Avoiding the polyester invasion

[shuffleofftobuffalo]

I've always avoided synthetics like the plague and it's getting harder and harder. I was having a little shop the other day and there's so much expensive polyester out there and polyester/natural mixes. I got awfully cross the other day realising a beautiful viscose dress from Hobbs had a polyester lining (didn't do my usual label inspection diligence 😬).

I'm sure I'm not the only natural fibre lover - where do you shop, especially on the high street?

I have had success recently:

Seasalt - lots of lovely, quality natural fabrics, but has a certain "look" which might not be everyone's taste

M&S, but more and more polyester creeping in so you have to be diligent about checking fibre content

Next - but same as M&S. I got some lovely linen clothes from there this summer though.

I had some lovely cotton and linen prices from fat face this summer, and have just been back in this weekend for two nice wool jumpers. I’m the same as you and hate the feel of sweaty man made fabrics.

Fat face for me. Ever since I hit perimenopause I cannot stand anything synthetic. I only wear cotton/linen/wool much as I can, and it's getting harder to find. White stuff usually good too, but I have had some great finds with things like wool jumpers in charity shops. Even my mattress, pillows and duvet now are wool and cotton.

Seasalt, landsend. Ralph Lauren (we have a shopping village near us).

Max Mara off the Internet

I have to stay away from 100% cotton as it makes me itch. It feels like lots of little ants crawling all over my skin. Hate it. My go to would be viscose all day long and unfortunately polyester. Otherwise I'd have to walk around naked all day 😆

Are you an in person shopper OP? Or do you do online? What sort of things are you looking for?

Fat face and white stuff.

People really need to be aware that cotton isn't particularly eco friendly.

www.theworldcounts.com/challenges/consumption/clothing/cotton-farming-water-consumption

Worse than polyester is the awful acrylic knitwear shudders

Thanks for this. It is very much a myth that cotton is the natural homy grail.

eBay is great as you can actively filter for 'material'. Many beautiful garments in fantastic condition sold by women who have clearly taken great care of their clothes ‐or simply not worn an item, for whatever reason. It is a welcome time-saver when, like you, my priority is finding garments with natural fibres.

It also avoids contributing to triggering demand for the manufacture of new garments ‐the natural fibres we prize are resource intensive and their production puts great pressure on local water supplies and land use, as well as contributing large amounts of carbon emissions to the atmosphere. New natural fibres are a luxury we afford ourselves at someone else's expense.

Wearing second hand garments is a neat way of not being part of the problems which are implicit in the fashion industry, and just getting to enjoy the nice bits.

The problem is that there’re so few shops nowadays where you can go and touch and feel the items. Shopping centres nearby are full of rotating coffee shops, discount books and paper tatt and nail bars, with the occasional M&S and Primark. Debenhams gone, HoF gone. There’s a JL not too far but that too is full of crap.

I only wear cotton and viscose because polyester makes me itch. Not to be extra green

Getting harder to find so I have bits from everywhere including Uniqlo, Monsoon, Thought, bit of Seasalt, Brora... I filter by material when shopping online.
And I travel so I buy pure cotton from India and Thailand.

I'd forgotten white stuff! I go there a lot too 😂

I much prefer in person shopping but also order things through next quite often as they do so many different brands.

I never wear man made plastic clothes. However, I have never been bothered by fashion. Sadly, our heath is impacted by the clothes we wear. Although not many people are aware, many don't care as long as it's affordable. Health is wealth, fashion is transient.

The ills of Polyester you may not know about

New study confirms forever chemicals are absorbed through human skin

Does polyester decrease testosterone?

You can independently research further into this if you wish. With fertility problems rising, it's good to be aware of potential contributing factors.

I try to wear only cotton and linen or wool but it is very difficut and there simply are no shops anwywhere these days! Or if there are, they dont have your size, dont have the item, blah blah blah. Awful experience shopping is these days, not like when I was younger

Is viscose the same as rayon?

I agree, secondhand all the way.

White Company too, on sale.

Blimey I was going to chat about tops

100 Stars
Aligne
Sezane
Baukjen
Joanie (I think)

Often have a good selection of clothes in natural materials.

Whilst cotton can be a non-green material (high pesticide use and water use) it does decompose. I’m still a bit dubious of lists that put polyester ahead of it. Wool is another baddy apparently because sheep fart. We do what we can and obviously being naked or wearing second hand is better than buying new anything.

Oh, Rapanui for v good tshirts.

I feel like an ad for TK Maxx (recommended some slippers there in another thread yesterday) but they have quite a few 100% substantial merino wool jumpers at the moment around the £35 mark, and I've just treated myself to a 100% cashmere one for £60.

Re the eco side - Tencel lyocell and Tencel modal have a relatively low environmental impact. I love the feel of modal personally https://www.tencel.com/b2b/sustainability#:~:text=TENCEL%E2%84%A2%20Lyocell%20and%20Modal,fully%20revert%20back%20to%20nature

Sadly not much I can do about it. I react badly to linen and cotton, so unless they can do something about these fabrics irritating the minority of us, I'll have to take my chances.

I've been trying to find a dress for a wedding. All poly including the £400 ones. The Fold is lovely but lots of man made fibres. I order Max Mara from an Italian lady. She buys end of lines. That doesn't worry me I'm a classic dresser. I also buy charity shop stuff. This Friday I bought a next dress and seasalt trousers with the tickets hanging. I'll wear them next year.
I've stopped buying full price cashmere as we are very mothy. I bought three cotton cardigans from landsend and they will do me in the house. Interestingly the moths didn't eat an alpaca coat. Ditto a vintage camel hair jacket.

I don’t wear polyester or acrylic so am always checking labels and find cotton and viscose and wool come up very randomly and it doesn’t always bear any resemblance to price.

I have found natural fabrics in Primark, H&M, New Look, Marks and Spencer, Stradivarius, Zara, Mango, John Lewis own ranges (as well as the more obvious Seasalt, Fat Face and White Stuff - but a lot of that stuff isn’t my style). Plus the supermarkets. It’s just all so random as to what something is made out of, there must be some complicated calculations behind the scenes.

Edited to add I don’t wear dresses and think they are probably trickier, especially occasion ones.

Interestingly the moths didn't eat an alpaca coat. Ditto a vintage camel hair jacket.

Very mothy here too, but they seem more interested in the carpet than anything else. They haven’t made holes in my wool jumpers in the years I’ve lived here but I’m going to keep the cashmere in a zipped plastic bag when I’m not wearing it to be on the safe side.