Hi friends! Today we have the wonderful Andrea of Seasons + Salt sharing with us for Slow Fashion Fridays. She’s been a such an encouragement to me as I’ve started this capsule wardrobe journey and she’s one of the blogs I always turn to when I need inspiration… especially as I’ve moved in the direction of curating an ethical wardrobe. Make sure to check out her blog! You won’t be disappointed.
Oh and don’t forget to check out her blog post from Wednesday! I shared with her readers three things I’ve learned since starting my blog. ☺️
But enough from me! She’s got some great tips for building an ethical wardrobe:
Have you guys seen that video on YouTube where the crazy dancing guy starts a movement? Basically one lone wolf of a dude is dancing at an outdoor concert (looking rather silly we might think), but when another guy joins him, the movement begins. Before we know it the hillside is packed with a dancing mass of people who have joined the movement.
Friends, when we talk about ethical fashion/fair trade apparel there is no longer just one wild person dancing alone, there is a movement of designers, bloggers, writers, people just like you and me flocking to the hillside. We are standing up and proclaiming: people are more important than clothes. The sacrifice of someone’s life is not worth the ability to fill our closets with inexpensive clothing. It’s no secret that all over the world people are working excruciating hours for low pay in poor conditions to make fast-fashion items available to you and me. Sometimes people are used as slaves. Even children are put to work. It’s abhorrent.
But together, we can say no and make our voices heard. We are no longer going to run to Target or Old Navy or H&M every time we need a trend fix. Instead we are going to stop, assess and make some changes.
1) Slow down. This has been so key for me. It’s given me time to learn and re-evaluate. I have taken time to learn what I truly like. I want to halt the process of wasting money on items I think I have to have but then don’t wear. Slowing down has allowed me time to discover the growing list of independent designers and ethical retailers (see resources at the end of this blog).
BUT! Don’t bemoan what you’ve already bought. It would be very unsustainable to go toss out all your fast fashion items. The best thing now is to wear them for the maximum amount possible before passing them on.
2) Shift your mindset about clothes being a consumable good. Why do we feel like we have to constantly add to our closets? The more we fill them up the more we need to clear them out, thus the cycle of clothing being a consumable good. The same way we replenish our pantry. Perhaps our closet should be more like our china collection – carefully curated, protected and cherished. Slowly augmented over time on a need-be basis.
If we don’t want our clothing to be consumable goods we must shift over to the mindset of buying quality over quantity. To expand on the dinnerware analogy: if you keep buying paper plates to eat off of, of course you will be replacing them regularly. But if you buy some everday china or fiestaware, you can have a gorgeous set of ten that you use and lovingly care for year after year. The same goes for clothes. If you keep buying cheap shirts from Old Navy or H&M you’re probably only going to get a few seasons out of them. Instead, consider taking what you would spend on three “cheap” shirts and invest in one higher quality top that’s made with better fabric and more attention to detail, and most importantly made by someone who is being treated fairly.
But what about staying “current” and “trendy?!” My response to that is: I encourage you to dig deep to find out if you’re truly being stylish or just trendy. Does your sense of style come from within, or are you like a cork riding the ocean waves of endless fashion trends? If you buy what you truly like and love, you’ll learn to be okay with investing some more dollars because the item serves you, and you aren’t serving a trend. True style transcends trends.
3) Learn to love second-hand shopping. I did not become a successful thrifter until the last few years. I think the biggest single component for me to be successful is that I need to have a list and I need to have a semi-clear picture of my own personal style. The second biggest factor is definitely which stores I shop at. Moving to Portland has been a second-hand feast! Crossroads and Goodwill are some of my favorite places to frequent. If you live in a smaller city, it might be worth your time to drive to the nearest big city just for the thrifting.
Buying second-hand saves clothing from the landfill and keeps the item from feeding into the 21 billion pounds of textile waste the U.S. creates each year. The brands you’re buying second-hand might not have been ethically or sustainably made, but giving those items a second life keeps you out of the fast-fashion cycle and is a good choice for the environment.
4) Get comfortable in your clothes and don’t be afraid to repeat. Go on, enjoy and appreciate what you have. Choose to be content. You really do have a lot of shoes! Clothes aren’t going to look as crisp as the day you brought them home and that’s okay. It’s real life. You don’t have to be like a celebrity and never repeat an item once you’ve worn it. Repeat. Proudly. In my experience, items wear in nicely the more I put them on – jeans or leather shoes for example. And often, I love an item more the second season because it feels like “home.”
5) Do your homework on brands and companies. This is the hard one. Determining whether a company fits your ‘ethical criteria’ is not black and white, it’s a personal choice. Some of us may take a very hard line and only want to shop at the (few) businesses with full disclosure and an ethical declaration, while some of us take confidence in buying a nicely made item from a high-quality mainstream company with the intent to use and love the item for many years. For me, right now, I find it most satisfactory to shop at companies who present clear information about the state of their factories and their supply chain, and smaller clothing lines where everything is made and designed in house. A good rule of thumb: When in doubt, wait it out. Give yourself time to think it over and assess the brand and assess your own reasons or motives for wanting to make the purchase. Time makes many things clear. But don’t let yourself fall into decision paralysis or a state of overwhelm either.
At the end of the day, just do your best. Nobody is perfect, but every little bit helps. Your dollar is your voice and your vote. Make it count.
The movement is happening, will you be a part of it?
Resources:
Project JUST – Research your favorite brands in one place.
Ethical Shops List – via Seasons + Salt
Orange Harp – Ethical shopping App
Blogs:
StyleWise
Bien Faire
Life+Style+Justice
Andrea Hartman is passionate about ethical fashion, desires to “do more with less” in her life, and is crazy about the city of Portland. She’s a journalist, turned photographer, turned blogger, and a mom to three little rascals, who drinks French press coffee seven days a week with her husband. You can find Andrea at her blog, Seasons + Salt and on Instagram.
Great tips! I think the key to second-hand shopping is all about changing your mentality. I used to think that buying something someone else has already worn would be dirty or cheap, but that’s definitely not the case. Thanks for sharing!
Cara, I used to feel the same way! It’s funny what a shift in perspective does!
These words feel like freedom in so many ways – no pressure to do it perfectly, but a reminder to slow down and think about how we are speaking with our dollars. I love it. Thanks for encouragement. I’m deciding how I will repeat today. Proudly.
Woohoo! I am high five-ing you Katie! Together we can encourage each other to change our habits and influence an industry!
Real food for thought here. Looking at my wardrobe with fresh eyes.
Suzi, I am honored to spark new thoughts in regards to your closet and how you spend your dollars. 🙂 Thank you for reading!
Slow down applies to everything I think and we buy used clothes all the time! Great tips.
Yes! Slowing down is so so hard for me, but I really believe it’s essential!
These are all such great tips! I’ve never really thought about a more ethical wardrobe, but with trying to make everything else more organic and ethical in our lives it makes perfect sense. Thanks for the bit of inspiration!
Shannon
http://www.christalouise.com/collections/spring-collection-1/products/triangle-grid
Shannon, thanks for reading! I agree, so often we think about where our food comes from yet forget to think about where our clothes come from. Best of luck on your clothing journey!
Yes, yes, and more YES! I abhor fast fashion and am a avid second gander because of it. More people need to be aware just how toxic their mall trips can be. I think I read that fashion is the 2nd highest polluting industry!
Yes! I am to the point where I almost never go to the mall! It feels like a place of vast over-consumption. :/ And I can all too easily feel the pull. I am not being judgy, it’s just an environment I don’t really want to be in anymore!
Such an awesome insight! I remember in high school and early college when I would go to Forever 21 and leave with bags and bags of clothes, some of which I would wear once or twice. Over the last few years I’ve definitely become more clear in my style, and have fewer pieces of clothing that all fit that style. I rarely shop for clothing, and have really developed an appreciation for buying clothing second-hand.
I used to do that too! It was almost like a game to see how many items I could buy. :/ Now that I’ve broken up with shopping as a pastime I sure don’t miss it!
and don’t dress the way world does
Love this! Slowing down has been great for me. I haven’t shopped for 2 months and have used that time to evaluate my wardrobe and make a clear plan on what I need to purchase and save for this year. I found because of my resolve to only buy 10 things this year, many of my fast fashion items will be worn to the very last thread. Thank you again for another thought provoking post! 🙂
These are some great tips and I cannot wait to hear and see more of it! Happy weekend xxx
I think I’m going to have to look at more of your posts. An intentional, sustainable wardrobe is a great idea for everyone.
I’ll be checking out the ethical shops list. This is something that I care about, but am also on a budget for me and my family. It’s an area I’d like to change – thanks for bringing it to the forefront for me. Old Navy is so easy because it’s affordable, but at what cost?…feeling convicted!
I’ve got that “love second hand shopping” DOWN! In LA we are lucky because people just give away so many amazing barely worn pieces. You can find so many gems so so cheap. Thanks for these tips!
What a remarkable post! I’ve given up on fast fashion been shopping secondhand and from ethical companies from almost a year now and it is life-changing. These tips are spot-on and ones I wish someone had just told me when I started rather than having to figure them out for myself. I love your blog, Andrea, and was so excited to see your feature here on Truncation today. Thank you for the post, Andrea and Karin! You ladies are the best. 🙂
Yay! You are so sweet Cassandra! Thank you for the kind words!
These are some great tips. These are definitely things I’m trying to work on.
These are great resources. I don’t typically think about ethics when shopping for clothes. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
These are some wonderful tips! You’ve definitely got me thinking about how I view clothes!!!
Loved every word! Thank you for sharing!