hello, my name is Michelle

not sure what direction this blog is heading towards but decided to set one up

[miichelleyang]

Will your next phone be Fair Trade?

[miichelleyang]

Brush with Bamboo

— the ecological bamboo toothbrush

[miichelleyang]

How A T-Shirt Threads Together Lives Around The World

[miichelleyang]

How to Shop -- Buy good things // Own them a long time

[miichelleyang]

Story of Stuff

[everlane]

While we buy hundreds of products in our lifetime, we rarely know where these items are made and who crafted them.

Today, we’re introducing a new section of the site dedicated to the origins of our products and the stories of the people and places that make them.

www.everlane.com/factories

[miichelleyang]

...for every piece of clothing (especially fast fashion) I notice, I can’t help but wonder: who has suffered for it this time round?

Joy (Of Stranger Sensibilities)

[miichelleyang]

Wearing only six items of clothing for 31 days can prompt both frustration and liberation.

[miichelleyang]

Wisdom

He who buys what he does not need steals from himself.

[ihearttrc-blog-deactivated20160]

My favorite store had always been there for me. Classic style meets modern cuts. Simple apparel that could easily be dressed up or down, depending on accessories. I loved my favorite store. It was my go-to for years, and felt I could rarely go wrong.

Until recently. I decided that, in fact,...

[idontwantrealism]

If you have the financial means to, I would advise you to not shop at Forever21 anymore. Not only do they use child labor, but they also steal original designs from independent artists & clothing designers from websites like Refinery29, Threadless, Flickr, & also here on Tumblr.

I know that some people don’t have the financial stability to shop at places that can be a bit pricey, & it is nice to be able to get an entire outfit for under $50. But I think it’s time that we think about what goes into the clothes that we make & how we make them. I no longer want to support a company that blatantly rips off of other designers.

If Forever21 likes designs that fit into their look, they should buy from their manufacturers and pay for their designs, instead of making billions of dollars off of hardworking people.

[shopforchange]

Enlightened Everlane

If you are interested in fair trade and fair prices, we think you will love Everlane. Their take on ethical fashion is an ethos of ‘radical transparency’ that invites you to find out where your clothes were made, how they were created and exactly how much it cost to make them.  

Annoyed by the fact that so many retailers expect their customers to pay outrageously inflated prices, 20-something Michael Preysman set out to create a fashion company that breaks the rules.

His brainchild, Everlane, is an online-only store that sells beautifully-made basics at close-to-cost prices. This is possible because there is no middleman and none of the expenses that come with owning a bricks-and-mortar business (which are most often passed on to you).

This doesn’t mean that they sacrifice on quality. They just don’t overextend themselves. Everlane focuses on unfussy wardrobe staples that are created in-house by a team of designers who call themselves ‘obsessive’. They pare down each collection, offering only a few items in each category so there’s more freedom to perfect the pieces that they do choose to bring to market.    

The Everlane team pours energy into finding factories that meet their strict ethical and quality standards. Their ethos of ‘radical transparency’ means you can trace the provenance of each piece and find out all about the factory that made the fabric and other elements of the garment.  In cases where the factory manufactures the entire item, the Everlane team likes to be involved at every stage of the process. For more ethical fashion that breaks the mould, why not check out The Social Studio at The Shop for Change?

[dougcmatthews]

ETHICAL CLOTHING (Non-Sweatshop)

EASY, EFFECTIVE & ETHICAL

Recycle – Thrift Stores

· Goodwill

· Salvation Army

· Savers

Re-Use

Share

· Yerdle.com

REDUCE – Limit Buying New

· “For fashion to truly stop wrecking the planet and start supporting better…

[miichelleyang]

In order to shop as ethically as possible I’ve put together four simple questions to ask myself before purchasing each item to help me make the best choices:

Do I really need the item – is it an impulse buy or is it absolutely necessary?

Will I wear/use the item for years to come, or wear it only a few times or for one special occassion? Does the item look well made, or does it look like it might fall to bits after a few wears and washes? Does the cost of the item reflect the cost of the materials and labour necessary to make the item?

[thenotepasser-blog]

[miichelleyang]

[miichelleyang]

Fair Trade USA audits and certifies transactions between companies in America and their international suppliers to ensure that rigorous Fair Trade standards have been met and a fair price has been paid.