Sustainable clothing has been increasing in popularity recently due to the negative impact fast fashion is having on the environment and the global concerns around manufacturing and fair trade. If you have been considering a more sustainable wardrobe, here are some essential tips to get you started.
Organize Your Closets
If you can see what is in your wardrobe, you know what you have. This may sound simple but how many times have you gone shopping only to return with an item that is similar to something you already own? This is a waste of both time and money, but it wouldn’t be as likely to happen if you had organized your wardrobe.
Learn From Your Mistakes
Most people have made mistakes when it comes to clothes purchases. The size is wrong, the color doesn’t suit you, or it is not a good length on you. Whatever it is, the chances are the item will stay in your wardrobe unworn until you recycle it. If you learn from your mistakes, you won’t make them again and your wardrobe will become more sustainable because you will likely wear everything in it.
Donate and Buy
Charity shops used to be the domain of impoverished students but that is changing rapidly as people become more aware of the downside of fast fashion and are moving towards a sustainable wardrobe. One of the best ways to reduce the damage to the environment is by recycling unwanted items and buying from this source too. This means that your new clothes won’t do any further damage to the world we live in, and you can purchase some fantastic clothes for a fraction of the price.
Borrow Clothes
If you know you are only going to wear an outfit once, there is no point in buying it new. Ask your friends if they have anything suitable that you can wear to an event, and swap clothes between you when you want to wear something new. That way, you always look like you are wearing something new without having to buy it.
Rent
A similar idea is to rent your clothes rather than buy them. This is especially popular with designer items that rent well because people want the latest fashions without having to break the bank. This is also a fantastic way to acquire one-off clothes like that designer cocktail dress for an important work function or even a wedding dress.
Check the Label
If you are going to buy new clothes you should be aware of the brands you are buying as some are more environmentally friendly than others. Ganni dresses are renowned for their environmental conscience and sustainable fashion from Ganni looks fantastic too.
For intimate items that really need to be purchased new, Faerie’s Dance has an amazing selection of organic cotton bras and organic lingerie.
Care for Your Clothes
It makes sense that if you care for your clothes they will last longer and not end up in landfill as quickly. Washing them less frequently and at a lower temperature can make an enormous difference to their longevity. You should also consider whether you need to buy dry-clean only clothes as the chemicals they use can be harmful to the environment, and your clothes.
Opting for a sustainable wardrobe does not have to be difficult. Use these essential tips to create the eco-friendly wardrobe of your dreams.
Around 12.8 tons of textiles end up in American landfills each year, according to the U.S Environmental Protection Agency. Spread out across the population, that works out to around 80 pounds per person, per year. To turn this shocking statistic around, we need to “close the loop” on textiles by turning our focus to a model of recycling. Here is our four-step guide to textile recycling for a cleaner planet that can sustain us all.
1. Reduce
In the 1970s, the environmental movement coined the slogan “Reduce, reuse, recycle” to encourage a more conscious approach to consumption. The first of the Rs is reduce because honestly, we don’t really need a lot of the goods that catch our eye!
For textiles and clothing, there are several ways to reduce consumption and lighten your wardrobe’s environmental footprint:
Go for timeless classics rather than one-season styles.
Find some new hobbies (aside from shopping) to share with your friends — nature walks and volunteering are great!
2. Reuse
Once you have a well-planned, quality wardrobe, you should be able to make it last for years. For example, a solid pair of cotton jeans should last for at least two or three years of regular wear. Imagine how many tons of textiles could be saved if we reused the same pieces instead of purchasing more!
A strong, minimalist summer skirt can easily be reused for fall with leggings and boots and styled for winter with a nice pair of jeans. Some reversible designs are now coming out that give you two looks in one — a creative approach to reusing your clothes that doesn’t sacrifice variety.
3. Repair
For the more minimalist and conservative among us, the main challenge comes when a beloved piece becomes damaged, stained, torn, or hole-poked, and no longer has its original shine. In these situations, learning how to repair your clothes can give new life to a piece that might otherwise have been thrown in the trash.
A later addition to the original 3 Rs, repairing can significantly extend the life of our clothes — giving us several more years of enjoyment or making the piece usable by somebody else. Learn a few of these simple techniques to address the most common issues:
Take up and let down hems.
Mend holes and gaps in seams.
Apply appliqué and iron-on designs.
Use embroidery techniques to cover a hole.
Dye and tie-dye irreversibly stained clothes.
4. Recycle
Eventually, there comes a time when you need to pass a garment on. It may be that it no longer suits (or fits) you or has become so threadbare that it’s no longer warm. In both of these cases, there are options for recycling your clothes that don’t involve throwing them away.
Clothes that Are Still in Good Condition
The first rule for giving away a piece of clothing is to ask yourself, “Would you give it to a friend?” If a garment is still nice and not stretched or discolored, here are some options for sharing the love:
Take it to a homeless shelter or other charity that could put it to good use.
Bring it to a clothing swap.
Offer it online through Freecycle or Marketplace.
Donate it to Goodwill or the Salvation Army.
Clothes that Are Stretched or Worn Out
Old clothes that are no longer nice to wear can be recycled in a variety of ways. While you’ll probably want to keep underwear for rags (seriously, no one else wants your briefs!), worn-out socks, tops, pants, and shorts can be used as raw material for yarn or used as a filling for insulation, furniture, and more.
The top organizations in the United States that take textiles for recycling include:
While many of these programs take lightly used clothes as well as old ones, we recommend recycling newer clothes closer to home through clothes swaps, thrift stores, or reselling near-new clothes online, as leftover donations are usually exported to third-world economies where they compete with local textiles for sales.
Ultimately, buying used clothes near you is the most powerful way to close the loop and ensure that recycled clothes get recycled! And when you do buy new (those briefs, for example), make responsible, earth- and socially-friendly choices that you can be sure will enhance your wardrobe for years.
Today, the world of fashion is revitalized as it seeks to confront the footprint that it has left on earth with the rise of eco-fashion.
Eco-fashion, or sustainable fashion, has caused many brands to shift how they approach the operation of their entire business — from manufacturing to marketing. As fashion is responsible for up to an alarming 10% of greenhouse gas emissions across the globe, brands strive to cut CO2 emissions by reducing overproduction and waste, supporting biodiversity, and making ethical sourcing and production choices.
In this new dawn in the fashion industry, photographers and influencers are key players. While not directly involved in the CO2-emitting production processes of clothes, they are critical messengers that give shape and form to the advocacies and sentiments of the industry. As eco-fashion continues to grow so too should the eco-fashion photographer and their models rise to the challenge. Here are some tips on how to incorporate sustainability into your work.
1. Invest in Highly Durable Equipment
Before becoming an eco-advocate, you first need to practice what you preach. As a photographer, one way to become more eco-friendly in your line of work is to invest in durable equipment that will last a long time. This reduces your carbon footprint (and saves you a lot of money!). To this end, mirrorless cameras are highly durable as they have fewer moving parts than DSLRs. Many of them also use electronic shutters which further reduce the chance of breakage. You can also use secondhand cameras to reduce e-waste.
2. Work with Sustainable Brands
As a professional photographer, it’s important to choose carefully which brands you partner with by making sure that their sustainability goals and practices align with yours. Fortunately, many smaller brands these days are incorporating sustainability into the very root of their businesses. This results not only in unique and dynamic designs that show up great in shoots, but will help you promote the eco-agenda as well. Be sure to incorporate eco-friendly jewelry in your shoots, which makes use of recycled materials and natural substances like nuts and clay to create unique pieces that represent sustainability.
To know which brands are genuinely upholding sustainable practices, check their story and mission, previous campaigns, and even their environmental, social, and corporate governance data report if it’s publicly available.
3. Incorporate Pre-Loved Clothes in Your Shoots
Other than being a sustainable habit, incorporating pre-loved clothes into your work helps you create standout and versatile looks for a cheaper price. You may even encounter vintage pieces no longer available on the market. Beyond this, renting pieces extends the life of clothes by up to 9 months, reducing their carbon, water, and waste footprints by around 20-30%. As attitudes towards secondhand clothing change, iconic brands like Valentino have also begun getting creative through giving their vintage pieces a second life, highlighting the glamor in vintage.
4. Capture the Production Process
One of the biggest challenges to sustainability is the lack of recognition for the abusive working conditions that many workers face in factories. But as a photographer, working with sustainable and ethical fashion brands may allow you to showcase what positive production environments look like by drawing focus to the workforce and the process behind the fashion you shoot. This image from Indigenous Designs highlights the artisans at the heart of their Fair Trade fashion production.
Not only does this help celebrate the people and the craft behind the clothes, but it also helps build consumer trust for the brand.
5. Make a Statement with Your Platform
If you’re going to work with innovative fashion produced with great sustainability, then you should match it with a concept that reflects its impact. This is what Stella McCartney did in 2017. Working with photographer Harley Weir, their campaign photoshoot drew attention to the waste generated by fashion. Don’t be afraid to get creative and incorporate striking novel elements.
Being an eco-fashion photographer can be a rewarding experience when you give purpose to your art. By incorporating sustainability in everything from your gear and partnerships to your art direction, you can effectively call attention to the beauty and vitality of eco-fashion.
Garments that are not quite right often get discarded and replaced. However, with a little know-how and a willingness to try, you can transform these pieces into something you love! Learn three easy ways to mend your clothes, fall back in love with them, and reduce your contribution to landfills.
1. Take Up Hems
Unless you have your clothing made specially to order, it’s likely you have something that doesn’t quite fit — a golden opportunity for learning to take up the hem.
To shorten a garment (usually pants), you’ll need:
A piece of chalk or soap
A measuring tape
Thread the same color as the fabric
A needle or sewing machine
Scissors
Iron and/or sewing pins
Step 1: Put the garment on and mark the desired length with the piece of chalk or soap.
Step 2: Measure the length of the hem to be taken up to ensure an even hem on both sides.
Step 3: Iron the crease to create a sharp line and secure the fold with sewing pins.
Step 4: Hand- or machine-sew a double row of stitches around 1 inch from the bottom to secure the folded length firmly in place.
If the garment is far too long to begin with, you might need to cut it two inches from the desired length before folding the hem twice and sewing the hem by hand or machine.
2. Mend Holes and Gaps in Seams
Another common issue you might find with your clothes is a gap that appears in a seam — either because the thread was accidentally broken (when pulling on tight leggings, for example) or because their was a minor defect at the seam in production. (Even high-quality clothes are sewn by humans operating a sewing a machine, and anyone can have an occasional bad day.) This technique cannot be used for worn seams, such as a crotch, as you’ll need to use a patch instead.
To mend a seam, you will need:
Thread the same color as the seam
A needle or sewing machine
Scissors
Step 1: Turn the garment inside out.
Step 2: Sew over the broken section twice to reinforce the seam.
Step 3: Tie the ends of the new thread to the old thread to stop any further “undoing” and close the hole.
3. Patches: Iron-on and appliqué
Small holes in clothing can rarely be fixed by sewing one side of the hole to the other. The pulling will stretch the garment out of shape and can break the delicate threads around the hole. Instead, you can cover the hole with “visible” mending in the form of an iron-on patch or appliqué.
Iron-On Mending Fabric
Applying iron-on mending fabric is the simplest way to mend a tear or hole because it doesn’t involve any sewing at all. You’ll need:
Iron-on mending fabric in the same color as the garment – or a funky complementing color or pattern if you want to make it stand-out. This is fun on pants or as patches on sleeves.
Fabric scissors
An iron
Aluminum foil
Step 1: Cut a section of iron-on mending fabric a little larger than the hole or tear. Round the edges for an easier transfer.
Step 2: Put the mending fabric glue side up underneath a tear or over a hole.
Step 3: Preheat the iron on the “cotton” setting for five minutes.
Step 4: Cover the area of fabric with aluminum foil to prevent sticking and press the iron over the patch for 30 seconds or until the section of fabric is firmly attached.
Appliqué
Appliqué is similar to an iron-on patch except that it is attached with thread rather than glue.
For needle turn appliqué, you will need:
An appliqué patch in the same fabric as the garment
Appliqué pins
100wt thread that matches the garment
#10 sharps needle
Chalk or soap for marking
Step 1: Use the chalk or soap to draw a line where the patch will be stitched.
Step 2: Pin the design over the hole.
Step 3: Thread the needle and tie a knot at the end of the thread.
Step 4: Enter from the back of the patch to hide the knot and sew the patch to the garment, tucking the patch under the line and making alternating tiny stitches in the patch and the garment.
Step 5: Once the patch is sewn on, take the thread through to the back and tie it off on the inside of the garment.
The Most Sustainable Wardrobe
It has been said that the most sustainable wardrobe you can get is the one that you already own, and when you add mending to the picture, your current wardrobe can suddenly become much more exciting!
If you’re exploring ways to become more conscious with your clothing and accessories, we invite you to check out the full range of sustainable, ethically-made fashion and jewelry at Faerie’s Dance. Our curated collections of clothing are made with years of wear in mind and many of our necklaces and earrings are recycled!
For more tips on living sustainably in style, read the rest of the posts on our blog.
If you are planning a wedding, there are lots of great ways to make your day as eco-friendly as possible without sacrificing on glamor and magic. Sustainable wedding dresses are just one of the greener trends that are turning the wedding industry upside-down, and these beautiful pieces can easily be styled for any type of wedding. Read on to learn about sustainable and ethical wedding dresses and how you can do good while looking stunning!
Why the Conventional Dress Just Doesn’t Cut It Anymore
Wedding dresses — by definition — are not sustainable. An intricate work of art that takes upwards of 20 feet of fabric and at least two weeks to make, a typical wedding dress will only be worn once before sitting at the back of a closet and ultimately heading to the landfill. Add to this the fact that most wedding dresses are made of pesticide-heavy silk and/or synthetic fabrics like polyester that don’t break down easily, and you have an environmental conundrum on your hands!
In recent years, values-based wedding planning is leading more and more couples to avoid fast fashion and choose eco-friendly options for their weddings — from recycled card invitations and plastic-free table settings to intentionally mismatched bridal parties and sustainable wedding dresses.
Ready to discover your perfect, eco-dress? Here are our top suggestions:
Embrace the Charm of Vintage Styles
Styles come and go, but fortunately, time can transform passé into vintage! Your mother’s or grandmother’s highly-prized bridal gown could soon become the perfect ethical wedding dress style when it makes a grand re-entrance on your special day. If the original owner is happy for you to make some changes, you can easily transform the dress with a few small adjustments to make it your own.
If dear granny’s dress isn’t your style, hit the thrift stores and e-stores to browse sustainable wedding dresses in an endless array of silhouettes. For something a little more modern, you could also buy a second-hand dress from a friend or online. Don’t shy away from low-back styles while you’re shopping, either. You can always add a bra directly to your dress so you don’t have to worry about straps showing.
Set the Pace with a Trendy Rental Gown
Another easy and budget-friendly approach to sustainable wedding dresses is to rent a gown and tux for the day itself. The ultimate closed-loop approach, rental gowns reduce your footprint to a fraction of the (environmental) cost and eliminate the question of what to do with the dress after you’re wed.
Make Your Dress from Recycled Fabrics
For the more crafty among us, making your own wedding dress gives you free rein on the design and can save you a lot of money in the process. If you have the time and are so inclined, consider making your dress sustainable by sourcing recycled fabrics that don’t cost the earth. Some excellent fabric sources for ethical wedding dresses include:
Factory offcuts
Used wedding dresses that are beyond repair
White cotton bedsheets and lace curtains from friends or a thrift store
Excess fabric offered through Freecycle or Craigslist
Depending on what you find, you can create an eye-catching piece that is either all one color (bedsheets!) or multi-tonal. Either way, some basic patterns for sustainable wedding dresses and a few days at the sewing machine could result in a one-of-a-kind dress that you’ll be proud to wear down the aisle.
Go for a Versatile Two-Piece
Another option for sustainable wedding dresses that won’t go to the landfill is a two-piece top and skirt combo that you can wear in the future. Buy a pre-matched set or shop around until you find a combination that works and top it off with a cream-colored shrug or fitted jacket (hello, future job interview outfit!)
Apart from saving on precious resources, investing in a set that you can wear again-and-again lets you keep this special part of your life forever and relive those precious memories time-and-time again.
Invest in a Dress that Does No Harm
A final alternative which we personally love is to shop for sustainable wedding dresses that are made to do good. The perfect solution for a traditional wedding gown that does good for your style and the earth, ethical wedding dresses minimize pollution and are sewn by workers who are paid fairly for their work.
These flowing dress styles available in bamboo and Tencel™ are the ideal replacement for conventional silk and feel wonderfully soft on your skin. Dresses made from organic cotton and linen are the best choice if you want a little more shape and stiffness to your outfit and can be woven to include stunning embellishments such as embroidered details and beading.
Brands Matter
When shopping for sustainable wedding dresses, be sure to do your homework and find the brand that best suits your values. The best brand will be one that has a transparent supply chain, economizes on energy, and uses materials that are pesticide-free and fully biodegradable. You can even keep the good vibes going by donating your dress to a charity you cherish.
Shopping for the Honeymoon and Beyond
Once you’ve thought about how to shop sustainable wedding dresses, don’t forget to prepare for the honeymoon! Eco-chic, ethical lingerie, and comfortable organic sleepwear are essentials for enjoying your first moments as a married couple, and remember a few flattering organic dresses and jackets, too, for strolling around your destination!
Choosing to shop ethical wedding dresses and clothing for your wedding and beyond will not only inspire your guests but will get your family off to a great start with values you can live out in your home. Explore our collection of eco-friendly formal dresses to find your perfect fit, and say “yes” to the dress today!
Many people considering the relationship between fashion and sustainability for the first time will be immediately discouraged by the higher price tag of an organic tee or eco-friendly winter coat. But what is behind the cost of the clothes you wear and is there really such a thing as cheap sustainable clothing?
The Value of A Garment: Can Sustainable Clothing Be Cheap?
You walk into a boutique retail store at the mall and see the skinny jeans, leggings, and blouses hanging in neatly arranged rows, each with a brand-name tag and detailed wash instructions. Prices range from $50 to $100 with a few items on sale for $25. A few stores down, the discount fashion store also has racks of colorful clothes, but the garments are offered for dirt-cheap prices starting from a mere $5.
If you’re looking for cheap sustainable clothing, you might be wondering if it’s better to choose the first store just because the prices are higher. However, a higher price doesn’t necessarily mean better quality or that the garments are more sustainable. Here are just some of the factors that influence garment pricing in fashion and sustainability.
Fiber Production
Every garment begins with the soil. Whether it’s wool that comes from a grass-loving sheep, cotton that comes from the thirsty Gossypium shrub, linen that comes from the flax plant, or fabrics from bamboo and wood pulp cellulose, they all begin with the ground.
If you’re looking for sustainable clothing, it’s important to keep in mind that organic cotton will cost more to produce because of the costs of organic certification and the higher price of organic fertilizers and non-toxic pesticides. Likewise, organic wool from a free-range sheep that feed on fresh grass and high-quality hay will cost more than conventional wool that may be a product of cruel and unhealthy factory farming.
Spinning and Dyeing
The spinning process for all fabrics is pretty similar. However, the dyeing process has a big effect on the price of the final piece. The cheapest dyes used in fast fashion clothing are made from petrochemicals and can poison local waterways as well as irritate your skin. Sustainable clothing that isn’t as cheap typically uses non-toxic setting treatments and vegetable dyes that cost more to produce but are gentler on your skin and the environment.
Cutting and Sewing
The next stage in the garment manufacture process is cutting and sewing — which is the point at which we find the “sweatshops” so often mentioned in articles about fast fashion. Workers in these garment factories (often located in China, India, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Bangladesh) may be paid less than minimum wage, and the lack of appropriate safety standards means that the lives of the garment workers can be put at risk — even when manufacturing cheap “sustainable” clothing from organic materials. So pairing ethical production or Fair Trade standards with your sustainable materials is imperative.
Retail Salaries
Once garments reach their destination country, their price will be affected by the salaries of retail workers as well as the profit margin of the fashion label. An organic cotton T-shirt may cost $10 to buy wholesale but may be sold for anything from $20 to $50 depending on the profit margin of the company. Where does this profit go? Some of it goes towards the brand’s marketing budget, but the rest is often pocketed by the CEO.
So, when you find a piece of cheap “sustainable” clothing for sale online, the company may have found ways to keep their costs low through sticking to online sales and a low-profit margin. Then again, the brand might be making a profit while keeping those benefits from being passed downstream to the garment workers and cotton farmers who produced the clothes. Prioritizing your budget on smaller fashion brands that focus on sustainability in addition to profit usually results in the best overall value.
Making Fashion and Sustainability More Budget-Friendly
Even though many of us would like to choose eco-fashion for everything from bamboo socks to sustainable jackets, the cost of fairness (and quality) can still be a little out of reach. Here are a few tips to save money on fashion while avoiding the pitfalls of cheap “sustainable” clothing brands that aren’t giving you the full story.
Shop Pieces That You Can Mix and Match
An organic tee by itself is great, but a tee and a pair of organic women’s pants that go with all of your T-shirts are even better. Shopping sustainable clothing on a budget means being smart about style and going for classic cuts in basic colors that you can build into a minimalist capsule wardrobe and mix-and-match to your heart’s content.
Calculate the Cost by Cost-Per-Wear Rather than the Up-Front Cost
A $10 tee or $2 cami looks great on the rack, but how many wears will it likely last? Even if it has been made under fair conditions, cheap “sustainable” clothing of low quality will end up costing you more if it only lasts for a few months before you have to replace it. In contrast, a $50 garment might look more expensive at the outset but could end up costing you only a few cents per wear if its strength and quality last for years.
Help Your Clothes Last Longer with Proper Garment Care
Our next tip for combining fashion and sustainability is one that we’ve learned the hard way: Follow the care and wash instructions! Fast fashion has got us used to throwing everything in the washing machine and hoping it comes out ok.
After spending a larger amount of cash upfront on authentic (not cheap) sustainable clothing, you’ll want to make sure that you keep your eco-friendly clothes in the best condition for as long as possible. This means respecting directions to wash-by-hand, to wash in cold water only, and to drip dry or dry flat rather than throwing everything into the dryer. Things like woolen coats that are quite expensive at the beginning can last a lot longer if you wash them by hand only when truly necessary.
Shop Genuine Sustainable Clothing for Less at Faerie’s Dance
Our final tip for enjoying cheap sustainable clothing? Shop the most responsible eco-fashion brands when their garments go on sale (like in our great clearance section!) If you know someone who would love some organic and sustainable clothing but might struggle to afford it, you might also consider giving them a Faerie’s Dance gift card that covers everything on our entire site.
Want to know more? Browse the rest of the articles on the Eco-Fashion Philosopher blog and shop our curated fashion and sustainability brands.
Loveleen Saxena’s “Bold Spirals” Scarf Shown Full Width
We love fashion, sustainability and ART! At the 2019 Sustainable Fashion Forum in Portland, we met artist Loveleen Saxena, and fell in love with her pen and ink drawings. For the last few months, we’ve collaborated to bring you her bright, bold artwork printed on sustainable modal scarves using low-impact water-based inks.
Our first four art-inspired scarfs are online now. We thought you might want to know more about the artist and this fantastic alliance. So we sat down with Loveleen to talk about what inspires her.
Faerie’s Dance: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Loveleen poses in her “Spirals and Circles” art scarf
Loveleen Saxena: Hello everyone! I am a self-taught artist based in Katy, Texas. I have been dabbling in art since I was a kid. Creativity has always been a part of my life and career. Getting my education in architecture and construction fostered creative expression in a different way for me.
FD: How long have you been creating art?
LS: I rediscovered my love for art six years back when I started carrying my journal during lunch walks in Downtown Houston, while working in my corporate job. And I haven’t stopped since then.
First few years I made art to de-stress. And I loved sharing my work online. I never intended to become a full time artist. In 2014, my husband and I took a seven month backpacking trip to ten countries. That was a game changer. It gave me the courage to continue following my heart and live a purposeful life. Life that is in alignment with my truth.
So when we came back, a year later I decided to leave my career in construction and dive full time into art, along with starting a business with my husband.
It’s been a beautiful and unique journey so far!
I can say creativity is my meditation. My spiritual practices and creative expression have helped me learn so much about myself.
And that’s what inspires me to create everyday. So I can share those nuggets of wisdom with everyone, through my art. My vision is to awaken our inner joy, to spread love and see beauty in simple things. And I feel so grateful I’m doing that everyday.
Loveleen shows off the “Sleeping Beauty” Scarf
FD: Where do you create most of your art? Do you have a home studio, or prefer to work outside in nature?
LS: I have a home studio but my entire home is my workspace! Some days I work in our backyard, some days in the dining area and some days in my studio.
I just take my pens and paper and find a spot that calls me that day. I find it so freeing to create when I feel inspired. Be it a coffee shop, during my bus rides, in the plane or train, by the beach, in the park and even while I’m in a waiting area.
I do love working outside in nature the most. Especially during mornings. Making art while listening to birds is a precious experience.
FD: Are there particular places or things that inspire new designs for you? Where does your inspiration come from?
LS: Nature is my biggest inspiration. Hanging out in our backyard and talking to our trees is one of my favorite things to do.
But my spirituality is the force that brings out new designs on paper. Without my spiritual practices I don’t think I would create the way I do now.
My drawings express and celebrate nature, our connection with everything in the Universe and lessons that we’re here to learn in the school of life.
When I create, I am not Loveleen – the artist anymore, I become a vehicle to let the Divine wisdom and creativity flow through.
Loveleen enjoys a cuppa wearing the “Bold Spirals” artwork scarf
FD: Are there particular artists or art styles that influence your creations?
LS: There are few artists and illustrators that really inspire me. One of them is Lisa Congdon, another self-taught artist who began her creative journey in her 40’s. It’s her stories and her journey to become a successful artist that inspire me to continue on my own journey. Then there is Lizze Snow. Her pen and ink work is amazing and I learn so much from seeing her work.
FD: All of the designs we currently see are line drawings, is this your preferred method of creation or is this just what calls to you at the moment?
LS: It’s been my preferred method for the past 6 years. Although I am not fixed upon using it only. I dabble with acrylics and even mixed media. I love pen and ink because I feel more in the flow with this medium. Plus this medium gives me the freedom and simplicity to create wherever I am. That’s how I started, making doodles in my bus ride. My favorite pens to use are Sakura microns.
FD: Does your color inspiration come after the work is finished or do you have colors in mind as your creating?
LS: Both. In my bigger original pieces I start with color and then draw over it. And in smaller pieces, I typically finish the drawing and then play with colors.
FD: Do you have a personal favorite art piece of yours?
LS: Oh I love every piece that flows through me. They might not be perfect in a traditional sense, but I love them because with each piece I grow a bit more.
There are a few which are extra special because I clearly remember when I created them. One of them is called “Journey of Life”. I created it on my birthday, a few years back. I love it because it captures my inner growth throughout the years. And I feel it’s the growth we are all going through, no matter how unique our journeys may be.
FD: Do you have a personal favorite art piece from any other artist?
LS: It keeps changing as I change 😀
“Inner Beauty” art by Loveleen
FD: Have you ever considered printing any of your artwork on other clothing pieces? I personally would love to see your “Inner Beauty” on a skirt!
LS: Yes I have! It’s my vision to collaborate with brands and designers and have my art on their beautiful and sustainable clothes, such as dresses and skirts.
Right now I’m working with a small startup for the art printing, and I use the options that are offered by them, which are limited.
FD: On your blog you wrote “I barely shopped from 2015-2018 because I wanted to invest in pieces that match my values (sustainable, ethical, fair trade).” How do you shop differently now to ensure your values are reflected in your choices?
LS: Oh it’s completely different how I shop now! Before shopping was a therapy for me. Now it’s only when I need something that I shop. Many years back going to the mall was an adventure. But I don’t do impulse shopping anymore. In fact, I don’t feel the desire to do so anymore.
And since it’s more challenging to find sustainable options in the shopping malls, I mostly shop online.
I research brands, read their mission statement and their practices. I follow them on social media. I read blogs and reviews to get a feel for their brand. I have a few favorite brands now, and I am on their email so if I come across something that I love, I invest in it. I have added Faeries Dance to my list too!
I only shop a few times a year, even less. And when I do I invest more in sustainable pieces.
FD: Sustainable, ethical clothing does cost a little more (and it should since workers are being paid fairly for their labor and environmental impacts are priced into the garments rather than being something for governments to deal with later). Do you have a strategy to afford new items like saving up to buy pieces or filling in gaps with thrift finds or budgeting for clothing?
LS: My shopping style and strategy has shifted tremendously in the past few years. I use what I have in my wardrobe to it’s maximum life. And I shop only when I intuitively feel the need of certain things. When I get that feeling I start looking for sustainable options. I buy versatile pieces – colors that complement each other and pieces that I can wear on different occasions. So I do invest more in each piece because I know their true value. I do always have a certain budget in mind so I stick to that, unless I find something that really makes my soul dance!
FD: What is your favorite wardrobe piece and why. What calls to you in fashion?
LS: While my go-to wardrobe pieces include jeans and tee, my favorite are scarves. And lately my modal scarves.
I have loved scarves for a long time because they’re the most functional pieces in my wardrobe. I can dress up by adding a scarf, I can cuddle in them when I’m cold. Scarves are something I wear no matter what season.
Fashion for me is what can bring out my inner beauty. Comfort, ease, versatility and sustainability are the few things that I go for. I go for things that light me up. Pieces that can bring out my true essence. Pieces that feel right when I wear them. Lately the sustainable pieces I have invested in do that for me. Because I know their true value plus they resonate with what I stand for – living in harmony with our own selves and with the environment.
FD: Is there anything else I haven’t covered that you would like to add?
LS: If you want to learn more about my work or my creative journey check out my website www.loveleensaxena.com
In 2009 we started The Eco-Fashion Philosopher with this very question. By 2019 the terminology has gotten more complex rather than less. Is “eco-fashion” the same as “sustainable fashion”? What about “Ethical Fashion” or “Slow Fashion”? Ten years on, and the need to clarify is more prevalent today than when we started. Let’s take a look at these terms and what they all mean.
“Eco-Fashion” Explained
Eco-fashion describes clothing produced with minimal environmental impact.
When people talk about “eco-fashion”, they are generally referring to the ecological impact that fashion has in the world. At Faerie’s Dance, we look at four factors when determining if a garment meets the “eco-fashion” label:
Just to be clear, though, conventional fashion is a dirty business. Exactly how dirty is hard to quantify because fashion touches so many different things such as water chemical pollution, ocean plastic pollution, soil pollution, carbon emissions, petroleum usage, desertification, and on and on. Entire movies have been made about fashion industry pollution. Check out this documentary preview on river pollution for a quick look into some of the main issues with the fashion industry.
Ethical Fashion ensures the well-being of the farmers and factory workers.
The creation of fashion is extremely labor intensive. Sewing machines are about as high-tech as things get in the fashion industry, and there are actual people who operate them. The USA once had a booming clothing manufacturing industry. In 1960, 95% of clothing sold in the U.S. was manufactured in New York’s Garment Center. With rising wages in the USA, companies started outsourcing clothing manufacturing.
Initially China was the place to go for cheap labor and minimal regulations. Sweatshop working conditions and child labor became the norm with profit margins skyrocketing for western companies that could still charge a premium. As the world became focused on the plight of the Chinese garment worker, conditions slowly improved and wages started to rise. In some ways, the problem became worse. In the never-ending “race to the bottom” western companies started leaving China to set up garment manufacturing in even poorer areas, with even fewer regulations. Fashion industry workers were increasingly being paid less and less for working longer and longer hours.
In 2013, the Rana Plaza garment building in Bangladesh collapsed killing 1134 people who were making clothing for western companies. The building was not zoned for manufacturing. The upper floors had been built without permits. Worst of all, the workers had been threatened with job lose and pay withholding if they did not come to work even after cracks were spotted in the building. This disaster really shone a spot-light on the plight of the garment workers around the world. The Fashion Revolution was started to counteract this type of worker abuse.
Today, the hashtag #WhoMadeMyClothes is used as a call to action to ensure people in the fashion manufacturing chain are treated with dignity, while Fair Trade standards and certifications ensure they are paid fairly and receive living wages.
“Slow Fashion” Sorted
Slow Fashion emphasizes quality over quantity and lasting appeal over trendiness.
Once fashion production was moved to places with cheap labor, the industry realized that more money could be made by offering lower quality goods, thus reducing prices even further. Moreover, if prices were cheap enough, producers could sell significantly more. The pace of fashion trends picked up significantly in the 1980s and 1990s. Instead of collections coming out seasonally, suddenly new items were being introduced monthly, and then weekly. The strategy was to get fashion from the catwalk to the consumer as fast as possible.
Planned obsolescence became the standard for fashion rather than quality. A shirt no longer had to last season after season. Wearing an item 2-3 times and then tossing it became the norm. The term “fast fashion” was born to describe this new model of production. And the pileup of fashion waste increased exponentially.
After a few decades of rampant “fast fashion” the toll on the environment, the buildup of landfill, and the emotional weight on people owning all this “stuff” became too much. Books like Marie Kondos “The Life Changing Magic of Tyding Up” became international best-sellers as people have become bogged down in a sea of over-consumption. An entire industry of decluttering grew out of the mess. Frustrated consumers and fashion designers are fostering a new movement towards “slow fashion,” in an attempt to find a path back to quality, timelessness and sanity in fashion.
So What is Sustainable Fashion Then?
Sustainable Fashion is the all-encompassing term for fashion that is ecologically sound, ethically produced, and high quality. In other words, both environmentally and socially sustainable as well as well-made and stylish.
We’ve learned a lot since we opened our little online fashion boutique in 2005 with just 70 or so styles. We continue to educate ourselves about fashion, style, ethics and sustainability. Our research into new garments and manufacturers is extensive, and our verification methods have become increasingly sophisticated. Today FaeriesDance.com offers more than 1200 items, each one curated to be sustainable from every point of view.
It’s true! Win your favorite Fair Trade, Organic Cotton Bra from Swegmark of Sweden. Since we brought this collection in last year, these bras have become our customers favorites. There are now 10 styles to choose from including 8 of Swegmark’s signature full-coverage, wire free, organic bras plus an organic cotton sports bra and now a lightly padded, underwire bra.
All of these organic bras have wide, adjustable comfort straps and 3-position hook-and-eye back closures for the perfect fit. They are well-constructed with wide underbust bands for great support and coverage. Sizes range from 34B – 46DDD. Not all bras come in all sizes, but the winner will have the option of choosing any of our in-stock options. We have Swegmark bras in white, nude, pink, blue, grey and black.
If you don’t get your perfect size on the first go, you can even send it back and we’ll do an exchange for you. Once you’ve tried this brand of comfort, stylish, sustainable bras, we don’t think you’ll ever choose anything else. So go ahead and enter below. The winner will be announced Monday, November 27.
Have you been wanting to try on one (or a whole bunch) of our products in person? Your opportunity is here!
The event will run from 11am – 5pm on Saturday, August 26, 2017. We’ll be doing raffle prize drawings every 30 minutesstarting at 11:30am. You must be presentto win a prize, so be sure to leave some time for your visit with us. You could easily get into 2 or 3 drawings while you try on clothes and meet with these other wonderful Portland-area women business owners.
Dr. Kayla Luhrs will be there to help you develop a wellness plan for conscious living.
Amanda Bishop will show you how to make your own cleaning products using common household items and essential oils.
Angela Stevens will chat with you about buying and selling real estate, or how to green the home you currently own.
Our warehouse is located minutes from this years Street of Dreams site. We’ll be raffling off tickets to Street of Dreams at noon, so be sure to come early and check it out.
We’re also giving away 25 “Goodie Bags” to the first 25 people who RSVP either on our Facebook Event Page or by calling us at (971) 255-0752.
Here is a (partial) list of the prizes on offer for our raffle:
PrAna Eco Yoga Matt
Maggie’s Scarf
Earth Creations Infinite Scarf (multiple colors)
dōTERRA Essential Oil Starter Kit
