A little while ago, I had a bit of a dilemma with my blog. I love fashion, I love clothes and I love blogging bit when I combined all three, it almost started to sound like a list of things that I had bought or ideas for what other people could buy. I am a strong believer that we should all try and minimise our impact on the environment but struggled to see how a fashion blog could fit in with this.
I am guessing there are plenty of others who have though that fashion bloggers are shallow, encourage consumerism and only interested in buying clothes. This is, I am glad, for the most part wrong and it has suddenly become very clear to me how much fashion bloggers are doing to help promote green fashion and how I can do more myself.
It has for a while been my opinion that whilst organic cotton, sustainable fabrics etc are great, the real key to sustainable clothing is a change in peoples attitude from buying cheap fast fashion that they wear only a few times to clothes that they wear loads and then recycle when they have finished with them. What has really struck me lately is that yes most fashion bloggers do have lots of clothes but they also value these clothes immensely recycling them when they have finished and often buying second hand and vintage. Fashion bloggers are immensely resourceful when it comes to creating outfits as so many create a constant stream of new outfits without a huge budget but don't really resort to poor quality fast fashion.
As influence to varying different degrees, fashion bloggers are in a position to help (even if only in a small way) to change peoples and the industries attitude to clothing and consumption. Here are some of the great things that my fellow fashion bloggers are doing to encourage sustainable clothing, I realise that not all of these things are a conscious attempt to be green but sometimes just a result of the huge value that they place on clothes.
Here are some of the recent things I have notice fashion bloggers doing to discourage consumerism and encourage more sustainable shopping.
I am guessing there are plenty of others who have though that fashion bloggers are shallow, encourage consumerism and only interested in buying clothes. This is, I am glad, for the most part wrong and it has suddenly become very clear to me how much fashion bloggers are doing to help promote green fashion and how I can do more myself.
It has for a while been my opinion that whilst organic cotton, sustainable fabrics etc are great, the real key to sustainable clothing is a change in peoples attitude from buying cheap fast fashion that they wear only a few times to clothes that they wear loads and then recycle when they have finished with them. What has really struck me lately is that yes most fashion bloggers do have lots of clothes but they also value these clothes immensely recycling them when they have finished and often buying second hand and vintage. Fashion bloggers are immensely resourceful when it comes to creating outfits as so many create a constant stream of new outfits without a huge budget but don't really resort to poor quality fast fashion.
As influence to varying different degrees, fashion bloggers are in a position to help (even if only in a small way) to change peoples and the industries attitude to clothing and consumption. Here are some of the great things that my fellow fashion bloggers are doing to encourage sustainable clothing, I realise that not all of these things are a conscious attempt to be green but sometimes just a result of the huge value that they place on clothes.
Here are some of the recent things I have notice fashion bloggers doing to discourage consumerism and encourage more sustainable shopping.
- Secondhand and vintage clothing - so many bloggers now feature second hand and vintage clothing in the outfit posts some even feature outfits that are completely thrifted/ secondhand and there are even quite a few blogs almost entirely dedicated to vintage or recycled clothes.
- Shopping bans - I have noticed lots of fashion bloggers slowing down their consumerism with shopping bans. These are a great way of inspiring others and showing them how they can make their current wardrobe work without buying new clothes.
- DIY - adapting clothes to suit the current trends is also a great way of extending a piece of clothings lifespan. I love the DIY projects published by fashion bloggers.
- Recycling - I also am loving all the recycling that is going on in the blogosphere at the moment, from Pearl at Fashion Pearls of Wisdoms recent Bloggers sale day, to the upcoming blogger yard sale organised by Susie of Style Bubble. So many blogs also now have their own shops selling their own clothes, check out Gem Fatale, London Rose and Trying to Look Fab in your Forties. I have also arranged a few clothes swapping parties through my clothes swapping website.
- Promoting ethical fashion brands - I believe that bloggers are starting to think more carefully about which brands they promote on their blog. I love Selina of Flying Saucers recent blog post where she commented "If you're a blogger, please remember that if you're accepting freebies, consider all the environmental impact that has gone into the manufacture of the item, from crop growing, manufacturing, chemical treatments, labour, and transport, for something that you wouldn't have purchased in the first place. Consider making it a policy to see if the brand is aware of their responsibility to the environment! If you wouldn't have spent your own cash on it in the first place, will you get the use out of the item to justify its creation? Just some food for thought! "
At Style Eyes I have much more planned on the subject of consumerism and sustainable fashion including a directory of sustainable clothing, interviews on the subject with other fashion bloggers and a review of the high streets progress towards sustainable fashion.
If you are a fashion blogger, are you doing anything to discourage excessive consumerism and promote sustainable fashion? if so I would love to hear about it.
Image - The Posh Swaps clothes swap party at the Guildhall Bath.
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