Ethical clothing

[Hadagutsful]

Hello! I'm looking to make more ethical purchases when it comes to my family's clothing. Please can someone point me in the direction of a good place to start? I acknowledge that it's probably not as simple as "shop here, don't shop there" but a starting point would be great. Thanks if you can help!

Great! A few things to ask yourself - are bothered about the way in which people in the supply chain are treated and paid? Or are you bothered about the sustainability of the materials used to create the clothes? Or both?

reduce reuse recycle

Think carefully about every purchase- do you need it, can you get it second hand? Only then consider newly produced 'ethical' purchases, they're a poor second to not buying at all!

I buy from
Nomads
Braintree
People tree

They're hit and miss for styles that suit me but decent quality

charity shops, honestly

Check out Fashion Revolution. Its a relatively new group but theyre great at higglighting the good and bad of the textile world. Personally i make a lot of my clothes but thats a hobby i enjoy anyway.

There are good summaries that come out annually that highlight good ethical and sustainable practice. Whats difficult is some shops might have good products in amongst crap.

Personally i avoid Primark, New Look and all the super cheap clothes. However dont think more money = more ethical. A lot of high end clothes are made in the same factories as cheap clothes.

I buy mostly natural fibre clothes from places like Marks and Spencer and Sainsburys who come out reasonable on their supply chains.

However ive personally visited great organic cotton fair trade projects in Ethiopia where all the cotton was going to H&M and C&A

Learn to knit and buy from companies who promote their ethical dyes etc. Whilst there are only so many jumpers one person needs, yarn purchasing satisfies the shopping urge.

Thanks everyone! I do buy from charity shops (or like I like to call it our local "vintage" shop ).

Great tips, thank you.

That fashion revolution index is really interesting. Thanks for sharing the link - i hadn't seen it before but it's simple and helpful! H and M, Zara, and Bershka come out top. Primark is higher than Gap. And some of the luxury brands are very low.

There were quite a few brands suggested on this thread from a couple of months ago plus some discussion as to who on the high street might be the most palatable.

My new years resolution was to try and clean up my act and, like some other posters, I'm buying second hand / vintage / charity shop when I can and being far more considered if buying new. I'm not sticking to only buying ethical brands but there are certain high street retailers where I don't shop any more.

Yes I think key is also buying less in general as well as where from.