Sustainability | Get Vogued

Single Use Needs A Spruce

I don’t know about you, but I’m never in the mood for an ethical crisis during my morning outfit hunt. Nevertheless, how can I call myself a good person without one?

You only need to look at anti-sweatshop movements like Fashion Revolution’s “Who Made My Clothes”, the "True Cost" documentary and the ABC’s “War on Waste”, to realise the enormous scale of our fast-fashion crisis (all a must watch!!). It is the world’s second-largest polluter and serious human rights violator. Fast fashion's toll on the environment, factory workers, creative directors speed-to-market pressures, and ultimately the entire fashion industry is colossal. So, we must ask ourselves are these under-priced and unethically made garments worth it?

Clothing trends are often a reflection of our social, economic and cultural zeitgeist. Many people walk around without realising they are making a political statement by wearing fast fashion. Luxury brands are also to blame, Burberry had A$50 million worth of excess stock in 2018 and thought it was a brilliant idea to burn it! Better ash than discounted trench coats that could tarnish their brand image? As Werner Sombart said, “fashion is capitalism’s favourite child”, but the industry’s blinded love for profit margins is seriously destroying our planet. Flaws in production processes are real, but we as consumers are equally to blame! Overwhelming as this is, there are many ways we can help, starting with a shift away from single-use outfits.

I’m not branding myself a sustainability guru, because damn I love to shop, but I can definitely give you hot tips to become the eco-warrior you know you are inside (without the dreadlocks or tie-dye)! Whether you are a regular trend-follower or have a unique aesthetic;

I am ecstatic to report that fashion activism is more stylish than fashion itself.

Whilst I understand the allure of ultra-gamified shopping habits, where “winning” equals a $10 t-shirt or 70% off jeans (websites now have “spin for discount” contests for bargain-hunting thrills), the trick is to realize there is no win-win situation when it comes to shopping. Your best bet is to be an informed consumer and make the most ethical decisions. We need to start consuming at a level where the planet can replenish its resources- which is a heck of a lot less than now!

The intention of this blog isn’t to name and shame lousy shopping habits or make you feel terrible for owning fast fashion (duh, we all have budgets), but hopefully to help adopt an ethical mindset. A $5 t-shirt teaches the consumer it is meant to be thrown out, that price equals value, yet logically $5 could not finance the entire supply chain to produce that garment. So, something has got to give? Whether it be the underpaid garment worker, cheap synthetic fabrics that don’t biodegrade, fabric dyes, microplastics or transportation emissions that harm the environment (and much more). $5 doesn’t buy you an ethical outfit in the morning.

Ask yourself, do you think you can fight the fashion system’s planned obsolescence and buy the clothing you’ll wear for longer? Right now, ethical fashion is a niche market, constituting about 1% of the global fashion industry. If the reason you haven’t been shopping sustainably is due to the preconceived notion of its drab, flowy and un-trendy appearance, think again! These are my top ethical picks without compromising aesthetics:

New Zealand brand, Well Made Clothes, has taken ethical relativism to the next level by letting customers “shop their ethics”. Below is their filter function for your values:

Reformation says, “Being naked is the #1 most sustainable option. We're #2”:

Reformation also publishes its sustainability reports and is transparent with how they offset their carbon emissions. See their sustainability practices here.

Here are a few more!

The Iconic has a Considered section, with all ethical brands! Including:

I can already hear fashion activists yelling at me, “shopping new isn't the most sustainable choice, as we are consuming new resources each purchase!”. And yes, this is true. Australians discard 23 kgs out of 27 kgs of newly purchased textiles into landfill yearly, of which two-thirds are manmade synthetic fibres that may never breakdown (and if they do, they pollute our oceans with microplastics). Shopping second hand and extending a garment’s life is a fantastic way to go! As they say, one man's (or woman's) trash is another's treasure.

Renting, swopping, shopping local and re-styling pieces you already have are a number of ways to be more fashion mindful.

Get Vogued's motto is tortured by fashion and cured with style, so I truly believe in selecting clothes not for their seasonal trendiness, but for their innate style and timelessness.

Looking for other local sustainable and ethical heroes & reads? Here are a few of my favs!