Ethical fashion for me?

My favourite style blogs have the occasional round of ‘Ethical fashion’ – usually a mixture of small, independent labels and Etsy sellers and the better known brands like People Tree. Today I read Lori's post on ethical dresses. As per usual, I found the selection frustrating. As I clicked through to the gorgeous frocks, every single beautiful printed cotton skirt and draped silk dress comes in a tiny range of sizes from super skinny to just about average, i.e. UK8 – UK16, maybe a UK18 if you’re very very lucky. This frustrates me.

I am a UK size 22. I have been thinner. I have been fatter. I’m currently working on reducing that number, but as I’m also trying to get pregnant, I suspect it’s going to be a little while before I can hope to be in what most clothing manufacturers consider 'normal' sizes*. I'm not going to go naked or clothed in sackcloth and ashes until I'm 'normal sized'. I would prefer to wear clothes, ones that fit me and that I enjoy. And I would like to have the chance to think and make choices about the ethics of the processes and practices behind the clothing I buy.

When I'm slimmer, I shop mostly in charity shops and vintage stores. I always buy underwear and shoes new, but for everything else, second hand is fine. Buying pre-owned is one way to shop ethically. Reuse prevents useable items from being thrown away, saves on energy used in manufacturing and transporting goods and in the case of charity shops, provides useful income for charities. But, if you're a larger than average size, your options are reduced. There are fewer things to find in second hand shops and you can forget buying vintage!

So, what does that leave me if I want to be ethical about buying clothes? Well, ethical can mean different things. To me it means that I would like the people who made the clothes to be paid a living wage and to work in safe and fair conditions. It means that I would like to minimise the amount of pollution and waste produced in the process of making and transporting clothes. That might mean organically produced fibres, but I'm not completely convinced that organic is synonymous with ethical. I'd like not to contribute more than necessary to carbon emissions and global warming. There are different aspects to consider. Is it more ethical to minimise transport miles by buying from solely UK-based manufacturers, where the whole process from plant or sheep to garment is carried out with as little travel as possible? Or is it better to support garment workers in Bangladesh or another developing country by buying from a company who ensure that they are properly paid and work in safe conditions? And how do I find out the processes involved in making that awesome dress or fantastic pair of shoes?

I don't know the answers yet, but I want to find out. I have moaned to others for too long. Let's see what I can discover and do. What do you think? Where do you shop?

* I don’t like the phrase ‘plus-sized’ but it’s widely understood to mean anything above a size 16, so I’ll continue to use it. (I like zaftig, but it’s not a common word). 

see pigs fly

If you go to Debs's blog you can

a) Tell her how lovely she looks

b) See if you agree with her about whether she needs a haircut

and

c) See the flying pigs I painted on our parents' dining room wall.

mutability

Whenever I go clothes shopping, I feel like a shape shifter. For one thing, I am smaller than I used to be. But still, guessing which size I am now and therefore which garments might fit is always tricky. In one shop or brand I'm one size, in another, something different. Add in the fact that I'm more than common tall, and sometimes it feels like nothing looks right. With each new top or skirt or pair of jeans, my body seems to shift and grow or shrink like Alice. I know it's the clothes that are variable, rather than me, but still, it's an unsettling feeling, as if my limbs and torso don't quite belong. A cropped jacket, for instance, looks totally ridiculous, flapping somewhere at the level of my bust and making me look like an overgrown toddler. Jeans that gap at the waist or bag at the crotch or are too short or (wonder of wonders) too long or just plain wrong.

I went shopping for jeans and failed to find any I liked. I did, however, find a hooded sweatshirt that was miraculously long enough in the arms and body and, though it has a kangaroo pocket, it's placed low enough that it doesn't look silly (sometimes they're placed so high they start just under the bust on me, most unflattering). And I bought new pyjamas, which are blessedly easy to get to fit, since they're fairly baggy and I don't care too much if the arms and legs are the right length.

happy purple skirt

Today I'm wearing a new purple wool skirt, bought yesterday from the Oxfam shop. It's lovely and it's a whole size smaller. Hoorah!
I'll see if I can get a picture to show you.



Updated: Here's a picture. Looks a little Victorian with my hair up.

style and substance

I've just been going through my wardrobe, discovering old clothes. Most fun, finding things that haven't fitted for years and finding that now, they do. Yay for shrinking me! Trouble is, the things I like best are the things I'm least likely to get to wear - a black empire line dress I made for a ball and wore once, a silk/linen blend tailored jacket in pale sky blue, perfect for a spring wedding, but not really the thing in freezing February. What to do? Anyone planning a ball in the next month or so? Or maybe a Pride and Prejudice themed party?

Actually, maybe I should just plan one of those, myself. Anyone want to come? We could watch P&P on DVD (we've got the BBC version at our house). We could see if we can teach ourselves some Regency dances, and generally flit around in pretty dresses. But we'd need some gorgeous menfolk to dress up in breeches. I can't actually see any of the men of my acquaintance finding it much fun. Ah well.

So I shall either have to overdress for work one of these days, or suddenly acquire some friends with the kind of lifestyles that require black tie several times a month. Shouldn't be too hard in Cambridge, right?

And looking on the bright side, when I lose more weight and all my clothes no longer fit me, I get to buy and make more. And an excuse for more clothes is always a good thing. :-)