One emotion that I don’t get to experience as much as I’d like to is
smugness. This is especially true when it comes to clothes. Feeling smug
about your outfit can only be achieved by very particular means. You
have to wear something devastatingly perfect at the right time and the
right place, find a bargain of staggering proportion or buy something
ethical that makes more people feel good about life than just you.
This third option is easier now that green fashion brands have
realised that people will buy ethical clothes as long as they don’t
look
like ethical clothes. Lots of labels have sprung up that consider
ethics and aesthetics together. For some, the ethical element is in
itself organic. British designer Christopher Raeburn, for example, uses
recycled military fabrics and decommissioned parachutes to make clothes
because he wants to rather than because he feels morally obliged to.
This change and lightening in attitude is really apparent in the new eco
clothes.
And it’s easier to go ethical shopping, too. Some great boutiques
have appeared which do all the sorting of nice from naff and the
worrying about bona fides for you. All you have to do is loll on the
sofa browsing their websites and buy.
My favourite two are The Acey and 69b.
The former was set up by Holly Allenby, who worked at ethical footwear
brand Toms, and the latter is by Merryn Leslie, an erstwhile fashion
editor at
i-D magazine. For great basics in simple shapes and patterns, go for 69b. The Acey is more trend-led, though not try-hard.
I really like Reve en Vert,
too. This boutique was started last year by friends Natasha Tucker and
Cora Hilts. Their own basics line – REV – is also available on the site
and I recommend the T-shirts, which are deliciously soft.
If you want something cool, try Gather & See.
Steph Hogg and Alicia Taylor are co-founders of this shop and it’s a
youthful eye that has picked out their range of playsuits, crop tops and
short shorts. Gather & See also categorises clothes by whether
they’re organic, recycled, made in small-scale production, fairtrade or
handcrafted, which appeals to me – I’m often adrift with eco
terminology.
All of the above have great accessories sections, but if you’re looking for jewellery, do also look at Made and Justin Duance.
Made’s fairtrade jewellery is handmade in their Kenyan workshop, where
they invest in staff, offering training and job security. And Justin
Duance is a UK-based jeweller who uses recycled metal and reclaimed wood
in his designs.
Buy some of these wares and you will feel smug. You will be a better
person and you might even find the perfect outfit for the perfect
occasion. You won’t find an amazing bargain, but it’s that unsustainable
and selfish search that got us and the fashion industry in trouble in
the first place. Settle for two out of three. That really isn’t too bad.