s a big difference between upcycling and recycling. Upcycling involves giving an item a new lease of life. Maybe a garment has lost its colour and needs some dye to brighten it back up? Maybe the only reason you’re deciding to pass it on is because it has a hole and some buttons missing? You might still love it, which means it only takes a bit of DIY to keep it from losing its place in your wardrobe.

Take on the ‘make do and mend’ mindset and get out a needle and thread or find someone who might like to upcycle it for you! You can always take a now ill-fitting item to a tailor and get it reworked. There are so many choices to avoid your favourite or unworn pieces being wasted.

What do you do with your old clothes? Let me know in the comments!

Just letting you know I’ve added some more brands to my ethical directory. I’m really happy with how well receieved it’s been, so I hope you like the new additions. Happy ethical shopping!

I began writing this blog post because as some of you might know, towards the end of last year (on Halloween, precisely) life took a bit of a turn for the second time (read here for the first), meaning I had to part with some of my wardrobe for a while. After tweeting and Facebooking and asking how many clothes my readers and followers own, the topic of this blog post has ended up being slightly different.

I originally intended to tell you that living with only 38 pieces of clothing over the past three months has been relatively easy. I, unfortunately, can’t pinpoint how many items of clothes I genuinely own seeing as I haven’t completed a full count before, but I know that the number in total would probably be double or perhaps even more than.

I can live with 38 items of clothing. Seeing as it’s winter, that number roughly includes about five pairs of trousers (2 pairs of jeans; 1 pair of black trousers; 1 pair of suit trousers; 1 pair of patterned), multiple tops (including 4 sweatshirts, 2 of which are the same with a different variation of design), one skirt (for wearing with tights which I didn’t include within the number – there are some essentials we can’t live without) and four choices of jackets for varying weather conditions and outfit choices.

Usually, if my clothes weren’t stuck in a building damaged by an earthquake, I would have the choice of a fair bit more. Although I do sort my clothes by summer and winter, in turn, technically creating two separate wardrobes of choice, I like to say I have gradually mastered the art of wearing summer dresses layered up for the colder months meaning I have missed the extra choice.

There is a pair of ASOS Africa trousers which I thoroughly enjoy wearing, sat in a drawer, waiting to be worn by me again soon. There’s my grey and floral slip dress you may have seen in one of my final summer outfit posts, which I would have loved to have worn with a turtleneck and some tights.

I love clothes, obviously. I want to have my own collections one day; there’s no denying that, which means there have been moments so far where I’ve been bored and a little uninspired of what I have to choose from. I worked out that technically if I’m wearing about 4 items of clothing (excluding shoes, socks and accessories), I could wear about 361 different outfits with what I currently have with me. I’m not going to do that however because my suit jacket doesn’t match with my bohemian maxi dress but the idea that, that is a possibility is what has got me thinking.

WHAT I WORE: Floral Shirt (Jumble Sale) // Botanical Print Trousers (Motivi) // Vintage Yellow Leather Jacket (Jumble Sale)

After running polls and asking how many clothes you own, I received a lot of feedback which has had me questioning – does having fewer clothes, actually make a wardrobe any more sustainable? My answer is in fact, no.

52% of you own between 30 and 60 items of clothing in your wardrobe, which I will presume is a fairly rough estimate as I’m not expecting everyone to have rifled through and counted each individual item. That number surprised me because I happened to believe it would have been more. Only 26% (which is still a fairly large amount) of people responded saying they couldn’t count, or at least that the number went over 100. But; none of these numbers included shopping habits.

In a 2015 Barnardo’s report which I often refer people to, it states that typically in the UK, the average woman will spend £64 per month on new clothes, with 33% of the surveyed women deeming an item ‘old’ after only wearing it three times. And I don’t know about you, but I often read or hear the phrase ‘spring cleaning’ when it comes to clothes, which means there must be a high number for how many times those ‘old’ clothes are being removed and sent elsewhere.

Only having 38 items of clothing doesn’t make my wardrobe sustainable – my shopping habits do. Your shopping habits do. If 52% of you are living with between 30 and 60 items of clothes, that means you have around the same amount of options as I currently do; 361 outfit combinations, or more. That’s just under a year’s worth of outfits, for one per day. That only becomes unsustainable when you increase, and yes, decrease that total number.

A wonderful member of the #EthicalHour Facebook group brought up the fact of why decreasing the number of clothes you own is just as important as to how frequently you increase it. Starting a capsule wardrobe shouldn’t mean chucking away all of your clothes because that will then create waste, which creates a whole separate issue.

Some will say that you can donate to a charity shop and there won’t be anything to worry about, but as I will talk about in an upcoming blog post, that isn’t always the best option. Becoming vegan or changing an element of your lifestyle elsewhere, also shouldn’t mean suddenly and dramatically changing what you wear.

There are consequences to so many of these decisions. It’s about working out a way to get around all of them for you. Consciously shopping and working out whether you’ll actually end up wearing what you buy are super important elements to keeping your wardrobe at a sustainable level, and passing on clothes to other individuals or attempting to revamp an item will leave you feeling much more satisfied than taking your textiles to the dump.

In conclusion, whilst admittedly being bored at times, living with less has given me two challenges which hopefully, you can take something away from. Firstly, it has challenged me to wear outfits I’d never usually think about wearing. Just the other day I wore my vintage yellow leather jacket, the floral oversized shirt and completely contrasting navy floral trousers I’m wearing in this post. (Hands up if you saw it already on my Instagram Story!) In theory, none of that should have matched, but it did because it worked out looking fairly seventies inspired.

I discovered a new outfit I would never have worn before because I had nothing else to choose from except the blouse and sweatshirt combination I’d been wearing for a couple of days straight – in a hygienic manner, guys. It challenged me to think about those 361 combinations, and if I, in fact, need to make that number any larger.

And secondly, it has challenged me to think harder about how or if I do increase the choice I have. Recently, the only additions to my wardrobe have been from ethical brands, like Lost Shapes, who are part of my ethical directory. Truly measuring the size and scope of what I own, makes me value what else is eventually included. So, for you reading this, perhaps this will inspire you to count what you have, and count up the value of what you might have in the future.

Sustainability doesn’t happen by removing what isn’t ‘100% organic’ or produced using ‘100% recycled materials’. Sustainability starts when we limit the number of resources we’re using up.

How many clothes are in your wardrobe? How sustainable are your clothes? Let me know in the comments!

Recent news brings activism and marches for issues which should have been put behind us years ago. It’s a shame we still have to fight for basic equality and against discrimination but it’s also a shame that what we buy to make our voices clearer don’t always support the causes fully. Today, I wanted to focus on some march-worthy feminist t-shirts that were actually made by feminists… not the high street slogan tee kind.

PEOPLE TREE ~ EQUALITY T-SHIRT ~ £32.00

Image via People Tree, edited by me.

You probably already know but I’m a huge fan of People Tree. Their website is as clear as day when it comes to transparency and ethics. Every item is clearly marked with certifications in terms of organic cotton and Fair Trade processes. This specific ‘Equality’ t-shirt is guaranteed to have been made with equality in mind, seeing as it was produced by Assisi Garments, a social enterprise in India.

Set up by Franciscan nuns, it provides training and employment for deaf, mute and economically disadvantaged women, and thanks to the partnership and support from People Tree themselves, their team has grown from 8 to over 100 employees. Assisi Garments also invests in the community by supporting various social projects, including a cancer hospital and an AIDS rehabilitation centre in South India.

I wrote a blog post a while back on my thoughts on feminism and fast-fashion, so it’s really refreshing to see a garment being produced in such a positive and empowering environment. In my opinion, if you’re going to be buying a t-shirt with the word ‘equality’ on the front of it, it should have been made by people who truly believe in that statement too.

IT’S ME AND YOU ~ FEMINIST T-SHIRT ~ $48.00

Image via It’s Me and You, edited by me.

A new discovery for me, but a good one nonetheless, is It’s Me and You. It’s especially important because as of November 2016, after the US election, 100% of this t-shirts profits have been going to donated to the workshop, An Afternoon For You. The workshop is run to support and empower children that will be most vulnerable and at risk during the next four years of the Presidency. After the election, community based and localized education will be especially important going forward, especially safe spaces for children.

Created by Mayan Toledano and Julia Baylis, It’s Me and You is a hub for body positivity, an issue which is especially for women in current times. This t-shirt in particular is 100 percent cotton, hand printed and made in the USA. Although that isn’t quite as transparent as the likes of People Tree, I feel comfortable enough in sharing their products because sometimes it is more about the story and what the brand embraces.

We have to support our ideals and what we believe in. Every penny we spend is a vote towards that, and It’s Me and You is a prime example of where we should put our money especially when everything seems so unfair.

MY SISTER ~ FEMINIST T-SHIRT ~ $22.00

Image via My Sister, edited by me.

Last but definitely not least, is this feminist t-shirt produced by My Sister. Their mission is to prevent sex trafficking whilst empowering the population and providing after-care for survivors, all by promoting messages through their ethically produced, sweat-shop free products. It makes sense that this is their mission seeing as both of their tag lines are either “Fighting sex trafficking one shirt at a time” or “Apparel against sex trafficking”.

The main inspiration for this blog post and my aforementioned post about feminism and fast-fashion come from my reading of Threadbare: Clothes, Sex & Trafficking, My Sister is a rather important brand to shop from. Not only are they promoting equality and feminist messages through what they sell, but they’re also supporting the communities which are affected by these serious issues.

Plus, the fact that they’re using male models and targeting a unisex audience is super important. Feminism isn’t just about cis-women, it’s about gender equality no matter what gender, sexual orientation, race or religion.

Do you know of any ethically conscious brands selling feminist and activist t-shirts? Let me know in the comments!

Slightly different post style to what I’ve been publishing recently, but I couldn’t let this idea slip and it was wonderful discovering a few positive brands. I’ll be back soon…

This blog post has been a while in the making for several reasons and due to several road blocks but  I am finally happy to publicly and properly release my updated ethical directory into the world! I want to try and make a real effort it with it this time, hence the updated layout and much easier to use format. Read on for more information and to find out where to shop for ethical clothes…

FEATURED ITEMS: Wander Wonder Sweatshirt £33.00 (Lost Shapes)* // Zhandra Rhodes T-Shirt (People Tree) // Patterned Culottes (ASOS Africa)

Seeing as I go on about them so much, I get asked about where to buy ethical clothes a whole lot. At first, when you’re only just starting to change your shopping habits, it can seem impossible to find anything which isn’t unfairly made or seriously damaging to the environment, but it’s not impossible. It takes searching to find hidden gems that honour and value the idea of well-made, sustainable products.

This is where my (now updated) ethical directory comes in – I want to try and make it a little easier for you. I want to try and update the list as often as I can and really celebrate the idea of ethical fashion and all of it’s greatness. I’ll talk you through a couple of the brands listed in this blog post, but I’m inviting you to click over to my new ethical directory for yourself, and find a brand that takes your fancy! It might only be small now, but I’m hoping it will grow and grow in the future…

~ ETHICAL DIRECTORY ~
A selection of the brands featured…

	Est. since: 2012 Mission: Lost Shapes products are all made from 100% organic cotton or other sustainable fabrics such as Tencel, and produced using renewable energy. They provide screen printed, organic fair trade products for all the family. Price range: £12 - £30 Shop Lost Shapes
Est. since: 2005 Mission: Thought (formerly Braintree) is based upon the idea of sustainability and "thoughtful clothing". They use some of the most organic and long lasting fabrics around and ensure that the production process is just as sustainable and ethical. Slow fashion is what they thrive on! Price range: £5+ Shop Thought
	Est. since: 2001 Mission: People Tree aims to be 100% Fair Trade through the whole supply chain. They do this by using natural resources and sustainable materials, and supporting their producers by challenging power structures to gain them their rights to a livelihood. Price range: £15 - £200+ Shop People Tree
Est. since: 2016 Mission: Sheer Apparel focuses on providing the best ethical and sustainable options for all aspects of your wardrobe, at prices comparable to brands you've loved for years. Price range: £16+ Shop Sheer Apparel
	Est. since: 2013 Mission: WAISTE is an online vintage shop full of beautiful recycled treasures, adding to the number of clothes that are recycled each year. Price range: £15+ Shop WAISTE

All of the brands selected and included in the directory, were chosen by myself after scouring the internet. Some of them focus on more ethical issues, and some of them focus on more sustainable issues, like the Lost Shapes sweatshirt I’m wearing in the photos…

I actually think Lost Shapes are a really nice starting point, especially if you’re looking for basics. Their pieces aren’t necessarily ‘fashion’ pieces or trend led, but I think that’s something you have to take on board when it comes to slow fashion. The goal of course, is to have an industry which is ethical, sustainable and somewhat trend led, but trends lead to consumerism and we all know what happens then…

The sweatshirt I’m wearing is made from 100% recycled fabrics; 60% recycled pre-consumer cotton, and 40% recycled post-consumer polyester – that’s directly from the label on the inside of the seam. It’s so refreshing to wear something that comes from a transparent and open company, and the screen printing adds a wonderful finishing touch, as it’s printed in house in England.

Ethical fashion isn’t just about hemp and natural fibre dresses, and I want to try and prove that, but I also want your help too!

Make sure you share your favourite brands in the comments or send me a tweet so I can add them to the directory!

The rise of the podcast is definitely not slowing down anytime soon, and I have to admit, I can see why. It fills your time whilst doing chores or whilst travelling, or whilst doing some work that doesn’t require too much thought with something other than music or the latest TV show you’ve been binging. You can listen to all sorts of creative people and intelligent minds, whilst still be somewhat productive, and it seems I may have Googled and discovered an ethical gem…

I was actually able to get in touch with the founder of this wonderful platform, Kestrel Jenkins, who created AWEAR World and the podcast, Conscious Chatter, in 2016, and have asked her a few questions which will enable you to learn more about what you’ll be listening to and why I, and so many others, want to recommend you taking a look (or listen) for yourself…

RECOMMENDED CONSCIOUS CHATTER EPISODES
Available on iTunes + Stitcher

Episode 3 – Water

The first episode I would highly recommend, would be the third episode which focuses on water and its effects on the fashion industry. I was already aware that water is a huge part of our clothes and what we wear, but hearing it from Mark Angelo & Roger Williams, two people truly focused on water and its journey, was really insightful. They discuss their new and upcoming documentary, River Blue, which will hopefully be released soon. If it is, I can’t wait to watch it and I hope this episode inspires you to do the same.

Episode 6 – Designer Dilemma

This episode was the first to really inspire me because I found it so relatable. Kestrel talks to Gretchen Jones who was the winner of Project Runway (Season 8), and although at first I was rather curious about how she fits in with ethical and conscious world, what she spoke about really spoke to me, especially about how she was always interested in being a fashion designer from a young age, but the issues surrounding the industry are what changed her mind set on what she really wanted to do… and I can slowly but surely see that happening to me. I think the design direction I want to go in has hugely shifted, but I’m extremely proud of that and this episode made me feel proud to embrace that change.

Episode 12 – New Business Model

This was a really interesting talk, especially for aspiring designers or brand owners who want to head down the slow fashion route. It’s really refreshing to hear positive opinions about achieving the goal of creating an ethical brand, and some of the pieces of advice were great to take away with you.

Episode 13 – Tiny Wardrobe

Something which is big within the ethical/slow fashion movement, is downsizing and living with a smaller and more minimalistic wardrobe, as well as downsizing on other parts of your life. Courtney Carver, the creator of Project 333, spoke to Kestrel about leading a life of minimalism and how the project can help you. It had some really interesting points about how overconsumption can not only affect the world, but can also affect us personally with our health and our minds, and not just within fashion. If you’re interested in things like capsule wardrobes – this is the episode for you!

Episode 15 – Renewal

Reusing and keeping clothes alive is something that I think all of us should be more mindful of. Not only is there waste being created by what we choose to throw away, there is also being waste created by the brands we purchase from, and Nicole Bassett, co-founder of The Renewal Workshop, is part of changing how the system works. A ‘circular economy’ is an idea I’d love to look into in the future – it’s based on the idea of keeping everything in an endless loop and cycle, so that nothing is wasted and nothing is untraceable. It’s a topic that is discussed more than once on the Conscious Chatter podcast!

Episode 17 – Transparency

I was really excited to listen to this episode with the founders of Project Just. I discovered Project Just in 2016 when I was researching ethical directories; it’s a website that focuses on showing shoppers and consumers (as well as bloggers, journalists and even the brands themselves) which brands are the most transparent, and which we should be buying from. It’s a really powerful resource for everyone and anyone, and learning about how it all came together is a rather interesting story. I hope to focus more on Project Just on the future because transparency is hugely important when tackling the all-important issues in the industry.

Episode 18 – Mara Hoffman + Mindfulness

When thinking about all of the changes and shifts that are happening to hopefully change the way fashion works, we often forget about how difficult the transition from fast-fashion to slow-fashion can be, and listening to Mara Hoffman talk about the ins and outs of that process was really eye opening and honest. I hadn’t heard of Mara’s work before the podcast, so it was awesome to be opened up to a new and innovative brand whilst listening.

Episode 19 – Cradle to Cradle + Fashion Positive

Another discovery through the podcast, was the Cradle to Cradle Products Institute. As an aspiring designer, and now an aspiring ethical and sustainable designer, knowing that the team at Cradle to Cradle are working to share such amazing research and resources, really helps me believe that creating something powerful from the beginning will and can be possible. It’s another discussion focusing on the circular economy idea, and how designers and brands can work towards it.

Episode 21 – Conscious Blogging

As you can probably tell by the title, this episode of Conscious Chatter was rather relevant to me. Kestrel talks to three bloggers who focus on ethical lifestyle and fashion, about making money when focusing on such a niche topic and how we can all go about spreading awareness as influencers. I’ve already touched on this idea in one of my recent blog posts about why ethical fashion shouldn’t make you feel bad, and it has only made me think about how to share my thoughts with you in an even better and more inspiring way. I hope that this starts to shine through in 2017!

Episode 23 – Diversity In Fashion

Last but not least, for now anyway, we have a discussion on diversity in the fashion industry. Diversity is something I’m always interested in learning more about, simply because it doesn’t make sense to me as to why the industry isn’t always very accepting of it. That’s what this episode aims to focus on though; why the fashion industry and the people within it are scared of change, and how we can try and solve that.

I think my biggest take away from listening so far, has been the idea of sharing positivity to do with ethical fashion rather than negativity. I think it’s super important we focuses on some of the tougher and larger issues but it’s also super important to promote the good parts of the industry as a way to change people’s mindsets. I spoke about this recently and I hope you’ll bear with me as I adapt to this thought process.

What are your favourite podcasts? Let me know in the comments!

(Sadly the weather has been terrible (we actually had a tornado yesterday!) which is the reason for the lack of photos. I should be back soon though!)

Over the past few months I’ve made a real effort to make sure that I am known as being an ethical blogger. I want to put out a message that I believe in, whether it be easy or not to do so. I want to attract the right crowd and I want to create a new one! I’m only in the early stages of making this change, but I thought my experiences so far in making the change to become a specifically ethical blogger, might help out those making a change of direction.

IN THIS POST: Blogosphere Magazine Issue 11 

1. Your followers might change…

I can’t say that I’ve lost a drastic amount of followers since publicly changing my social media bios from “fashion blogger” to “ethical blogger”, especially not enough for me to get worried over, but I’m sure that ever since my blog post topics have changed, some of my readers have lost interest.

This can be because of a handful of different reasons. One of the reasons I’m trying to avoid is guilt and the idea that they’ll feel bad for their choices or what kind of lifestyle they lead if they read my blog. That’s not the idea, of course.

Another reason, especially as a fashion blogger who used to post a heck load of outfit posts and feature heavily on affordable high-street brands, might be the fact that you’re not publishing blog posts they “can’t” buy into anymore. Blogs can be a huge inspiration and influence for purchasing new items, and of course what I’m doing now is sharing better options, but for some people, those options just aren’t what they’re looking for. That’s okay. It ties back into the guilt reasoning, in a way.

One of the best ways to deal with this is part of my next point…

2. You’ll be able to work out who to support, and who supports you…

Thinking about quality over quantity is vital when making a shift for the good. I don’t know about you but I’d rather have a handful of readers who are truly interested in my journey and the message I’m trying to spread, than thousands who are reading for the parts of my blog that are in some way still carrying through from when I wasn’t an ethical or conscious blogger.

You’ll be able to pinpoint who has your vision and who to attract in the future. You can narrow down on those who want to help push you on further and that’s rather exciting and refreshing. Your vibe attracts your tribe, as they say.

You’ll also be able to connect with people who you want to push on further. When people get together for positive change, it’s very unlikely you’ll find someone wanting to compete and better only themselves. It’s about bettering each other and the whole community.

3. You’ll realise you can’t do everything…

This point comes from a tweet I received about my personal choices of eating meat. For some people, it might seem two-faced or hypocritical for me to talk about ethical fashion and all of these human rights issues when I still continue to eat meat. I understand where the person was coming from, but there are many reasons why someone might not focus on all aspects of a part of life. It’s about accepting that everyone is on their own individual journeys and we’re not all out to reach the same destination.

It’s also about understanding that you can’t do it all! My blog is about promoting ethical fashion. There is a much greater need for people to start opening the conversation up about the industry than there is for more people to start talking about the issues around food. There are so many more people already promoting veganism and the reasons behind it than there are people talking about why we shouldn’t support fast-fashion and what other options people have.

I don’t want to start focusing on food because fashion is where my heart lies. That isn’t to say I don’t believe in it, though, and that I won’t one day change my diet – it just means that I, and whoever else you’re taking from, can’t focus on everything at the same time. Nobody is perfect!

4. Brand collaborations are about to change dramatically…

I recently turned down the opportunity to work with major footwear brand, Kurt Geiger. If this was a couple of years ago, I would have said yes straight away and easily featured their shoes in a heartbeat. But this isn’t then, this is now and my focus has changed. After trying to get a response about their ethics, I declined the opportunity and moved on because I didn’t believe in working with a brand that didn’t match up to my mindset and beliefs.

They were actually extremely understanding and it was a really wonderful way to start my ethical brand journey, but I’m not going to deny that was a difficult decision.

I’ve worked with brands like New Look and ASOS, and many others which aren’t exactly advocates of ethical and sustainable fashion. Sure, they might be doing their bests at making small changes here and there, but for me, they’re no longer the sorts of brands I want to try and attract unless the collaboration focuses on openly discussing the topics I want to talk about.

So, for those of you who have worked with big brands who you’ve always admired, but want to make the change in able to change the world (dramatic, I know), it’s not going to be easy and I’ll admit that.

Start looking for brands that do have the same mindset, though. Even just following them can set you on the right path. Join in with #EthicalHour or research brands thoroughly when they get in touch. Know who you are working with, and not just by name.

5. Your income probably will too…

Working with different brands will most likely change how much money you earn, too. This is simply because a lot of ethical brands are smaller brands, which means they have smaller budgets, which means… they might not be able to afford what prices you were offering before.

This doesn’t mean you have to personally change anything, but it might mean compromising certain flows of income or settling for something different. Don’t ever undersell yourself or accept something for free if this is the case, though. Your work is still valid as a blogger and you deserve to receive compensation for promoting something so positive to the followers and readers who support it. You have a platform to influence people, and brands and businesses should respect that.

Do you want to start blogging more ethically? Let me know in the comments!

This blog post was of course not meant to deter anyone from going down the ethical blogging route, more as to help you along and bring up some of the challenges I have faced to make them easier down the road for you!

Hello, hello, welcome to 2017! I hope you all had a good New Year and enjoy the holidays. I’m back and have ideas flowing out of my fingertips so I hope you’re ready for the next twelve months ahead. I thought I would start off with something that’s fresh in my mind and that will hopefully put all of those confused and concerned about ethical fashion, at ease.

FEATURED IN THIS POST: People Tree x Zandra Rhodes Top // Lost Shapes Sweatshirt* // Clothing Poverty by Andrew Brooks

I can quite clearly remember multiple conversations with family members over the past couple of years that have all come around to one or several people feeling a little guilty or downtrodden by what I’ve attempted to teach them. Perhaps you’ve felt this way; maybe you’ve come away feeling as if everything you’ve ever purchased has been doing damage and you immediately want to burn it all and start fresh?

Perhaps you’ve watched a video about the horrendous working conditions at the factories of some of your favourite brands and you’ve wanted to boycott them immediately? Perhaps you’ve even read one of my blog posts and wanted to never come back to my site because you just know you’ll feel that sense of dread again?

All of those feelings are totally valid, and I want to apologise if I’ve ever made you feel that way, because that obviously wasn’t my intent. After reading and listening and learning, I’ve opened my eyes to the fact that throwing all of this information out into the world doesn’t always have the desired effect. I’m glad that so far I’ve opened up my eyes to so many of you and that I’ve received such wonderful feedback in doing so, but I know there is a better way of doing it, and I know there are reasons why even if you do read all of these facts and terrifying stories about the fashion industry, it shouldn’t make you feel bad.

Ethical fashion isn’t about trying to single out the people who shop a certain way, because trust me, I know it isn’t easy. I can’t count how many times I’ve been told that ethical or sustainable options aren’t always accessible to everyone; I know they aren’t.

I know that buying clothes for work example, isn’t exactly easy to do when buying second-hand or from more “expensive” (I put that in quotes due to the fact that cheap prices come with far bigger costs, as we already know) ethically focused brands, when you need to be putting your money somewhere else in your monthly budget. I know that shopping for a certain body size isn’t always easy either, when the industry is so focused on a specific, smaller one… so, you shouldn’t feel bad about it.

If you can only shop a certain way at the moment, then that’s okay. The fact that you’re even thinking about the way you shop, is a good start. The reason you shouldn’t feel bad about it, though, is because ethical fashion is all about the opposite – it’s about feeling good in what you wear and what you purchase. It’s about feeling good about what you’re doing for the world.

When we start shopping consciously and we start to just think about what we’re doing with our clothes, we should start feeling better about ourselves, not the opposite. We should start feeling better about the fact we’re not just helping our bodies and what we put on it – we’re also helping the people who made the clothes we wear, and the earth that helped produce even the fabric that it’s made up of. It’s actually a really positive thing, even if the hard facts and truths can bog us down.

Shopping ethically doesn’t make you a better person, in the end. I’m not perfect, and I’ll admit it. I eat meat, I’m not so much of a conscious shopper when it comes to lifestyle and beauty products… but every small contribution I do make (and let me make a point of this again – even just thinking about what you’re doing, means something) makes the world better, which seems a bit sappy and a bit hippy, doesn’t it? But it’s true.

So, next time you shop with a brand that isn’t necessarily ethical or sustainable, think about what good you’re doing in making different choices all of the other times. Feel proud of yourself, not sad and guilty for when you do buy or support the brands that could be doing better. Feel proud of yourself when you recycle or give away your clothes to a friend. It’s not about singling out the bad stuff – it’s about looking to the future and envisioning the good stuff.

That leads me on to the second part of this post, for those of you trying to spread awareness. How do we do it? How do we make people feel good? How do we make people who haven’t yet learnt, know what’s really going on?

Remind people that small steps add up to big things…

As I have mentioned continuously throughout this post, I believe that even thinking and shopping consciously, can do a whole lot more good than nothing. Even if right now, someone can’t shop with your brand or can’t follow in your exact footsteps, they need to know that even supporting the idea of equality and human rights and all of the issues we’re trying to change is doing something. Make them feel good about the little things, and even better about the big things.

Be relatable…

Sharing your journey and sharing what struggles you’ve been through can really put things into perspective. If you’re still learning yourself, admit that. Bring people along with you so that they feel inspired to start making changes. Talk about how you’re not perfect and that it’s okay to take your time. Making someone feel as if they are on the right path and that they’re not alone, can mean a whole lot.

Seeing is believing…

One of the main reasons I first became interested in ethical fashion, was because I watched the documentary, The True Cost. It was one of the first times I really saw the effects of the fast-fashion industry, visually. It changed my whole mindset because I could truly see how things worked. Reading is all well and good, but how are people supposed to know what is actually going on if they don’t have some sort of photographic or visual evidence?

If you’re a blogger, sharing documentaries and videos can always help because it gives people something to interact with, rather than to just click off and have information stored away in their minds.

Integrate your influence…

Influencing people can often feel overwhelming when it’s a long, static blog post, so keeping the conversation flowing into social media and into platforms that people use regularly keeps it in their minds. Also using social media to connect with other like-minded people in order to work out even better ways of getting the message across, can be helpful too. I highly recommend joining in with the #EthicalHour Twitter chat, every Monday, and joining the group on Facebook.

Do the affects of fast-fashion make you feel bad? How do you spread awareness of them? Let me know in the comments!

I wasn’t sure how to end off 2016 in terms of blog posts. I haven’t been able to get out anywhere at the moment due to a broken down car, so my shoot locations are limited (as well as my wardrobe, on another note), and most of the topics I want to focus on are ones that I would like to tie into my ethical directory re-launch in the New Year. If you know me, you know that time is something that I revolve around in terms of starting new things, so instead of publishing rather unfestive posts, I thought I would look back on the year in terms of what I’ve been learning. There will also be my annual round-up post coming up soon, but for now, let’s talk about the ethical sides of things in my ethical fashion education summary…

→ To Die For: Is Fashion Wearing Out the World? by Lucy Siegle 

I have to admit that I’m still working my way through the pages of this book but it deserved a mention nonetheless. Some of the topics covered are ones I haven’t necessarily thought about before, like one of the recent chapters about the auditing process in the fast fashion industry. It’s a lengthy book and covers some of the early 2000s and how the cycle and issues have changed over recent years. Reading this and the other books mentioned in this post is a sure-fire way to learn more factual information about your clothes and where they possibly come from.

☼ BBC Panorama Undercover: The Refugees Who Make Our Clothes

This half-hour documentary by BBC Panorama is a short and simple insight into the issues going on in the industry, and why we should be opening our eyes to them when they affect us so clearly. Some of the quotes from mentioned brands like ASOS and Next genuinely upset me, because it shows how the brands themselves don’t even know what is going on to the full extent that they are. The filming takes place undercover in Turkey, focusing on factories and workshops using child labour and illegally employed Syrian refugees. If you shop with ASOS, Next, Marks and Spencers, Mango, ZARA and the like – please watch this.

★ Stitched Up: The Anti-Capitalist Book of Fashion by Tansy E Hoskins (Review)

A different perspective on the fashion industry, focusing on the capitalist cycle of how it works, as well as topics like racism and size. I found that although this was still a factually informative book and every chapter was extremely insightful, the way it was written and the illustrations alongside it, made it more down to earth and inviting. You can read my full review on Tansy’s book above. It’s been a pleasure to connect with her and support a book which I hope many of you go on to read!

▷ UDITA (Arise): A documentary about female garment workers from Bangladesh

Out of all of the documentaries I’ve watched about the darker side of fast fashion (well, actually – is there even a lighter side?), this truly shows that even the garment workers themselves want us to change our ways, even just by thinking about the way we shop. Being a conscious shopper does so much more than being oblivious to your actions. Every penny you spend with a brand using an exploitive system, is a vote towards their work. It’s over an hour long, but perhaps you can switch out a Netflix episode for something like this, instead?

✤ Slow Fashion: Aesthetics Meets Ethics by Safia Minney (Review)

Safia’s book was the first I bought purely to learn more about ethical fashion. Now that I’ve read several others, I would have to say I would recommend this once you have learned more about the issues themselves, whether that’s about exploitation or inequality or child labour or any of the topics mentioned in this post and beyond. This is mainly because the second half of this book is almost a directory for brands paving the way, and as much as that is important, I think it’s what you need to read about afterwards. It’s still an educational book though, and it was really eye opening to see what other ethical advocates had to say.

→ Remake: Join the Ethical Fashion Movement

A recent discovery for me is the movement, Remake. I love finding sites that are dedicated to inspiring people to becoming more ethical, especially when it focuses on younger people. There’s a great video by the founder, Ayesha Barenblat, on their core aim and how millennials can choose to change the world they live in. It also touches on the topic of strength and female equality, which is something I mentioned in my post focusing on why I don’t think you can be a feminist if you support fast fashion. If you want to follow along with their journey and start integrating their great work in to your day-to-day, make sure you follow them on social media.

★ Threadbare: Clothes, Sex & Trafficking by Anne Elizabeth Moore (Review)

For those wanting a more visual way of learning about the fashion industry, you might like to take a look at the comic book I read this year called, Threadbare. Focusing on some of the more taboo areas of in the industry like sex and trafficking, it might not be for everyone, but it’s worth taking a look at nonetheless. It’s what inspired my post on feminism, and is what I hope inspires some of you to broaden your minds even further, about what isn’t always discussed.

What have you been learning about in 2016? Leave your ethical fashion education recommendations in the comments!

I hope you have a wonderful holiday this year. I’ll be back before the New Year, I promise!

One of my favourite books is “Women in Clothes“. Truth to be told, I haven’t read it in a while, but I still appreciate every page of it and will definitely have a re-read at some point. It’s somehow such an inspiring read filled with such diverse and wonderful women, and it raises some really thought-provoking questions to ask yourself. If you want to know more about the book, you can read about it here, but for today I wanted to focus on one specific question in the survey…

Are you generally a good judge of whether what you will buy will end up being worn? Have you figured out how to know in advance?

As someone trying to do their best in creating the most ethical and sustainable wardrobe possible, I think about what I buy a lot before actually purchasing it. I’m not going to lie and say I do this in all aspects of my life, because I don’t know where my bedding is made or how the mugs I drink from were produced, but when it comes to my clothes I can assure you that I try to be as conscious about things as I can be. So when it comes to working out whether I will actually wear something, I believe I have started to nail the process on the head.

Generally these days, I don’t shop on the high street. I don’t even step foot in places like Primark anymore because they just don’t interest me and I know I don’t agree with how their company works, so that does whittle down the decision process a little.

I don’t have to think about where something is made because generally, I’m shopping from places that base their work around exactly that – transparency. I’m hopefully going to be doing a post to re-launch my ethical directory, but if you want to see where I shop from beforehand, I guess you could go take a look at it now anyway…

That doesn’t, however, get rid of the sustainability factor. A big factor of shopping ‘slow fashion’ is cutting down on your consumption of products so that you don’t have as much waste in the future, and so that we can start lowering the amounts of items made. We’re all guilty of getting rid of clothes and that can be for several reasons; the fit, the style, a fault, or like the point of this post, just realising we should never have bought it in the first place.

Trying to think about what I already have is one of the most important things, which leads me on to part of the advice section below, about trends. I personally believe that trends are one of the biggest reasons we don’t end up wearing what we buy.

In the moment it might seem like a great idea, but a few months later when yet another trend is cropping up, you’ll be wanting to get rid of the old and get back in with the new. So… how do we avoid that and know we’ll actually end up wearing what we’re buying?

Ask yourself if it’s a trend piece…

As I said above, trends really are a big reason as to why we as consumers waste so much. They’re made so that companies can continue to make profits; if you’re always made to feel like you’re missing out, then you’re always going to want to buy what’s there before it’s gone. Ask yourself if it’s really going to be something you’ll want to wear next season, and the next, or whether it’s something that is only there for the ‘hype’.

Does anything you own already match?

I had this dilemma with a coat recently. It was faux leopard print fur in a bright blue colour, and it looked pretty awesome; granted it was second-hand and that would have been perfectly fine to wear, but if it hadn’t had been, it would have been a bit of an obscure purchase to buy when what I’m wearing currently, hardly matches at all. I like to think about how many outfits I can make with an item. Will this skirt match any of my tops? Could it work mix-matched? Would it work with tights in the winter?

A really great challenge is the ’30 day wear’ challenge, which aims to help you wear an item for as much as it’s worth. If you can wear an item thirty times or more, then it’s probably been a worthwhile investment. So ask yourself before you buy; could you see yourself wearing it for 30 days?

Can you find an ethical or sustainable alternative?

There are brands out there that cater to trends. One of my favourites is currently ASOS’ Reclaimed Vintage. According to a tweet I received, all of their products are made in the UK from reclaimed vintage fabrics (hence the name). Their pieces are pretty damn affordable for what they are, and they change according to the season.

So when you’re buying something that isn’t necessarily coming from the most trustworthy of sources, ask yourself if you could put it on hold to find an alternative that will not only last you longer but also won’t do any damage when it comes to the earth, environment or the fast fashion industry that we need to start changing.

Even shopping second hand can cater to trends too. I picked up a pink roll neck sweater from the RSPCA charity shop (featured in these pictures, and styled in this post), and ever since, I’ve been seeing them everywhere. It might take a little longer to find, but it is possible. Scroll through eBay! Check out Depop on your phone or even the Oxfam website (yes, they ship outside the UK).

Sleep on it…

That’s a phrase that brands producing 52 micro-collections a year probably don’t like to hear, but it’s something you should really start doing more often. If you walk away from something you catch your eye on, you’ll know for definite if it’s really worth buying if you sleep on it and wake up still thinking about it.

That’s actually what happened with that pink roll neck sweater (other than literally sleeping). I walked out of the shop unsure, and ten minutes later I was walking back in and trying it on before handing over the (new, plastic) £5 note to buy it.

Snap decisions and impulse purchases are all well and good if you know that you’ll actually end up enjoying what you buy more than the excitement of actually buying it. It’s exciting, right? Going shopping and seeing something that you know will leave you with a buzz when it’s wrapped up in a bag in your hand?

But what if that purchase costs less than the cup of coffee you’re about to drink to give yourself a breather from all that walking around? What if the delivery costs more for that dress you’re about to buy in the sale? What is that really saying about it?

You’ll know you’ll end up wearing something you buy if you think about it first. Be conscious – that’s pretty much my main motto at the moment.

What are your tips on knowing whether you’ll wear something you buy? Let me know in the comments!

It seems a little bit over the top to point this out right at the start of this post but I honestly believe it’s true; you can’t call yourself a feminist if you believe in fast fashion.

This belief hit me whilst reading “Threadbare: Clothes, Sex & Trafficking” by Anne Elizabeth Moore. It’s an illustrated non-fiction comic all about the fashion industry and how it links in with sex work and trafficking. It sounds like a pretty heavy topic, but it was possibly one of the easiest ethical/anti-fast fashion reads I’ve finished so far, and for those of you who prefer something a little more attractive to the eyes, then I’d definitely recommend it (however I will point out – it does have fairly small text to read).

The statistic that struck me with this realisation was this – 1 in 7 women worldwide, work in the fashion industry. The tricky thing about feminism is how it is deemed to be only related to women and feminine issues, when as we should all know by now, it’s about equality, and the only way we can reach gender equality and an equal balance between men and women, is by working on the imbalance of which is mainly weighing down on, well, women.

So seeing as a seventh of the female population in the world are somewhat responsible for the fashion industry, it would seem a bit absurd to not think about how it affects those people, wouldn’t it?

One of the main issues surrounding fast fashion and the industry as a whole is the problem surrounding working conditions. 80% of garment workers are women. According to the book “To Die For” by Lucy Siegle, if we break down the price of a £4 (ASDA) t-shirt, £1.18.5p goes to the supplier; £2.80 goes straight to ASDA as profit and the garment worker (most probably a woman) receives just 1.5p.

That’s 1.5p per what could possibly be 200 garments per day (roughly £4 a day), in a factory with poor safety regulations. In fact, 60% of factories in Bangladesh are structurally unsound according to a 2013 study, which makes the Rana Plaza disaster even more tragic, because it would be so easy for it to happen again.

Upon reading more about feminism and fast-fashion, I read fellow blogger Jen’s post about her thoughts, and her point about clothes plastered with feministic slogans and messages of empowerment really raised a great question; how can we be buying these clothes that promote female empowerment that cost as much as a coffee at Starbucks, when the people making them can barely afford to live and make these clothes for us?

How can we say we’re feminists when we’re supporting companies that don’t have any interest in the women (some of which are in their teens) that they employ and the situations that they are in?

The answer is, we simply can’t. If feminism is about bringing equality to women, then we can’t call ourselves feminists if we’re still supporting a cycle and an industry that still promotes inequality. It doesn’t matter what a brand is doing on the surface. It doesn’t matter what natural beauty campaigns they’re running, or what slogans are on those t-shirts.

At the end of the day, if they didn’t have the garment workers in the first place, then they wouldn’t have their company – we wouldn’t have our clothes and our wardrobes full of outfits. We as women, as men, and as humans who need to prolong the earth we stand on – cannot call ourselves feminists if we live with the mindset that this is okay.

In line with that, one of my favourite parts of “Threadbare” and actually the page that featured that slap-in-the-face statistic, was this –

‘So if you want to support job opportunities for women in developing nations, don’t shop at the mall.’

If you want to call yourself a feminist and support one of the biggest industries in the world, and a seventh of the female  population (cisgender/transgender – unfortunately there isn’t a clear statistic for that number, which would bring me onto a whole other topic of discrimination), then don’t support what is causing the most damage. Or like I’ve said many times before; be conscious. Hold retailers responsible.

So yes, I am a feminist, because I’m doing my part to avoid supporting companies who don’t value their workers and aren’t doing their part to create a fairer industry. Are you?