fast fashion Archives – Fairly Southern

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3 / 17 / 198 / 28 / 19

This post was written for my church’s series on fasting. Each week of Lent, the church focuses on a different item for fasting (food, clothes, waste, etc.). During the week focused on clothing, church members are encouraged to fast from clothing in some shape or fashion. Examples include wearing only two outfits the entire week, cleaning out unused clothing and donating it, or fasting from buying new clothes for the duration of Lent. I personally encourage fasting from buying fast, exploitative fashion, not just during Lent, but as a lifelong goal. Read on to find out more!

We tend to envision fasting as a practice of recentering our hearts around God rather than some other object (in this case, clothing). We often treat clothing as an idol, coping mechanism, and giver of self-worth, when God should be those things instead. Working on our personal relationship with clothing and God is an important thing to do this week, but in this reflection I want to focus on a different aspect of fasting: A change in our hearts that results in social action.

I’m not going to lie: This reflection discusses difficult things, like the role we personally play in human trafficking. But if there’s any group willing to dig deep and not turn away from hard topics, it’s my church family. So let’s jump in!

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11 / 4 / 189 / 2 / 19

Fashion bloggers, Instagrammers, influencers, and general fashionistas buy A LOT of clothing each year. This has a negative impact not only on our wallets, but also on the environment and our clothing supply chain.

I recently discovered Elevated Layers, a company that is shaking things up by creating a more sustainable clothing cycle for influencers. Read More

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2 / 11 / 186 / 20 / 19

I blog a lot about ethical and fair trade fashion here at Fairly Southern! Today, I want to share an article that explains just one of the many reasons why ethical clothing is so important to me.

As a woman, I care a lot about other women. I want women to succeed, to be treated equally to men, to be valued by society. In short, I am a feminist. And I’m betting most of you reading this want all those same things, too.

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7 / 27 / 162 / 16 / 19

Last week, my good friend Traci and I went to a screening of the documentary True Cost, hosted by Redress Raleigh. We had heard that it was about the ethical, humanitarian, and environmental problems associated with the modern fashion industry and figured it was a perfect movie to watch as we continue in our Inside Out fair trade fashion/beauty product challenge.

It’s hard for me to find adequate adjectives to describe this documentary. Moving, convicting, fascinating, and heartbreaking all come to mind. I stared in shock at images of waste water from leather factories and blinked back tears as I listened to a young woman in Bangladesh describe her working conditions and the consequences her job has had on her family. As someone who has done some research on the fast fashion industry, I was not shocked at some of the statistics, but was pleasantly surprised to find myself learning new information throughout the movie. I highly recommend this film to anyone, regardless of age, gender, or level of interest in fair trade/ethical/eco-conscious/insert-your-favorite-buzzword-here fashion. It’s incredibly interesting.

Anddddd…great news! True Cost is currently on Netflix! So add it to your queue and get watching, friends. You can also rent or buy it on Amazon, iTunes, or the True Cost website.

And in the meantime, check out the trailer:

xoxo Laura

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