Posh Swaps Blog

Here is are some of our favourite ethical dresses for spring summer 2013 via www.style-is.co.uk and ideas for how to wear them. The great thing about ethical dresses is that they are manufactured with respect for people and planet including being made in ethical factories or under fair trade principles and being made from sustainable fabrics including organic cotton. They make a great alternative to much of the fast fashion found on the high street which can often involve exploitation of workers in countries like Bangladesh and Cambodia. The ever changing trends, short life cycle and low quality manufacture of fast fashion is not sustainable. These ethical dresses not only look great but will also make you feel great and will last for ages.

komodo lace print voile dress

We love the delicate print on this pretty dress, which also has a flattering fitted waist, high neck and capped sleeves. Komodo make ethical fashion under fair trade principles and this dress was made in Kathmandu in Nepal. We would wear it with some strappy sandals and add a pastel coloured clutch for a special occasion like a day at the races or a wedding over the summer.

Ruby Rocks Tropical frill dress

This colourful dress is light weight, cool and easy to wear making it ideal for holidays in the sun, festivals and days at the seaside. We would wear it with a pair of gladiator sandals or fair trade baseball boots with a vintage denim jacket or light weight cardigan for slightly cooler days. It is made in a small ethical factory in bali.

Cheri Sweetheart Chambray Dress

This cute dress by ethical fashion pioneer, People Tree would be perfect for a romantic date with your man. The bodice is hand embroidered and the straps are also detachable. We would wear with tan coloured pump.

Skunkfunk Sugarra Dress

We love the way this dress does the sixties Peter Pan collar dress with a twist. The empire line style with a flared skirt is super flattering and it could be dressed up for the evening with heels or down for the daytime with flats depending on where you are going. Skunkfunk create sustainable fashion and try to minimise their impact on the environment by using eco friendly fabrics.

Seasalt Cornwall Pippa Dress

This strappy little dress is perfect for the beach with flip flops and a slouchy beach bag. We love Seasalt Cornwall for their nautically inspired and high quality clothes. They also use eco friendly fabrics and manufacture in the UK when possible.

Camilla Norrback Dress

For a really simple and effortless style, we would combine this Camilla Norrback dress with ankle boots and a neon clutch. The beauty of ethical dresses by Camilla Norback is that they are timeless and will last for many seasons to come. They are also made from sustainable fabrics.

Edun dress

For a designer choice, we love this Edun dress with its striking zebra inspired print. Any brightly coloured accessories and a pair of killer heels are the perfect accompaniment to this dress. Edun works to create long term sustainable opportunities in Africa by supporting manufacture, infra structure and community initiatives.

The shift dress is probably the simplest form of frock around and the beauty of this style definitely lies in its simplicity. Shift dresses are perhaps one of the most versatile of wardrobe items being suitable for all sorts of occasions from work to weekend and even a wedding or day at the races. For spring 2013, there are some fantastic choices of shift dress to choose from. A classic shift dress can be accessorised in multiple different ways ensuring that it really earns its keep. But if you are on the look out for something that will really make you stand out from the crowd there are plenty of other choices too. We really loved the recent feature in the Guardian with shift dresses for the season ahead from the likes of Matches, Fenwick, Office and Whistles but today we wanted to share with you some much more affordable choices (and even better, they are all ethical and sustaianble too)

Go Neutral

A neutral dress will give you the maximum opportunity to show off some amazing statement accessories. A chunky bib necklace, a bright vintage scarf or a beautifully embellished clutch bag. A neutral shift will act like a blank canvas allowing your accessories to really shine. One of our favourite looks for spring is a simple neutral grey or beige dress accessorised with a neon clutch or shoes. We found this perfect sustainable berri dress by SkunkFunk on style-is.co.uk.

Go printastic

Bold and bright prints are big news this year. This African print shift dress by uber coool brand Fair + True not only makes a big style statement but is also both ethical and sustainable. We would definitely wear it with a pair of killer heels and accessorise with a simple clutch. By keeping the accessories simple and understated, you can let the dress to the talking and keep the look really now.

Go Contemporary

Whilst the shift dress is a classic style, it doesn’t mean that you can’t find yourself one with a contemporary twist. Unusual necklines or hemline and interesting details all add a little something to keep the look right up to date. This wrap style shift, again bu sustainable brand Skunkfunk will effortlessly take you from daytime to evening just add a pair of chunky wedge heels to complete the look.

Go Casual

Last but not least why not go for the casual look. a comfy jersey or linen shift can be teamed with leggings and a cardigan for a cooler day. Seasalt Cornwall have a great selection of causal dresses featuring fun seaside inspired prints on eco fabrics.

Organic cotton is grown with out the use of chemical pesticides and is usually certified by GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard).  The growth of conventional cotton uses a large amount of chemical pesticides and farmers involved in it growth can become trapped in a circle of poverty as pests become more resistant and the cost of agro chemicals grows. There are also many other ethical and environmental issues surrounding the growth of conventional cotton including the use of enforced child labour during the harvest in Uzbekistan and the shrinking of the Aral sea partly due to cotton irrigation.

Organic cotton clothing offers a solution to many of these issues and by buying organic cotton clothing consumers can help to minimise their impact on the environment. The ethical fashion industry is gathering speed and growing fast and it now much easier to buy a wide range of fashion dress made from certified organic cotton, you can even often find organic alternatives in your local jeans shop.

Here are 5 great reasons why it is well worth making the effort to choose organic cotton over conventional cotton for your clothing.

• Organic cotton clothing is natural and soft to wear. You can be absolutely sure that it is free of chemicals that could potentially be carcinogenic, toxic or allergenic. It is often recommended to choose organic cotton clothing for children and adults with eczema, because it is hypo allergenic.
• Organic cotton is farmed naturally and without the use of genetically modified species. This promotes a healthier farm and environment.
• No harmful chemicals are used in the manufacture of organic textiles making them better for the local wildlife and people.
• Organic farming offers farmers a more sustainable livelihood and helps them to break out of the cycle of poverty, needing to buy more and more agro chemicals to obtain the same yield as pests become resistant. The genetically modified seeds and pesticides used in conventional cotton production are controlled by just a few large agro chemical companies and have left many farmers in debt. Organic cotton offers a more sustainable alternative with a minimum price for organic cotton guaranteed. The cost of growing organic cotton declines over time as the ecosystem regains its balance.
• Organic cotton is also obtained from known sources so you can be sure that it has been harvested by forced child labour in Uzbekistan.

Style-is.co.uk has just launched bringing 1000’s of beautiful and sustainable fashion choices and over 100 innovative ethical fashion brands all under one easily searchable virtual roof.

The forward thinking website offers a wide range of sustainable alternatives to high street fashion from the outrageously luxurious to the surprisingly affordable, making it easy for shoppers to make a positive choice and discover fashion that will make them look and feel good.

All of the clothing, shoes and accessories on style-is.co.uk will give shoppers the chance to make a positive difference without compromising on style. They include organic clothing made using fibres that are grown without environmentally damaging pesticides, fair trade fashion that helps to reduce poverty around the world, vegan accessories as an alternative to leather and second hand, vintage clothing and dresses for hire which can help to reduce waste, pollution and the carbon footprint of fashion.

Check out style is… whether you are looking to buy a dress or hire one, whether you would like to shop vintage clothing or something new and ethical.

Style Eyes Ethical Fashion Blog is holding another ethical fashion outfit competition for fashion bloggers. I the last few competitions are anything to go by there is likley to be some great entries with stylish outfits made from vintage, second hand and ethical fashion pieces. Anyone with a blog and a twitter account can enter by taking a photograph of themsleves wearing someting stylish and ethical. There is no need to go out and buy anything to enter this competition charity shop, borrowed and even swapped clothes all count as ethical as they have less of an environmental impact than buying new.

The prizes which are worth over £250 in total include an outfit by From Clothing, an ethical fashion brand based in Devon, a skirt by Bibico, a label known for its contemporary ethical fashion and Grassroots Fashion, a fresh company offering upcycled and recycled fashion.

Style Eyes Ethical Fashion Blog is a personal style blog with a strong emphasis on sustainability. It features a variety of posts on charity shop, vintage clothes and ethical fashion brands.

You can now be eco friendly and also Shop the latest trends online from evening dresses to jeans and just about everything in between. There are some fantastic online magazines including Daisy Green, which are helping to educate and inform us on how we can look stylish and also look after the environment.

One of our favourite ethical brands at the moment is Kuyichi. They have a fantastic selection of classic and contemporay jeans that will never go out of fashion. Jeans are generally quite a sustainable choice especially if you buy them from an eco friendly retailer like Kuyichi. They last for ages and are generally a piece of clothing that most of us will get loads of wear from. You can check out our post on the history of jeans here.

As pioneers of sustainable fashion, Kuyichi were one of the first brands to introduce organic jeans. Now they continue to make their much loved jeans but also continue to innovate with new styles and sustainable textiles. Most of their collections are made of organic or recycled fibres.

The Kuyichi brands is all about style with a soul. The brand is fresh and contemporary but also true its roots. It makes beautiful and stylish clothes with respect for both people and the planet. The label is all about being relaxed and enjoying life but they do not believe that this enjoyment should cause suffering to others.

This post was written by Ceri Heathcote of Ethical Fashion Blog.

A few weeks ago I went to The Good Fashion Show and was really excited to also be able to attend Swap in the City, a clothes swap party or swish. The clothes swap phenomena has really taken off since ’swishing’ was invented by  Futerra, the UK’s leading sustainability communications agency. If you are looking for a party to attend or would like to find out more about how to organise your own party, their website www.swishing.org has plenty of information.

Swap in the City was organised by Nicole of Total Renewal, who has a wealth of experience in organising swishing parties and  even has beauty therapists on hand to give treatments whilst you are waiting for the swapping to begin.

We were told to bring along up to 10 items of clothing either designer, vintage or high street. I took along 2 vintage, 2 designer and 2 high street pices and on handing them in at the beginning of the swap was given tickets with numbers on allowing me to pick corresponding items from the swap. The swap began with the ring of the bell and there was a rush of excitement and grabbing as everyone reached for the pieces of clothing that had caught their eye. I managed to grab some amazing pieces  and although it wasn’t all vintage and designer, I didn’t really mind as I loved it and will definitely wear it.

I would definitely recommend anyone to give a clothes swap party a try, it is fun, a fantastic way of refreshing your wardrobe and recycling any clothes that you do not wear. To be fair to your fellow swappers, the clothing that you take along should be in excellent condition and something that you are proud to pass on. You should also be completely happy to part with item of clothing as once it has been entered into the swap their is no going back!

Clothes swapping is a fantastic way to get some new clothes and get into ethical and sustainable fashion. So what do you think, would you like to give clothes swapping a try?

If you love ethical and sustainable fashion, you should also check out www.style-is.co.uk which features a range of ethical clothing, shoes and fashion accessories.

Finding the right sustainable footwear can be difficult, ethical shoes are often not quite as on trend as you might like. Simple shoes seems to have got the perfect balance between ecology, street style and comfort. Not only are they manufactured with the greatest of respect for both people and the planet using recycled and sustainable materials which include recycled inner tubes, bamboo, hemp and organic cotton. The brand has been going since 1991 and is definitely developing something of a following.

For this seasons double denim look, simply wear these Simple shoes with your favourites pair of ethical jeans!

 Simple Carnival Trainers are old school! perfect for men who like the retro look that is so on trend at the moment.

These colourful Aloha trainers look fantastic with just about any sporty or casual outfit. They even look great with shorts when the weather gets warm.

These E Benedict trainers are ideal for wearing with a relaxed outfit for the weekend. They are also super comfy should you decide that you want to get out and about.

Ethical fashion is one of those terms that seems to be bandied about all over the place but there doesn’t really seem to be any clear definition of what it is. The easiest way to discover it and see what you like and don’t like about it is to check out some of the amazing brands out there. Check out Style Eyes Ethical Fashion Blog for some great examples of ethical fashion.

I guess the reason the term ‘ethical fashion’ is so difficult to define is that ethics are very different for different people. For some ethical fashion is about environmental sustainability and preserving the environment for future generations, for others it is about ensuring that people working in the fashion industry are treated fairly and with respect and trying to use fashion it to alleviate poverty. It can also include treating animals with respect or vegan fashion that does not inlcude any animal products at all. Finally some also consider buying locally produced fashion the best option in terms of ethics as it cuts down on transportation , is easier to ensure fair treatment of workers and it supports the local economy.

Most people will look for a combination of the above when shopping ethically for clothing. Anything that encourages less consumption, better treatment people, animals and the environment, more sustainability and recycling, even in a small way, has to be a positive choice.

The variety and choice or ethical clothing is increasing all of the time and you know longer have to resign to looking boring, frumpy or hippyish if you want to dress ethically. Here are just a few ways that you can make your fashion more ethical.

Sustainable fashion

Generally sustainable fashion starts with the use of some sort of  sustainable material. This can include organic cotton, hemp, bamboo or Tencel, all of which are considered more sustainable choices than conventional cotton which is grown using lots of pesticides. There are also know innovative fabrics which use reclaimed materials including plastic bottles to make clothes. Recycling or upcycling is definitely on the  up in fashion. The process of making something new from something old, be it a vintage or second hand piece or factory offcuts, seems to stimulate some amazing creativity.

Fairtrade Fashion

Fairtrade is used to describe products that have been fairly traded with farmers in developing countries. There are now a growing number of fashion companies pioneering and developing their own Fairtrade programmes which not only make use of Fairtrade cotton but also local and traditional, artisan skills such as weaving, embroidery and beading. These schemes allow workers and communities to benefit from the profits made by the clothing. There are also a number of certifications that can be held by the factories which ensure fair treatment of workers.

Vintage and second hand fashion

One of the most sustainable ways of shopping has to be shopping for vintage and second hand clothing which has virtually no carbon footprint. There is a growing movement of people who buy there clothes in this way and look amazingly stylish on it.

When deciding which ethical fashion to buy, greenwashing can be a problem. There are many companies who call themselves ethical but with little in the way of ethical credentials. The easiest way to ensure that you are shopping ethically is to look for companies who have strong ethics and practice sustainability in everything that they do.

Some ethical fashion brands also support charities by donating a percentage of their profits or turnover each month.

Check out www.style-is.co.uk which features a  wide range of ethical fashion brands and UK Fashion Store.

Image - organic cotton dress by Jackpot on Fashion Conscience.