It’s Fashion Revolution Week! I wanted to take the chance and tell you guys a bit more about my journey with fair fashion. As you might remember, I started buying only fair clothing about 2.5 years ago, at the beginning of 2015. It’s been quite a learning curve so far and I found so many cool labels, ideas and initiatives along the way, so here goes!
+ Allow yourself to take the journey step by step. When I started shopping completely fair – not just a piece here and there – it was overwhelming. I didn’t know what to look out for or where to find fair labels I liked. So I just started slowly by reading blogs dedicated to fair fashion and learning more about sustainable production, worker rights etc. One book that really helped me was “To Die For” by Lucy Siegle. It’s a must read for everyone interested in fair fashion! I can also really recommend the documentary “The True Cost” if you haven’t seen it yet.
+ There’s a lot more out there than you’d think. At the beginning, I thought the only fair labels out there were Hess Natur, People Tree and Armed Angels. How wrong I was! Just yesterday I chatted with a friend and she introduced me to two cool new labels I had never heard about. If you’re on the hunt for new pieces, I’d recommend checking out fair clothing boutiques and following the rabbit trail of new stock and young labels. In Germany there’s glore for example, in the UK Gather and See sells some amazing pieces.
+ You won’t spend more money. Of course, if you look at the prices of fair fashion, it’s more expensive than the high street (for a very good reason!). What this means though, is that you naturally won’t make as many impulse buys anymore. Yes, one shirt might cost a bit more, but you won’t have 10 low quality shirts that you bought on a whim and don’t even like anymore.
+ Second hand shopping can be fun too! I used to shy away from buying clothing second hand (too much of a hassle), but today I love it! Just take your time and remember that you can take pieces that don’t fit properly to the tailor! Second hand shopping also helps me when I miss my former favourite brands like Topshop, COS or even Zara – I’ll just search for their collections in my favourite second hand online shops!
+ The fair fashion community is incredibly friendly. If you’re just starting out, dare and reach out to people who are further along on the journey than you. I haven’t met anyone who wasn’t eager to help yet!
All in all, I haven’t regretted going fair fashion for one minute. If you want to give it a try, just go ahead. Please ask any questions you might have in the comments and I’ll try to help and answer them. Happy Fashion Revolution Friday!
PS: If you don’t know what Fashion Revolution Week means: In the week around the 24 April, people all over the world think of the Rana Plaza incident in Bangladesh. Over 1.000 people died working at a clothing factory with horrific working conditions. Since then, every year we’ve been asking brands: Who made my clothes? It’s a really great initiative, you should definitely check it out!
Hanna’s Places is a green lifestyle magazine written by Hanna Ulatowski. It’s all about slowing down in a fast-paced society and finding ways to live a more sustainable, simple lifestyle.