sustainability and fashion

Do you buy second hand?

According to Oxfam, around 13 million items of clothing get sent to landfill every week.

Let that sink in. 13. Million. Items.

I am no saint when it comes to my wardrobe, but I have been making a conscious effort in the last few years. If I don’t love it, or it’s short-term fashion, I won’t invest.

This article is going to be an aid-memoir for me, and maybe you too, during Second-Hand September so that I/you know where to go when I/you feel the pull of Fast Fashion…

Some second-hand shops to use

Charity shops
Vestiaire
Depop
eBay
Vinted
Instagram online shops – Second Stories Vintage, Jesse & Iris Vintage, Virtual Vintage Fair, Found & Curated Vintage, a Virtual Vintage Market, Retold Vintage, Darling and Vintage, the Pansy Garden, Peony Vintage, Sisters Love Vintage…

Some of the best items I’ve bought second-hand

Michael Kors tote bag
Somerset by Alice Temperley dresses x2
Mulberry purse
Sweaty Betty ski jacket
Buberry coat
Vintage gold jewellery (for my business, but still)

Wardrobe-rental shops

By Rotation
Hurr Clothing
On Loan
Rotaro

Some circular/upcycling/deadstock small clothing businesses to support

Made by SJP
With Love Evie
Grandpa’s Shirts
Agnes Ldn
Molby the Label
Leila Ray Vintage
Tula & Tye
Joanna Sands
Studio Minti
Megan Crosby
Grey Milk
Benjamin Fox
Sign of the Times
Public Footpath
Wild Folk Studio
Lola Alba Vintage

Some better larger fashion brands to support

Pink City Prints
Kitri Studio
Dilli Grey
Molby the Label
Joanna Sands
Selkie
Aspiga
Rae Feather

Mindsets and a mental checklist

Does it spark joy, Marie Kondo style?
Will I love it in a year’s time?
Do I want to invest in this at the expense of something else?
Who made it?
What is is made of?
Do I want to support the company selling it/the manufacturer?
Is it quality, or will it shrink/stretch and be unwearable after 1 wash?

Environmental and social facts and figures

If the above lists weren’t helpful enough, here are some shocking facts and figures that should put you off from clicking ‘Place Order’ from a fast-fashion retailer…

The fashion industry emits 10% of the entire planet’s carbon emissions (that is far, far more than any airline, for example)
The fashion industry is the second largest consumer of the world’s water supplies
One garbage truck full of clothing is dumped every second
Many clothes that are dumped contain polyester – this is a plastic and does not break down like cotton fibres. Washing polyester produces microplastics, which filter into our water systems and, eventually, our oceans.
Microplastic and plastic pollution from the fashion industry forms roughly a 1/3 of ocean plastic pollution
Cotton farming uses any incredibly high amount of water – both to grow the plant and to wash it and turn it into textile.
The environmental impact of cotton farming is clear to see in the Aral Sea disaster; https://matadornetwork.com/read/aral-sea-ecological-disaster/
The fashion industry could supply 110 million people, who are currently without, with water every year
Garment workers are often not protected by regulations, meaning there is no minimum wage protection, nor employment protection. When the pandemic first hit, millions of garment workers lost their jobs across the globe without any pay or compensation.

Facts from: