Sustainability: Ethical Clothing

My husband wears the same clothes day in and day out. I'm not kidding - he's famous for his green wool clothing. To be honest he has a couple pairs of green wool pants, and a couple pairs of green wool sweaters, and a couple undershirts to go along with them, but you can definitely see a lack of variety.

I really do appreciate his simplicity and deep sense of responsibility to to earth and the peoples on it.

But sometimes I ask, "Can I please buy you a new sweater?"

By new, I mean, new to him. I am an avid thrift store shopper. In the small town where I live we have an incredible thrift store called the rummage room. On certain days they have $1 bag days, where, you guessed it, you can stuff anything you want in a bag for a buck.

His response is always the same. He has more than enough clothes. If I press the issue (especially during his birthday or the holidays) he responds that instead I can buy him a little child from China, that way we can give direct specifications to the one making our clothes. That usually ends the conversation. As I said, my husband feels very strongly on this matter.

This spring he has been busy braintanning deer hides that were gleaned from various places. This summer he is participating in a three week long primitive living project with Lynx Sheperd and will need a complete set of clothes for the project. I am excited about this form of clothing. I've already put in my requests: A dress, a hoodie, a tank top, skirt, pants, long sleeve shirt... that should do it. :) In this way we will have 100% local clothing.

I love making my own clothes. I've done so ever since high school. I tend to make really simple clothes, sometimes from a pattern, sometimes not. I recently made two pairs of pants that I just absolutely love.

Last summer was our wedding, and so a year ago the search for the dress began. I knew I wanted something custom made so I scoured the web looking for someone who's style I liked. I thankfully found Lizzie Moon and Namaste Patchwork Creations. She created two beautiful dresses for me that I wear constantly. I really respect and admire the work that Lizzie does. She creates one of a kind pieces of wearable art and has recently made the switch to ethical fabrics. I check her site every week whether I am in the market for clothing or not, just to see her designs. Lizzie's clothes don't come cheap, but they are of the highest quality with exquisite attention to detail. They are definitely made to last. And in our family, it's much more doable than buying a child from China to work in the basement.