Sustainable and ethical fashion and beauty (for those interested in style and beauty)

[SuperSketchy]

I wanted to start a thread about sustainable and ethical fashion, for people who like to look their best or who need to look good for work or whatever.

I love secondhand shops and am always on the lookout for tips on how to shop better in them. I am also a fan of sites like Vestiaire for secondhand, higher end items.

I also like finding eco friendly brands, who are 'walking the walk' as well as 'talking the talk'.

Obviously, the best thing for the planet is to make do with what we have in our wardrobes, but for people who also like to look current or who wouldn't be taken seriously at work if they came in in clothes which were worn out, I'd like to discuss looking good and also being as sustain as possible.

I like doing fashion 'fasts' and also follow a few low buy fashion content creators, like Alyssa Beltempo.

Would anyone like to join me for some sustainable and ethical S&B chat?

People who have no interest in how they look and only wish to stay warm and protect the planet, I truly applaud you, however, this may not be the place for you, although of course anyone is welcome

I’m trying to buy more sustainable and ethical clothing. I’ve bought quite a bit of Baukjen recently which I first came across here. I like their clothes, but my style is fairly simple. I don’t buy secondhand, I think it’s a hang up from growing up poor. I do recycle my clothing and give to charity shops rather than sell.

My DD loves rummaging in charity shops, so doesn’t have my hang up. She also has loads of my stuff, mainly jackets, waterproof coats etc.

Thank you for starting this thread @SuperSketchy! I am in a very similar position - I really enjoy being well dressed but over the last few years I have been doing it in a more sustainable way.

TBH a lot of this is the result of frustration at what is available now - poorer production and materials. So many synthetics! I've bought some new stuff from Baukjen too @MsDastardley and I have been really pleased with it.

Growing up my mother and grandmother always looked very stylish and my family had a clothes business and so I was always aware of different materials and costs of production. About ten years ago, I started to look on eBay because I had moved into a a client facing role that required me to be very well dressed on a daily basis and I couldn't always find what I was looking for in shops.

I still find ebay to be the best of them all - have had a couple of disappointing experiences with Vestiaire.

Haven't bought much in charity shops but wondering if anyone has recommendations in Central or West London please?

Look forward to hearing ideas from others!

I’ll join you. I’m not entirely sure where I’ll end up but I’ve definitely been more aware of my purchases and their longevity (in my wardrobe and further) over the past year or two.

Im aiming to:
*wear more of what I already have
*buy less
*think about fabrics and the ethics of the business I’m buying from

The struggle is real. I have a difficult figure to dress and have enough trouble finding things with all the retailers in the mix, let alone from slimmed down lines. But I am really conscious about how this can’t go on. Just seen Greta’s Vogue thing saying she’s only bought one garment in three years and that was secondhand.

I have plenty of nice things and don’t need more but just get a bit bored.

I agree @TableNiner - on the rare occasions I am in town and I see shop after shop filled with with acres of literally rubbish clothing and the waste that it involves.

But there is no joy withdrawing from new things altogether either! I feel a lot better knowing that I taking a more considered approach to what I buy, and being thrilled with the fewer purchases I do make. I also really enjoy looking after my clothes and being able to pass them on when I am finished with them.

Oh and I would really recommend the French brand Sezane - great quality pieces, lovely materials, no plastic packaging and small runs of each item.

Great thread I'm in the same boat. I've been using the Good on You app, which has been a bit of an eye opener. It grades brands on their sustainability and environmental impact and I find it quite shocking how poorly a lot of the major brands are graded, including some with a more eco conscious image. Going forward I'm going to try not to shop with any of those with the lowest ratings, and prioritise those that are doing better.
I'm also trying to buy more natural fabrics, but conscious that that in itself is no guarantee of ethical production (remembering a Stacey Dooley doc from a few years ago that showed the huge harm caused by growing and dying cotton).

Great thread, thanks @SuperSketchy!

I stopped buying any fast fashion a few years ago. I’ve gradually been building up a better quality wardrobe. Most of my new clothes are British and European made - I’ve found loads of great brands. And plenty are second hand - I use eBay a lot. I recently got a beautiful full length cashmere coat which looked like it had never been worn. I find ebay easier if you know what you’re looking for - I look for specific brands on there that I know are good quality. I’ve also got a few good charity shops near me that have high end high street and designer clothes.

I’m vegan for ethical and environmental reasons and I’ve found lots of the vegan brands are very focussed on being ethical across the board - from fair pay and conditions for workers, to what materials they use and don’t use etc.

I know I have enough to stop buying stuff completely but for me I’ve got the right balance of being able to enjoy fashion and try different things but being more mindful and conscious of what I’m getting and what the impact is.

I buy mostly secondhand, so far only from real shops although I may have to reconsider that post pandemic.

When I buy new, I try and buy the best I can afford. The word 'try' is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence but that's the intention. I think it particularly applies to basics - cotton growing isn't good for the environment and denim production is the worst, so sometimes just getting the best you can feels like all you can do. I rate Community Clothing for basics - they'll be my first stop come autumn.

My 2020 new year resolution was to support local, independent shops more. Then came the pandemic and now there are even fewer left but again that's the intention .

I've gone back to making my own. I'm not great at it and hell it's slow but that's kind of the point.

I stay off Instagram. Actually that's not quite true, I take a look every so often just to keep up, but I don't listen to recommendations, in fact I don't believe a word anyone says on there.

But I also saw the comments on the other thread that I assume led to this one. Some people enjoy lecturing women. A lot of the difficulties facing us are structural, e.g. clothing production is based overseas, women tend to pick up the caring responsibilities. If you're on Living Wage, have young children and / or dependent parents then I'm not going to tell you to spend what little spare time you have going round charity shops or making your own - you need Primark / Sainsbury's wherever so don't feel guilty.

Lovely idea! I already try not to buy makeup that contains micro plastics and avoid synthetic clothing for the same reason, every time you wash, it sheds micro plastics.

I have never been a fan of buying second hand clothing but last weekend visited a second hand shop because DH wanted to drop of some bits there and found a gorgeous bag that looks completely new and bought it. So happy with it . I am planning to go back there as they had lovely second hand children’s brand named clothes for a very low price and still very good looking.

Great to have some company on the thread

I've just pledged to do 90 days 'buy nothing new'. There's a website you can sign up on, and I guess that's a little accountability. I may end up doing it for longer, but I'll start with the 90 days as an experiment. It is doable, of course, but my experiment will be is it doable while still managing to look a bit more on trend / current too. I think it takes more work, but would love to crack it.

I also find eBay can be great, but I've had some duds too. I think charity shops are the best for me, as I can see the thing in person and even try on.

I've been watching a few Alyssa Beltempo videos. She does a lot of videos putting together outfits to emulate other people, using stuff she already has. This is honestly my ultimate goal! Being able to make relevant outfits without buying anything new.

I love Greta T. Who doesn't? And I also thought that interview was great. But, in fairness, she isn't going to get passed over at interview if she doesn't look 'on point'. As much as I'd like to be more like her, it isn't always practical from a financial perspective for me.

I was vegan from 2003 till I had my first baby in 2014. Now more veggie / plant based, but not strictly vegan.

I don't always rate vegan fashion products as some are just plastic. I do have two handbags from a company called Matt and Nat though, who make ethically made, vegan leather products, which actually do look beautiful too.

@LaBellina, that's a great bag! I love Coach and that looks brand new. I know some people are very against leather, but I definitely think secondhand leather must be better than a virgin 'vegan leather', plastic bag?

Has anyone tried Loopster? It keeps popping up on media feeds but I don’t know anyone who has used it yet. I largely buy second hand, make my own or buy the best I can (Community Clothing, Toast sale etc). My children though are a whole other thing, second hand when they were little but harder now, and they grow so quickly.

Actually I'm a bit about that Greta Thunberg interview. I've not read the whole thing, just 3rd hand reports, and yes the points about corporate greenwashing are bang on. But I don't sense any understanding of the main reason we buy cheap and unsustainable clothing: which is surely that there's very little else, even at the high end, and that if you're on a low income and all the skilled jobs you might have once been able to do have moved overseas, you don't have a lot of choice.

Yes, I have sold clothes through Loopster and also Thrift+. It all went well, but a bit of a slow process. I prefer Loopster for selling.

Would be interested to see how it is for buying if anyone has given it a try.

On the beauty side, I have started using some products from Lyonsleaf, which is a British company which makes all its own products in Somerset (I think). I've found them great and not too expensive either. My skin is a pain in the bum and quite sensitive, so not low maintenance skin at all. So I'd recommend it.

When I shop for DC I buy the Conscious range from H&M. For myself I subscribed to Circle of Style. They send you 5 vintage items every 3 months and you only pay if you keep them.

Beauty wise I like The Ordinary which is cruelty free. Also Elf and Pixie cosmetics are not tested on animals.

[quote SuperSketchy]@LaBellina, that's a great bag! I love Coach and that looks brand new. I know some people are very against leather, but I definitely think secondhand leather must be better than a virgin 'vegan leather', plastic bag?[/quote]
I definitely agree with you on that. Unless the vegan leather is bio degradable as real leather is (if it hasn’t been treated too much with lots of chemicals I assume) I would definitely say real leather should be less impactful on the environment. Assuming that the animals meat was used too and they weren’t killed just for their skin. Same applies for fur. I would never buy new fur but have no issue buying it second hand.

On the leather/vegan leather point, I’d say vegan leather has moved on massively over the last few years. It’s no longer the case that the only vegan leather available is plastic - there’s loads of great companies making vegan leather from materials like cork, pineapple leaf and so on. Some really great products and options out there now!

And most vegan companies have the environment and people at the heart of what they do, so the benefits of buying from them go beyond the animal ethics point, so you’ll find a lot of vegan companies produces their stuff in Europe under fair working conditions and using a carbon neutral process and the like. They’re often small businesses too so great to be able to support them.

Happy to recommend some companies if anyone is interested as I’ve spent lots of time researching and finding some lovely businesses out there.

I’d also really query some of the common sentiments about leather being a natural product and it being merely a by-product. The chemicals used in a lot of leather production are highly toxic, and leather is often more accurately a co-product of meat and not a by-product (it’s highly profitable). At the higher end of leather production, it can in fact be the main product - calfskin luxury purses and bags and the like. When it’s seen as a co-product, leather becomes a co-cause of the deforestation and carbon emissions and so on that go along with meat production.

Just one article about the production of leather but loads out there if anyone’s interested theecologist.org/2012/oct/26/toxic-chemicals-used-leather-production-poisoning-indias-tannery-workers

I definitely think it’s a complicated area and there’s no clear right or wrong, and agree second hand is often a better option, but I do think things aren’t as clear as vegan leather = bad plastic and animal leather = natural harmless product that would otherwise just be wasted.

Check out Thought and Earth Wardrobe. Both good quality and nice designs.

Excellent thread, thank you for starting.
I’m trying to buy fewer items but better quality. I’ve just bought a few long sleeved t-shirts and jumpers from Boden - really good sale, it would be a bit too pricey for me otherwise.

Watching - not so much for fashion ( I don't buy many clothes) but I am so mightily hacked off that brands I have loved and been Cruelty Free have decided to throw their anchors into mainland China .........so compulsary animal testing .

I'm in two minds because if they sell there are they actually testing products themselves ? Or are they selling in the knowledge ir will be tested .
A seller has no control over what happens to their product when they sell in good faith- but in this case they know .

@Salanda, I agree that there are better vegan leather options available now, such as the company I mentioned up thread.

Secondhand leather, I think, is still better. Even if a totally ethical company using only reused fabrics, produces and ships a handbag to you, there is a carbon footprint to that product. I still like to buy from these companies, but if it was a straight choice between Bellina's secondhand shop leather bag and a new vegan one, I'd pick the leather and I say that as someone who was a long-term vegan before it was cool

Yup, agree second hand is always good choice - not just on leather/non leather point but in general. Sometimes difficult to find what you’re looking for second hand though so it’s great to have so many vegan choices nowadays - I’ve been vegan for many years and it’s certainly much easier now than it used to be!

I'm a vegan now for environmental and animal welfare reasons but I still own some leather from the last century, and not all my beauty products have impeccable vegan credentials yet.

I joined Vinted and eBay with a view to buying and selling, but haven't done much so far.

I don't enjoy charity shops but I'm going to try harder to get into them.

At the moment I only need outdoorsy clothes for wet weather, and I'm terribly out of the loop on what's in fashion.

I watched Making The Cut on Amazon Prime while ill recently and I thought the clothes from the designer that came third were heinous, dated, QVC, jacquard horror.

I don't really want anything at the moment, but if and when we all return to working in offices I'll feel a need to dress to express strength and inspire confidence. I don't want to go back to "office shoes" though.

I was pleased with myself for wearing an "old" dress to a wedding recently. There were people in obviously brand new "wedding outfits" and the younger women in the latest fashions, but the medal goes to DH's aunt who wore the same powder blue dress, jacket, hat, bag and shoes she has worn to every wedding I've ever been at with her - including my own more than 20 years ago.