There’s a good chance that if you know me in real life, I will have mentioned the fact that I try to buy my clothes from ethical and sustainable retailers. It’s probably really annoying how much I manage to work it into conversations, but I guess that’s what happens when you feel passionately about an issue. I would never judge anyone for their shopping choices however. It is my hope that the more these things are discussed, and normalised, the more people will give some real thought to the purchases they make, and where possible make better choices.

It is with that in mind that I thought I should write a blog about where I actually buy my clothes and why ethical shopping is so important to me. I’ve written before about where I shop for my children, but never actually talked about my own shopping habits. If you don’t even know where to start, or think you couldn’t possibly afford it, then it’s easy to give up before you have even begun. Hopefully this blog will help you to realise it is more achievable than you think.

It is definitely a bit of a minefield to try and figure out who is doing things well and who isn’t. It’s really easy for a brand to say the right things on their website to make you feel you are making good choices but let’s face it, talk is cheap, and they aren’t always as amazing as they would have you believe. To make things even more complicated there are also a whole host of websites that will try to tell you which brands are ok, and which to avoid, and whilst this seems like a good thing, they often have very conflicting data, so the whole things gets more complicated, and you’re faced with another barrier before you’ve begun.

To keep things simpler for myself I stick to just one guide, and use The Good Shopping Guide. They cover a whole range of issues, not just fashion, and as well as listing lots of independent retailers, they also rank your high street stores for you. Their rankings are broken down by issues, so you can see where your favourite brands are succeeding and where they are falling short. For me, Humans Rights is a key issue, I hate the idea of someone suffering or working in dangerous conditions, or not being paid fairly, just so I can buy a cheap top, so even if a brand is great at sustainability but doesn’t treat it’s workers well then I’m going to pass. For you it could be a different issue, but this way you can make informed decisions.

When I first started thinking I needed to buy better clothing I had no idea how I could possibly afford it. I had gotten so used to clothes being cheap, and being able to buy anything I liked without much thought, that a change seemed impossible. So to start with, I decided to stop shopping at the worst offenders. If you look at this guide to high street fashion you will see quite a few brands are in the red section, surprisingly they aren’t all cheap retailers. Not giving your money to these brands is a great place to start. You can always work your way up to the green section slowly!

In the interest of full disclosure, the only real way that I can afford ethical fashion is by buying less. Minimalism was a huge contributing factor to me changing my shopping habits. I try to only buy items I really need, and know I will get a lot of wear out of, and only buy items I really love. Given the UK climate doesn’t have drastic seasonal weather changes, I can typically adapt most of my clothes to be worn all year round.

This way I need to buy a lot less clothing, and I only ever wear clothing that I love. If you really don’t think you could survive buying less clothing, then start out by challenging yourself to a Project 333 - you select 33 items of clothing to wear for 3 months. You can see how I got on when I did this challenge here, and afterwards I was able to part with so many items of clothing, and it has helped me keep my clothing fairly minimal ever since.

If you’re still on the fence about whether or not this is an issue you should care about, then check out some of the information and resources over at Together Street.

If you are worried about climate change and think we all need to be doing our bit to help save the planet, then now is the time to stop ignoring the fashion industry. You might be surprised to learn that the fashion industry is one of the biggest polluters on the planet, and is responsible for 10 % of annual global carbon emissions, (more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined). Changing how we shop is a major factor in our fight against climate change. For some more statistics check out this article.

Whilst it is all well and good to know you need to make a change, knowing how to do that isn’t always so easy. So to help you on your journey, here are the shops that I actually buy my clothes from. They are ranked in order of how often I shop there.

Hopefully this will help you in your own journey with ethical and sustainable shopping.

Fat Face

It’s a bit of a running joke amongst my friends and I that whenever they compliment any of my clothes my response is usually “I got it in the fat face sale.” Seriously, about 80% of my wardrobe is probably from Fat Face. I love their clothes, and if you didn’t check out the Good Shopping Guide, in the rankings for ethical high street retailers they come third, and since the first and second place brands don’t have stores across the UK, they are by default number one in my book!

They are really open and transparent on their website about all they are doing to try and be more sustainable as a brand too, which I love.

As well as their clothes being a style that I love, they are also so well made. With cheaper brands you’re lucky if they last a year, but I can honestly say, other than a hole in a pair of jeans, everything I have bought from there over the years is still going strong!

Their prices are not the cheapest, but if you are buying less, and buying clothing that lasts then it does all balance out. They are one of the few retailers whose emails I am subscribed to, so I always get first look at the sale items online,. That way I can buy some of the items I couldn’t normally afford.

Seasalt

I love Seasalt clothes so much, they are so pretty and really well made. If I were rich enough I would shop here a lot more, but for now their sale serves me well, and occasionally if I really love a dress it might just make it onto my Birthday or Christmas list. As with Fat Face, everything I have bought from Seasalt over the years is still going strong, so you really do get quality for the price.

I don’t consider myself a fashion conscious person, which probably helps, as I am happy wearing dresses that are 3 years old with no regard for what is currently “in style.” Let’s face it changing fashions and styles with the frequency of our fashion industry is a big part of the problem, so buying items that are timeless is key to a sustainable wardrobe!

Rapanui

I’ve only recently discovered Rapanui, but I am already loving their clothing. Fat face and Seasalt are great for the more dressy styles, but Rapanui is perfect for hoodies and t-shirts and more all round basics. They also have this really awesome custom design section of their website where you can put any design you want on your clothes. You can either upload your own or choose one of theirs. Don’t tell them, but I’ve ordered the children one for their Christmas stockings, each with their favourite animal on, and i’m so excited for them to see them!

Thought

Thought have the most beautiful clothing on their website, I have only ever bought one dress from there if memory serves, but it is one of my all time favourite dresses. I do regularly browse their gorgeous clothing, but as I said before I don’t buy as much these days so haven’t bought anything else (yet).

Lucy and Yak

Lucy and Yak are probably best known for their dungarees, but they do now offer a wider range of clothing. I bought a pair of their dungarees a while back and love them. They are so comfortable! I don’t think I’m trendy enough for a lot of their other items but they are worth a look.

And if you want to get 25% off your first order, then use this referral link.

Brands I love but haven’t bought from (yet):

There are a few ethical brands I have discovered on my journey but have yet to buy from, but thought i’d add them here so you can take a look for yourself.

• Nomads - Lots of pretty clothes to choose from.

• Finisterre - Sustainable outdoor gear.

• Passenger - Clothing for all your outdoor adventures.

• Hiut Denim - Seriously dreaming of one day owning a pair of their jeans. Made in Wales and have a “repairs for life” guarantee! It doesn’t get much more sustainable than that.

I hope this blog has been helpful, and if you have ethical brands you love that aren’t mentioned here, I would love to hear about them in the comments.

For further reading you might enjoy this article I wrote for the folks at Together Street; “Shopping Ethically when you can’t afford it”.