EBAY

I've become slightly addicted to eBay recently, there are so many bargains to be had! It is a lot easier if you know exactly what you want, but there have been many occasions where I have spent hours scrolling through pages and pages of bags and shoes with no real idea of what I'm looking for...just a bargain and bidding war.
Here are some of the second hand bargains I've recently bought.

OFFSET WAREHOUSE

Offset Warehouse is a great enterprise that was created to make it easier for people to make interiors and clothing ethically. They provide on an online platform with everything you could need to create clothing and interiors ethically such as, an ethical fabric shop and haberdashery, a directory of services and businesses that work ethically and have ethical accreditations, and a resources area with any information you need. On top of this they also provide lectures and seminars, workshops and consulting services 'to make being ethical easy.'

www.offsetwarehouse.com

SIX ITEM CHALLENGE

The charity Labour Behind the Label, started a great campaigning idea called the six item challenge. They challenged people to choose six items of clothing to wear for the duration of lent, those six items did not include things like underwear, pyjamas and footwear, just the main items of clothing. The challenge was a response to fast fashion, to raise awareness to the rate at which we consume products and the effect this has on garment workers across the globe.

"The drive to increase profits and get products into our high street shops faster and faster to satistfy an insatiable desire for new trends, the drive to sell more, consume more, make more, waste more unfortunately doesn't mean workers are paid more for making our clothes"
thesixitemschallenge.wordpress.com

They also acknowledged the Consumed campaign on the Six Item Challenge blog thesixitemschallenge.wordpress.com/2012/03/06/consumed/

ETHICAL JEANS

One of the things that have been the hardest to find in the ethical fashion world are jeans. I personally love high waisted jeans, which I think is part of the reason why it has been so hard to find sustainable ones. But I have managed to find two brands in particular that produce great jeans.

Monkee Genes do a great range of brightly coloured skinny jeans, as well as other styles including chinos. The great thing about Monkee Genes is that they are made out of ethical fabrics by workers with rights, but they are still very affordable, and they fit great.

Kuyichi is based in The Netherlands and they unfortunately do not have an online store, however they are stocked in a few stores across the UK. They are apparently the first brand to produce organic jeans, they also do other items but there is a focus on denim. Their most recent collection looks to have some really beautiful pieces, unfortunately I haven't managed to find any of them online yet, but if I do I will post them here.

ETHICAL SHOPPING

Strictly shopping ethically is quite hard, I started to buy ethically about two years ago, and now I try to only buy sustainable or second hand clothes. In terms of second hand clothing it isn't too bad, a lot of people now regularly shop in charity and second hand shops, and search for great pieces on ebay, but I also like to buy pieces that have been made sustainably. Initially I found it really hard, trying to find shops or websites that provide decent clothes, but now that I have managed to find a fair few places within all price ranges I think it is only fair that I share my knowledge with anyone else that wants to shop ethically. A great website for a huge variety of products and brands is Fashion Conscience, the online store is a source of style-led eco fashion with brands based in Canada, Denmark, USA and Sweden to name a few. Each of the brands on the website have strong ethics behind them focusing on using sustainable materials in the production and ensuring workers rights around the world.

 http://www.fashion-conscience.com/


 FAIR + TRUE
 

M BY M GO GREEN
 

RELUXE
 

H&M CONSCIOUS COLLECTION

The recent Conscious Collection released by H&M has got some really lovely pieces in it, so it is no wonder that almost all of it has already sold out! I think it is so important that high street stores like H&M put more of a focus on creating conscious clothing, and I think it's great that H&M have produced this collection, it proves that it is possible and design does not have to be compromised in order to create sustainable clothing. Lets hope that other high street stores will take note and follow H&M's lead.