Wear handmade
Wear second hand
Wear well made
Wear organic
Wear ethical
Wear sustainable
Wear thoughtfully
Try for one, or two, or if you feeling particularly revolutionary, go for all of them.
A long time ago I made a pact with myself. Any purchases that I made, needed to be as ethical, locally made, fair trade, or as a conscious purchase (do I really need it?) where ever possible. For some things it’s been fairly easy, other things, not quite so much.
I thought I’d create a little list of some of things I’ve been super happy with over a fairly large chunk of time, (both bought and not bought.)
How to Dress like a Revolutionary
* Pure Pod– Kelli’s range of ethical fashion is divine. I’d happily wear any one of their outfits.
* Op shops- frequently provide goodies. Timing, choosing your op shops, and mostly down to just whether the op shop goddesses are smiling upon thee is dependent on what you’ll find.
* Undies- Tuffy’s and Tuffette’s (locally made and owned in Australia- their excess plastic wrapping is a big sore spot however.)
* Friends and family are also often kind enough to pass on kids clothing.
* A soccerball gift- Etiko has a lot more than just soccer balls though, have a peek at their fair trade underwear, clothing and shoe range as well.
* Make it myself- My sewing skills are still somewhat lacking, so while I would love to make a lot of our family clothing it’s really not going to happen for awhile, smaller things that I can make though, yep, I’ll give it a crack.
* If you are going to be a human billboard, be aware of what you are advertising, (Sea Shepard as pictured here.)
* Buying second hand- living in the city, I’m incredibly lucky as there really are so many practical options for this- Garage Sale Trail is also a good one to do.
* Ecolosophy– Small loving business that has all your ethical clothing, kitchen, food options also covered.
* Organise a clothing swap in your community.
* Yoshi Jones– small designer in Sydney, that does divine Japanese influenced unique clothing (think vintage kimonos), especially good if you are after something for a special event.
* Go looking on Instagram- it’s great for finding small businesses. I LOVE how I have found different people and their work over the time I’ve been on instagram, and really enjoy supporting them- community shopping at it’s very excellent best.
Supporting small ethical businesses where ever possible is important. I know it’s not always easy, financially, time wise, and also accessability. Having three kids, I very much get that. Pay the extra dollar when you can though. New shoes, they really shouldn’t be costing $8, someone is being ripped off if they are.
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How about you, do you have any revolutionary links to add?
cityhippyfarmgirl 
Interesting Brydie, great outfits you are wearing too! Some of these things are easier to achieve than others for me. I couldn’t agree more with your comment about endless shelves of cheap shoes, someone is certainly getting ripped off. And the shoes generally end up in landfill because they fall apart. I am always tempted when I see your Duckfeet! Next winter perhaps x
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Jane I definitely know it can be difficult, and there are some items where it just seems damn impossible, (school socks are my regular point of pain.)
As for the duck feet, I reckon they’d go well on your farm 😉
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Love opshops, both buying from and giving to. Passed on clothes from friends are awesome – and I totally agree about the human billboard thing. How is it that WE pay THEM for marketing their company?
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I know right! It blows my mind. Whoever came up with the concept of it being “cool” to have a label across your chest was seriously bloody brilliant on the marketing concept.
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Yep. Genius.
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I remember probably about 10 or 12 years ago when everybody was wearing jeans with the brand across the bum. I refused to pay to be a company’s billboard. Marketing genius though!
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Great list Brydie! May I add two things to your list? Wear it out (as opposed to simply getting tired of it) and repair it.
Ethical Australia is also a great resource. http://www.ethicalclothingaustralia.org.au/accredited-brand/full-listing-of-accredited-brands/
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Yep good point Rose. Wearing it out is a big one.
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Rock’n outfit concious mama. I buy my “converse” from Etiko. Oh my friend Cat use to work at Yoshi Jones! I use to wear skeleton tights (twinsies) with doc martins. Important reminder on The Sea Shephard; I had forgotten about them as I just don’t think of the sea enough living here. However I am turning my attention towards the sea more with the big kid. Now that I have more time to sew I’m getting in to making my own clothes and upcycling secondhand clothing has helped with not finding good stuff at the op-shops that fits. I’ve been researching good ethical brands for gaps in my pod closet too.
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Zena I think you are so on to a winning thing if you can make your own clothes (and dye them dear lady :-)) it just opens your options up in a huge way.
Yoshi Jones is amazing. I adore their clothing, it just fits nicely and looks good.
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I just discovered a gorgeous knitting blog the other day. The blogger lives in Queensland in the bush, she knits the most GORGEOUS things. Simple and gorgeous, she has koalas on her property and she shares your love of Scandinavia. Making good quality clothing yourself is therapy, art, customisation to the max and a chance to meet some amazing people into the equation. It is also a way to hit waste on the head. You can make rag woven fabric out of old cotton sheets that you could (technically) use to make a seriously funky jacket. You can spin all kinds of fleece into yarn and then turn that into something amazing. Learning how to do it yourself is probably the most liberating thing of all. I just have to tackle the dreaded “sewing” now o_O.
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She be all right than Ms Narf if she likes all things Scandinavian, she be definitely alll right. A good knitter is indeed a wonderful thing…I wish I was one of those.
Now, seeing as though we are talking revolutionary clothing, have you seen the kombucha scoby jackets you can make? I tell you, it could become a thing.
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Yup. Saw the booch jackets and wondered how they made them. I recon you could dry them out and crochet them together to make a bedspread. Not sure who would want a SCOBY bedspread but whatchagonnadoeh? 😉
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you know they’d make awesome winter dog jackets right? Crocheted edges…it could be hit alright.
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I can see Earl sporting one in my minds eye BUT I can also see him chewing it off in about 10 minutes flat. There are recipes out there for how to make dog jerky with SCOBY’s so I am thinking it might be best to start with making something that doesn’t have already recognised edible qualities when it comes to our boys ;).
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My sewing skills are terrible. I do love the stockings – perfect for halloween! xx
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