Building an Ethical, Natural-Fiber Wardrobe
Slow fashion is really important to me, so I have a set of rules for how I shop.
My first rule is that only buy natural fiber clothing.
So that's cotton, linen, wool, or silk. I hate being hot and sweaty, and I live in a hot climate, so I no longer by plastic clothing. Anything that says polyester is plastic. I do have some rayon and viscose items from before I set the rules that I've kept because they're super breathable and I really like them, and so it just felt like a waste to get rid of them. If I'm going to buy something that needs to be stretchy, I shoot for ninety five percent natural fibers, so if I'm looking for, like, a camisole, or a pair of shorts that has elastic or something, I try to have at least ninety-five percent of the fabric be natural fibers.
Rule number two: Pockets!
Skirts, dresses, pants, shorts, they all have to have pockets or I won't even pick them up in the store to try them on.
Kind of as a caveat: I probably don't own as many clothes as the average American woman, but I wouldn't really call my wardrobe minimalist, either. I get sweaty and I'm clumsy and I work in a job where I get dirty quickly and so I try to have a rotation of clothing that I can go through because they can wear out from washing, unfortunately. So, I just try to keep a decent amount so I can wash regularly.
How to build an ethical wardrobe on a budget:
Know your why.
Why is it you're looking to build this wardrobe and what is "ethical" to you? For me, I don't want to support sweatshops, and I do want to support small business women, so I try to shop from small businesses that are women-owned. I try to shop secondhand to reduce the amount of things that have to be produced and the raw materials that are required and to keep things out of the landfill. I also don't want to put microplastics in the environment. I also just don't like being sweaty and feeling like I'm covered in plastic. So those are all my reasons why.
Always shop secondhand first.
It's so much cheaper. After you've done this a while, you can go to the Goodwill, or whatever your local thrift store is, and you can kind of run your hand along and feel what's natural fibers easily. It takes me half the time it used to take me in thrift stores because I just go, "nopenopenopenopenope. Ooh! Linen!" and I can just pick it out.
Use ThredUp.
I'm not the biggest fan of ThredUp because their return policy is pretty meh, but they do offer a way to sort by fiber type. So it's secondhand and you can sort by fiber type. And they do have a category that's just "natural fibers," you can just check it and sort all at once. So I try to use ThredUp if it's things that I know for sure are going to fit, and I know for sure I'm going to love. So any sort of pinafore dress that I find on ThredUp that's a natural fiber, I will pick up and buy. (If you want 45% off plus free shipping on your first order, you can use my referral link.)
Customize.
I have sewed pockets onto dresses. I have dyed clothes and shoes. You don't have to be super crafty. I'm really not. If there's something you can't do yourself, you can find someone to do it. I have taken a dress to the tailor and had them add pockets to it, because I was not about to wear a dress with no pockets. You can always make your wardrobe fit you.
Use what you have!
If you already have things, use those first! If there's something you don't love about it, customize it, but if you do love it, use it. There's no one telling you you have to throw it out because it's "unethical." The most ethical thing you can buy is nothing. So, if you already have something you can use, use that.
