Becoming sustainably stylish

This week I made a conscious decision to walk the sustainable fashion line. Sounds serious I know, but the reason is quite simple. I want my own personal style to represent what I believe in, have a meaning while remaining fun and stylish. I like being eco friendly, natural and conscious of the world around me. So it makes sense that I should be choosing eco friendly, organic, and sustainable clothing.

I already use natural beauty and household products, alternative medicines, chose organic and chemical free foods where possible. I recycle; even going through the rubbish bin pulling out paper, husband, absentmindedly throws in there. But I haven’t always thought about my wardrobe purchases beyond “I LOVE it and I have to HAVE it”. It is definitely time for me to more aware of my clothing choices.

I actually can’t believe it’s taken me this long to make this decision. For years I have read stuff about natural health, alternative medicines, natural beauty products, the importance of recycling, and the damage our much loved fashion industry can have on our environment. At times the information has blown me away, shocked me more than graphic pictures of violence. I have been reduced to tears at the thought of animals been experimented on, people been made to work in clearly inhumane conditions and the caducity of unused materials, such as dyes, in waterways. We humans can be such wasters and completely toxic to our habitat!

I want to show people that we can take care of the world we live in and be stylish at the same time. My first step was to analyse what I already own. If I’m going to make this an ongoing style choice, I cannot start by purchasing more stuff – eco friendly labels or not. So I went through what is currently hanging in my wardrobe and what was stored in boxes in our garage. I was surprised and proud of my subconscious, I hadn’t been as terrible as I first imagined. My love of vintage and natural fabrics helped, as did clothes swapping with my Mum and Sister over the years and raiding my Mother in Laws wardrobe of late. Her 70’s/80’s collectables makes me feel manic with excitement. My newest purchases were good too; I had bought garments made from silk, cashmere, merino and recycled leather… EXCELLENT at least that’s a good start. All I need to do is become familiar with where and how they made… hmmm there’s a challenge.

So, here begins my journey to becoming sustainably stylish!