Showing posts with label ethical fashion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ethical fashion. Show all posts
When I lived in Toronto, I flat out refused to give into the wellington boot trend. I had owned wellington boots in my life, like when I was a kid and spent a lot of time wading in creeks. But I have always maintained that wellington boots had not place in an urban setting.

However, I will admit that the rain in London forced me to rethink my position. After experienced a couple days of constant downpour this spring and very soaked shoes, I began to see the light (or the rain clouds). 

And thus began my hunt for an ethical option for wellington boots. 

My first find was Roma Boots...

Roma Boots, is the 'Toms Shoes' of wellington boots (though without as much publicity). For every pair of boots they sell, they donate a pair to orphan and street children. They also give 10% of their sales to orphans or street children.

Charity partnership one way companies work on being 'ethical' and its really great to see companies do it. But I don't think it replaces sourcing materials and labour in an ethical way. The website doesn't say anything about how things are manufactured either in terms of labour or environment production. 

Another consideration was that the company is located in the USA, and shipping it across to UK wasn't feasible, or very environmentally sound for that matter.

My second find was SeaSalt Cornwall...

So here we have a British-based company selling British-made boots. They have won the Queen's award for sustainable business (I'm assuming thats a big deal cause the Queen's involved?). Looking over their site, they have one of the most comprehensive overview of their environmental policy, ethical trading standards and social responsibility that I have ever seen publicly posted by a company. These wellington boots are also made of all natural rubber, which is way more ethical than using PVC or some type of plastic. 

But these didn't end up being my final choice. It was the style that put me off in the end. I just wasn't down with the pink. Or really any of the other kinda cutsey colours. We've already established I'm not a fan of the whole wellington boot looks. My enthusiasm for it goes even further down when it involves pictures of anchors or daffodils.

And I choose Ilse Jacobsen!

My final choose wasn't the most ethically certain. Ilse Jacobsen's boots are also made out of natural rubber. This means they have less of an impact when they are made and they can be recycled. They are also handmade, but in Slovakia. While handmade often has less environmental impact than an assembly line, its not necessarily better in terms of labour right. And I can't tell from anywhere on their website about their labour practises.

After much debate, I chose these boots. In the end, while these boots weren't the most ethically option, they were the closest one thing that met both my style and my ethical requirements. I mean, they are a doc martin-esque wellington boots. I will be splashing in at least environmentally friendly style this fall!
From Somewhere is the recycled clothing line by Fashion Revolution co-founder Orsola de Castro. A couple weeks ago she hosted a pop-up shop in her studio in Peckham for a few different designers and I decided to swing by.

I passed through around lunch on a Saturday and a couple of the designers took me around to see all the different collections. They gave me a crash-course in the different approaches to 'recylced' fashion and I thought I'd share some of what I learned with you.

Recycled Fabric

Officially called using 'pre-consumer surplus from manufacturing houses and textile mills' A lot of the ethical designers buy up remnants from other designers collections or fabric or clothing manufacturers and then use them to produce their own collections. I've bought designer remnants before on Queen St. in Toronto, my biggest find being a piece of green Versace stretch-silk for a semi-formal affair. Despite that person experience, I have to admit, I've never really thought about excess fabric from clothing manufacturing. I sort of assumed that it would end up being bought by individual sewers like myself.

But given how many clothing lines exist, there is a lot more extra fabric than individual sewers can buy up. And a huge portion of the impact of producing clothing is actually producing the fabric, and by reusing other people's fabrics you are reducing all of that.

One of my favourtie, recylced fabric pieces was the wrap vest on the dummy. It has a vest back and the front pieces have a tiny button on every point so it can be pinned up in different ways.

Discarded Garments

Some of the designers actually used discarded, 'flawed' or extra items of clothes. Any production line will end up with a few flaws or there are clothing pieces that get made but just aren't sold.  A lot of that clothing ends up in the trash, but some creative re-working and it can be saved.

I thought the coolest example of this was the jeans featured in the picture above. A lot of jeans are distressed post-production because otherwise you can end up with 'distressed' fabric in awkward places.  However, the distressing sometimes goes a bit too far even and the jeans can't be sold. This designer is rescuing those jeans and turning them into bags, skirts and shorts.

Up-Cycled Used Clothing

The final clothing I saw, was the recycling of used-clothing. These pieces are made from clothing that have previously been worn. There are obvious challenge is re-working existing garments, as someone who has tried to alter or rework second-hand clothes can attest. A really popular technique is to patchwork them into new items. I think they make some truly amazing pieces. The designer featured above is a great example of this and my favourite Toronto option, Pre-Love, does this so well!

I couldn't exactly leave without making some small investment. I picked up one of these great multi-coloured vests. I really like tucking it into a fitted skirt or pair of jeans. 

To check out some of these and other recycled designers collections more closely:

From SomeWhere
Here Today Here Tomorrow
and there will be a small capsul collection soon in Viola
I fell off the blogo-sphere for the past couple weeks. After working over-time all of June to help out EfG on a grant and I was in serious need of balancing out my life away from a computer.

But during that time I've had a few adventures around London and I've saved it up to share with you all so we are back up and running ladies and gentlemen.

The first of my ventures was to Shoreditch and Bricklane Vintage:

When I mentioned to one of my London-savy friends that I loved vintage shopping (Kennsington Market, Toronto I miss you sooo much!), she immediately said I needed to go to Bricklane.


Defining what makes a shop vintage and not just used is always a bit tricky. According to the gosel which is Wikipedia, vintage is any clothing from the 1920's to about 20 years ago. But vintage stores like those in Kennsington or Bricklane are just as likely to carry:

a) More selective chosen second-hand clothing, or

b) Clothing that is iconically from the 90's, 80's or 70's... maybe 60's and if you are very lucky 50's

Oh how are standards have fallen! Well yes and no. You can still find those true to the name vintage stores but expect also to hand over more cash for that honest to god 40's or 30's pieces.

Just like charity shopping for many people is more about thrifty than ethical living, vintage shoping often about a conscious style desire. But that doesn't mean you don't get ethical points for shopping there because you are still recycling clothing.

When you compare charity shop vs vintage shop the general rule of thumb is that you do spend more money but you can end up getting a more unique look.  Which is either a plus or minus depending on your personal style. I wouldn't really describe my style as 'vintage' or 'vintage inspire' but I enjoy hunting for pieces that add something different while not going entirely overboard.


This trip I managed to pick up two jackets. I pick up a lot of jackets from vintage because:

1) Tailored items don't usually loose their shape so they are great to buy used
2) Jackets are often pretty classic as long as you avoid crazy shoulder pads, or extreme lengths
3) Pairing them with an otherwise modern wardrobe and you have a good blend of old and new style

I grabbed this camel coloured blazer. I like the menswear feel of it (with sleeves wide enough to fit a jumper under, very London necessary). It has a bit more shoulder padding than I would normally like, but I haven't decided yet whether I will take them out or not.

Somewhat ironically, it says it was made in Canada. How it founds its way to a thrift-shop in London, who knows? (mystery!)

 I also grabbed a waxed jacket. Waxing is a way of waterproofing canvas material and I own a waxed bag which has held up to all sort of abuse. On the partical side, I have learned you can never have enough raincoats in London and I've been yearning after the Barbour waxed jackets. This waxed jacket could pass for theirs (and it may actually be, the label is gone) but at 10 pounds its way easier on my budget.

I know a lot of people get turned off of vintage because of the smell. And let me tell you, the waxed jacket was in need of airing out when I got it. Here are some tips on getting the musty smell out of your clothing finds:

Seven popular tricks
http://www.athriftymrs.com/2011/07/7-tips-for-removing-that-charity-shop-smell.html

But since the waxed jacket can't be washed, I'm going to try this trick that MadMen used to get the musty smell out of their pieces:

http://dashfieldvintage.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/how-to-get-musty-odors-out-of-vintage.html

Will keep you posted on its success!














As Adrienne mentioned, I've been dealing with some house issues recently. With all this rain Toronto has gotten, it appears my roof is leaking into my bedroom. On top of that, my best friend has recently gotten engaged and wedding planning has begun! However with all the life chaos there is still something that I think everyone should be very aware of this summer (shopping season) in Toronto, and that is an ethical option for some seriously awesome clothes!

The Kind Exchange


Used clothing is a great way to reduce your ecological foot print and get some extra mileage out of clothing that would otherwise be thrown away. When clothing often comes with such a high human cost, it only makes sense to use it for as long as possible. 

In Toronto the most known (and biggest) options for used clothing are Value Village, Salvation Army and Goodwill. All of these have great potential and with much time and commitment you will inevitably find something you may like, or even love.

The Kind Exchange takes a bit of that endless searching out of your fashion adventure because nearly everything in the store is high-end and relatively new. They currently have 9 locations in the city and give a portion of their proceeds to The Canadian Cancer Society and The Partners MS Centre at Bringham & Women's Hospital.


Buy & Sell

The brands available at The Kind Exchange are not just whatever was left in whomever's back closet. Here you can find everything from Alexander Mcqueen to Versace and everything in between.

Along with buying up all these goodies, you can also sell some of your own stuff. After the long winter you can take a look in your closet and see what you can get rid of; bring your items down to the store and they will give you cash on the spot for anything they take a fancy to. Be sure that you are bringing in quality and gently used items, as non-brandname or damaged clothing will be much less appealing for sale.

Trade & Donate

Along with the normal options to buy and sell clothing, The Kind Exchange gives you the option to trade in your old clothes for new ones. By trading in older clothes you double the value of the cash you would have received instead!

Finally you can also just donate old clothing. As a gift in kind you will be making some extra space in that closet of yours, and also feel good knowing that part the sale of your clothing will be going to a good cause.

You can see all their locations HERE and also them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to get a heads up about what is in the stores, and also about great deals.



All photos used are from http://instagram.com/thekindexchange and are property of The Kind Exchange.
Poor Kaila is having major house challenges so unfortunately she had to miss a post, but she'll be back as soon as possible!

A month ago I decided to be strategically optimistic about London weather and purchase one summer dress to add to my collection. I chose this black dress from People Tree, as a good base for my summer wardrobe. If you aren't familiar, People Tree is great source for sustainable-made and fair-trade clothing.

When I got the dress and put it on, my first thought was that it might be a little va-va-voom for everyday wear. But I always like to experiment a bit with a piece before I make a decision. And it turns out this piece is incredibly versatile depending how you mix and match it. In fact, its exactly what I wanted, a dress I can get a lot of mileage out. I wanted to share how I've made it works, so one of my friends has helped me photograph some of the looks I've come up with around this piece.

Here are four looks based around this black cotton dress.

Please keep in mind, I've never really done a photo-shoot before, so bear with me!

Ultimate Casual look
 Outfit: Dress + Jean Jacket + neon belt + Birkenstocks

A jean jacket makes so many things that much more casual and can help downplay almost any dress. Its definitely got that 90's vibe too. I took off the belt the dress came with and replaced it with this bright neon one. I've also worn it out with brown braided belt too. My Birkenstocks finish it off as a very beach, park, casual day out look.

I wear this look the most. It makes the dress perfect for just throwing on and hanging around my neighbourhood on hot and sunny days.















Sporty Casual Look

Outfit: Dress + Silver boat shoes + patterned bomber jacket

I like this as more of a downtown shopping. A bit more polished but still very casual. The bomber jacket is silky and light weight which is good for unpredictable english weather. Zipping up the jacket, you could mistake this for a skirt and top combo.











Work Day Look
 Outfit: Dress + Grey Blazer + Off-White work Flats

I do spend 5 out of 7 days at an office. Throwing this long grey blazer over the dress very much transforms it into work appropriate gear. The ruffle disappears and I could be wearing a black straight dress.
 














Going-Out Look

Outfit: Dress + Ankle Boots + Black and Gold Belt

Curve hugging dress obviously deserves big hair and bold lips. Nice heels could make this more elegant but I like the edginess of the ankle boots. I'm waiting for proper warm summer evening to wear this out for cocktails or dancing.















I always want to feel like my wardrobe is a bit fresh, but I'm trying to not go overboard buying a whole bunch of things. After-all sustainable and ethical fashion is often more of an investment price-wise, which for me means making sure I get pieces that go a bit further. And, especially with english weather money on a fresh 'summer wardrobe' could easily be a waste.

So if you want to consider making only one or two strategic summer purchases, I would also recommend pulling open your closet and re-examining what you have and think about those one or two things that could boost your wardrobe for the season.


Ethical fashion is not a new passion for me and over the past few years I've acquired a number of ethical pieces. Starting on my commitment to go 100% ethical got me wondering, how ethical is my closet right now? To answer my own question I have created:

The Wardrobe Audit

So here's a step-by-step look at my wardrobe audit and what clothing items have (or have not) already acquired ethically. 

Step 1: The Clothing Mountain I started my audit by piling all my clothes on my bed in this giant mound. If you had any doubts that I'm a serious clothing shopping addict, let those doubts be erased! Never let it be said that any future success in shopping ethically was achieved because I don't like buying clothes that much.

Step 2: Method to the Madness The aim was to produce four piles - one for ethical purchases, one for used purchases, one for made-by-me and one for unethical clothing. Many of my shoes are still in Canada so I didn't include them (and I didn't include intimates for what I think are obvious reasons)

Step 3: The Overview Here is everything sorted. Going clockwise, top left is made-by me clothing, top right is used-clothing. bottom right is unethical purchases and bottom left is ethical purchases. As you can see, the unethical purchase pile is by far the largest. But I've laid each pile out to give you a better idea of what has fallen into each category.

Step 4: The Unethical mound 53%: We've got all your clothing categories here. I could put together many unethical outfits from this all. In my decision to shop ethically, I didn't get rid of any unethical items previously purchased. After all, getting rid of them wouldn't erase having bought them. The plan will be to replace items with more ethical options as I need to.

Sweaters - 6
Coats/Jackets - 6
Lounge and Workout gear - 8
Dresses 6
Skirts and Pants - 8
Handbags - 1
Tops - 16


Step 5: The Ethical Purchase Category 18%:  Most of these ethical purchases are locally-made as opposed to fair-trade (we will get into this difference in another post). Most of them are from Canada like my yoga jeans and multiple items from Preloved. The wonderful grey handbag is fair-trade from a Nepal group (and is still available if you are coveting). I also have a couple of pieces made in Zambia, which I bought them directly from tailors.

Dresses - 5 (including 2 Zambian chitenge outfits)
Skirts and pants - 3
Tops - 8
Handbags - 2


Step 6: Used Clothing 14%: These items have come from friends and family, used and vintage shops and in the case of the great stripped dress, a used clothing market in Tanzania. They are some of the best pieces in my wardrobe too! My most used items in this category include the black coach handbag, and the grey jacket. The navy blouse with white roses is another real treasure, a classic 50's top  with buttons up the back by Christine Dior, which works wonderfully with modern black trousers.

Jackets - 1
Skirts - 2
Tops - 4
Dress - 2
Handbag - 1
Scarves - 3

Step 7: Made By Me 14%: or by my mum, frequently a combination of the two. If you really love clothing, fabrics, cuts, designs, I really suggest you learn to sew. There are few things more satisfying than having someone compliment your outfit and being able to say 'Thanks I made it!' I make a lot of dresses and they are often an easy place to start. My mum also started knitting so now I have some great scarves and hats in my hand-made collection too!

Dresses - 5
Jackets - 3
Lounge Wear - 1
Skirt - 1
Scarves and Hats - 3


What my 'wardrobe audit' proved to me is that there isn't an item of clothing I can't choose to purchase ethical. The only thing that didn't show up in any of the ethical categories was sweaters and I can honestly say thats more do to price than to availability. 

The audit is also a good reminder that I am not exactly in a position of needing to buy anything, which means saving my pennies to put into some great ethical pieces is very do-able for me. Hopefully with time and determination these piles can shift until the unethical one slowly disappears!

I would love to see the balance of other people's wardrobes. Post and tweet #wardrobeaudit
Craft markets are often a great place to find small local artisans. Most craft markets are only open to local producers so you're pretty much guaranteed to find ethical items. And now there are a lot of well curated markets so you don't have flash-back to the village craft markets of your childhood full of painted ceramics and crocheted toilet paper covers (just me? oh well lucky you).

Couple weekends ago there was a one-off market in Soho. I passed through and grabbed a bunch of cards for interesting booths. Its great that lots of artisans now have small websites so even if you don't want to buy that day you can contact them later. I also like being able to check-out quaity before I invest in an online purchase.  Here are some of my finds to give you an idea about what you can turn up at this kind of market.


Clothing
www.theenglishteeshop.com
www.zoeboomer.com (for their 'freedom' t-shirt)



Accessories
www.bearabeara.co.uk
www.lostandfound-accessories.com

HouseHold
www.etoile-home.com
www.suchandsuch.co

Prints in all their forms- paper, cards, fabric, phone-covers
www.blankinsidedesign.co.uk
www.eleanorstuart.com
www.cecilyvessey.com
www.lovelyjojos.com
www.katemoby.com





Have fun browsing and watch out for local craft and artisan events in your area to find unique goods!
I'm one of those people who believes that the word 'ethical' and 'fashion' are equally important in the phrase 'ethical fashion'. Ethical clothing is one thing and ethical fashion is another. There is a lot of ethical clothing.You have your hippie/wood-spirit/outdoors guru eco-clothing (shout out to British Columbia!). There is a certain retro style movement.  And then there is just plan and shapeless. But I like my fashion to be unique without being considered its own style genre. I'll admit finding ethical fashion can be a bit of a challenge but it can definitely be done.

For those who also like ethical fashion, I thought I do some of the leg work for you. For good tips to update your wardrobe, I love the Guardian's style section and it often features ethical options. However, this was not the focus of their summer style recommendation. So I'm going to take their style suggestions and provide you with some ethical and fashionable options.

Here is Guardian's recommendations by Lauren Laverne:

Minimal Column Maxi Dress
The trend is minimal column dresses (though Laura loved the long sleeved floral dress in the pic above). I'm going to redirect you to this maxi column dress by Made&More. Its also has a bit of the eyelet look which goes with the top featured above. However, if you are feeling up for a project, maxi dresses are a great simply sewing project. I've made two with this pattern by mccalls and I get a lot of wear (and compliments) out of them.

Generous-Sized Silk Scarf
The suggestion is to acquire a silk scarf that works as a cover from the sun or protection of over-zealous AC. So many choices in this category! I'm not sold on it having to be silk. I like these basic bamboo scarfs by Aura Que and this amazing water-coloured one is by scout and catalogue (bit of a splurge). However, if you want a silk scarf, I would hunt second-hand and vintage because there are tons available.















 Bermuda Shorts
The Guardian recommends investing in beach bermudas shorts. Well, I don't really go for shorts (I either feel nearly naked or like a camp counselor) But these skorts by Preloved boutique I might be tempted to try and are very on trend (available in a variety of colours). Or if skirts are you thing, Preloved has one in ivory brocade with a bit of denim contrasting trim (I also like the crop top with the skirt).

Update Classic Shirt
Updated classic was what the Guardian suggested you look for in a summer shirt. White shirts are very summery and I like the cut of this cotton blouse from People tree. For something more causal, go DIY and update an old white t-shirt with an ombre look which always feels summery.


  

























Eye-wear
Apparently, eye-wear this summer should be rounded and colourful. I'd definitely check out the vintage shops for something unique but inexpensive. You can always get the lens replaces so look at frames rather than the glasses as a whole. But if you want eco-friendly, while they aren't the 'coolest shape', these wood-frame sunglasses by Proof Eyewear are inspired by wayfarer frames.


Sandals
They don't talk foot-ware in the article (outrageous!). But shoes are in the picture above and I'm adding them to my review. Birkenstock are actually in this year. (So many videos of people raving about how comfortable they are... yes that is why those of us who do a lot of walking have been a fan for years.) If you buy originals and not the knock offs, they are 'made in germany' so you are in the clear and on trend. However, if I wanted something a bit nicer, I would choose these ones from Mohop because they remind me of espadrilles but you can tie them all different ways!


Of course, before you go out and stock up on new items, take a rummage through your closet and see if you have anything that already fits the bill.  Its always surprising what you may turn up that you had forgotten about.