One of my goals for 2019 was to begin to focus on ethical clothing brands. Not only did I want to add those brands to my own wardrobe, I also wanted to suggest them to my clients as well. As I began down this road to ethical fashion, I quickly realized that I was going to have to define the term “ethical” for myself. There are many different definitions within the world of “Slow Fashion”. The challenge for me is that a lot of my clients, including myself, are on a budget. Even with the idea of buying less and investing in ourselves, it’s hard to spend $1000 on 3 or 4 pieces. The other challenge is that I have to order most of these brands online and so, it’s hard to shop with clients when there is no store in the Greenville area. That being said, I have made a concerted effort to offer a variety of clothing brands to my clients when creating a shopping list, and I always include ethical brands. To further help guide people to shopping in a more sustainable way, I thought it might be fun to introduce some of these brands here on my blog. While I cannot attest to the quality of many of these, I can talk about why I like them, what makes them unique, and why I think you should give them a shot as well. So if you’re interested in shopping in a more sustainable way, please continue reading.
For this post, I have decided to highlight Everlane. Everlane is a company founded in 2010 with an emphasis on ethical practices in manufacturing as well as transparency in cost. They are headquartered in San Francisco and have factories all over the world. Each factory goes through an auditing process and must prove that they uphold ethical practices. In fact, if you want to see what factories the company uses, they are listed on Everlane’s website. Everlane also shows the breakdown of costs for items, as well as their markup. This level of transparency is interesting because ethical fashion can be expensive. It’s important for us as consumers to understand that when you pay workers fair wages, provide safe working conditions as well as strong benefits, the cost of goods is going to be more, and that’s fine. But the reality is as a stay at home mom, I have to be thoughtful in my spending. I also realize that I am privileged enough to shop in this way. That’s why Everlane is one of my favorites stores to suggest to clients. The clothing is beautiful, classic, made with sustainable and natural fabrics, and the prices are pretty affordable.
The other thing I really love about Everlane is the fact that they use models of various sizes and they TELL you the models’ height and what size she is wearing. It’s kind of interesting to me that so many brands only show skinny models wearing their clothing because let’s face it, there are SO MANY body types out there shopping and we want to know what it will look like on someone our size! I would say that most ethical clothing brands are focused on inclusivity both from a size perspective as well as a race perspective which is another nice thing about switching to shopping this way. As you can see in the image above, Everlane lists the size of the model, the way it’s supposed to fit, the factory from where it came, and the material.
In this image, Everlane is shopping you the pricing structure as well as their mark up.
My Favorite Pieces
I tried to include the image from the website including model size info, the factory, and the fit. This shirt is versatile, can easily be paired with white pants like the model is wearing, light denim, or a cute A line skirt. You could tie it in the front over a romper or wear it open with a dress. Any of the colors would work nicely in a capsule wardrobe.
I’m a sucker for a nice poplin shirt. This shirt would be great most of the year, minus those blazing hot southern days. You could style this with a skirt for something more business casual, or denim like the model. I feel like this would be really cute with a pair of shorts or some white denim.
A wide leg chino which are my go to’s this summer. I haven’t tried these on, so I’m not 100% sure about the fit, but the model is a size 16, so I have an idea.
I’m not one of those people that says that every single thing you buy should be sustainable, because I realize just how hard that is. I really hate all or nothing thinking, and I find it prevalent in the ethical fashion world. My goal is to make better choices when I can and I feel like this brand is one that makes that a little easier. With classic pieces at pretty reasonable prices, Everlane is an ethical clothing brand that offers affordability and sustainability, which works for me. I hope this has been helpful to you. Let me know if there are any other brands you love!
*This post is not sponsored at all. I am just sharing brands that have a strong mission and that I support in terms of ethical practices. The links ARE affiliate links through ShopStyle and should you decide to buy using them, you will help support me and this blog. Thanks so much!
