Eco/Ethical clothing brands

[TheFurryMenace]

On to my next mission. I dont buy clothes very often, but I now trying to be more responsible when I do buy. I need some new jeans at the moment. I dont need high fashion, but dont want to be a total frump either. I find it so confusing to know what, if any, high street retailers offer ethical clothing.

I am quite interested in Muji, went in there today, they have many items in organic cotton, but I cant find much out about their reputation on line. I know most companies have a policy, but I dont know whether and to what extent they are reliable.

Is Muji a good choice? I also like some People Tree stuff, but Im really petite, and the stuff on their looks like it would suit a Zara customer - ie tall and slim. Any other suggestions?

I don't know about muji but another idea is to look in charity shops. That's what I'm going to try to do but it is breaking the habit of a lifetime.

Ah ha I have a good tip here, check out Howies, their jeans are all down to £59 for a day or so!

Organic, fair trade, based in cardigan bay I think...

The charity shops round here are full of cheap, badly made fast fashion sadly. I'm looking for quality clothing that is built to last so I'll buy less. It's such a shame, years ago I did used to find really interesting, well designed clothes in charity shops, but now, it's all Primark et al tat sadly.

Thanks for the Howies tip, I'll have a look.

People Tree - always have some 'sale' items - could you get them turned up if too long?

Nomads Clothing - a lot of print tunics but also sell basic T shirts, knitwear, jeans

Celtic Co - British made merino sweaters, organic cotton tops

Earth Kind Originals - small stock of tunics, leggings in organic cotton

Thought Clothing - uses organic cotton and hemp

Komodo - again sustainable fabrics, I think it's fair trade

Nancy Dee is British made dresses in sustainable fabrics

On the actual High Street I think H&M is supposed to have a range of sustainably produced clothing (don't know if this was a one-off, they did last year)

If your local charity shops aren't suitable, what about EBay, or just making a point to have charity shop rummage when you are in a different area?

I recently discovered the joys of eBay (not a very ethical company mind). Am also on a clothing mission since watching the true cost documentary last year (heartbreaking but really worth watching) truecostmovie.com I think its on netflix?

I'm petite and find it hard to find clothes to fit me. Although I love people tree, most of their clothes are just too big. Ebay is great though, just pick good quality brands in your size, and beware sellers with negative feedback. Set an upper limit for auctions so you dont get carried away! Any thing that doesn't fit sell it on! (I have mostly made my money back doing this and have picked up some lovely "new" clothes along the way)

If you specifically want new then Armed Angels in germany are great for petite sizes. Thought also do lovely accessories.

Thanks so much for all the suggestions, I will check them out.

Homies was sold to Timberland in 2007/8, which was then itself bought by VT, which owns Wrangler amongst other things. The founders of Howies went on to set up Hiut which manufactures in Wales. In 2012, remaining Howies management bought the company back. A lot of their stuff is made overseas.

The Good Shopping Guide regularly updates it’s ethical fashion retailer list. Ethical Fasion Retailers. Ethical Consumer has something similar.

Better cotton for info

People Tree and...

rapanuiclothing.com

Patagonia
Dynamite has lots of ethical brands in one place
Lucy and Yak
Monkee Genes
Rapanui although they don’t do jeans
Thought
H&M Conscious range
Seasalt

All have various level of social, economic and environmental ethics.

Finisterre finisterre.com

Bit like Howies was at the start.

Thanks for this, I'm also on the look out for new jeans in the new year. I've done a year of buying no new clothes this year and I managed to pick up a couple of pairs in the charity shop but they haven't fit great and I'm looking forward to passing them on.

I'd normally buy Topshop Jamie jeans but looking at the ethical clothing list they score pretty low I think I'll try Finsterre out Seasalt. Has anyone tried them for skinny jeans?

Not tried Finisterre for jeans but what I’ve had from there has been good.

Two thirds, they don't do jeans but lots of nice jumpers and plain ish tops.
Boob, maternity and nursing clothing.
Papu, funky Finnish brand
DUNS Sweden do adult sizes although it's not really my style.
I've bought some second hand clothes via Facebook groups. It's more expensive than charity shops but can be easier than trawling round.

I think the rise in dress agencies mean it's easier for people to sell on quality items leaving the junk in charity shops. I have a local agency which advertises items on Facebook and posts out as well as having the shop. I've had LK Bennett cashmere jumpers for £15, a fab jacket which I was shocked to see was m&s and found quite a bit of Jack wills for my daughter

I love People Tree, it is more expensive but you know where the clothes are made and that the people are treated well so it's worth it 👍

I totally get this – trying to buy less but better is weirdly harder than just grabbing whatever’s on the rail 🙃
On Muji: they do have some organic cotton and a lot of “we care about the planet” language on their site, but independent ratings still only put them at “Not Good Enough” overall, especially on transparency and workers’ rights, and there have been past concerns about their cotton sourcing (Xinjiang etc.). So personally I’d class them as “better than ultra-fast fashion, but not a gold-standard ethical brand”.
People Tree, on the other hand, has generally been seen as one of the originals in fair trade / ethical fashion – lots of organic cotton, fair trade certification and good independent ratings on both people and planet. If you’re petite, I’d be tempted to ignore the model shots and go straight to the garment measurements – I know quite a few shorter friends who make brands work just by checking inseams and then using a local tailor if needed.
If you’re open to looking beyond the high street, there are some really solid denim brands to check out for jeans – things like Kuyichi, ARMEDANGELS and MUD Jeans (who even do a lease-a-jean circular model where they take old pairs back for recycling). circularglasgow.com+3kuyichi.com+3kuyichi.com+3 For petites, Lucy & Yak can be good – they use organic cotton, have decent independent ratings and offer some petite-friendly cuts.
And if you ever need tops / sweats rather than jeans, have a look at Ink Green – small UK brand, all vegan, made-to-order so they’re not churning out loads of stock that ends up as waste, and they use organic cotton and PETA-approved materials. It’s more slow, eco-focused stuff than high-fashion, but still not remotely frumpy. 🌱🖤
Practical tip that’s helped me:

• Use tools like Good On You to sanity-check a brand’s ethics.
• Then choose something you really love and plan to wear for years, and if the fit’s slightly off (especially when you’re petite), factor in a small alteration rather than settling for “meh” jeans.