7 Top tips on how to avoid ethically unfriendly clothing

Fashion is enjoyed by billions of people across the globe, it brightens people’s days, it fills magazines, it dominates whole channels of television and our everyday life is affected and exposed to fashion and its offspring all day everyday.

We the consumer see the public face of fashion, the glitz, the glam, the models, the promotion and the hype. What we don’t see is where it comes from? Recently it has become a far more topical issue. With ever more budget ranges of clothing appearing.

This question is not as new as you might expect, there were similar questions raised in the late 1980’s early 1990’s but they were in my personal opinion forgotten in the recession of 1992 in the UK. Since then although regenerating with new charge and impetus; a charge that I believe will see such issues weather the storm of our current downturn in economic conditions, they could easily get lost in the financial troubles that we see ourselves in currently. What we must be careful to remember is that while we seek bargains on the high street, those bargains could be fuelling someone else’s economic woes. This may seem very distant to us on the high street when we are suffering ourselves, however by fuelling others economic woes by purchasing garments that are produced without reference to ethics we are fuelling the system that has brought us to our knees.

We should be looking to create a system that is fit to provide a future of economic stability for all countries and economies. The result will be a system that is not so prone to cracks and problems.

It is all well and good to gasp when the economic hardships of others appear on our television sets, starving populations, diseased nations, over worked and under paid factory workers, disgraceful working conditions, but when we leave our sofas regardless of what level of income or social status we believe we could be categorised within in the UK, we have a lot more than those who have nothing. It is important to note that we do not have to do so much to avoid unethical clothing, it will not burden us greatly, we must just open our eyes and ears to the vast amount of information available to us and force those involved with fuelling such processes to curtail their greed and spread their good fortune.

First I must dispel two myths

“Ethically friendly clothing doesn’t always come with a huge price tag” and “Unethical clothing isn’t always accompanied by a low price tag.”

7 Top tips on how to avoid ethically unfriendly clothing

1. Search the internet. The internet contains a vast spectrum of information about everything including information on most clothing brands and their production practices. I would say with 95% assurance that if a brand is not behaving in an ethically correct manner they will have been ousted in a news story that can be found on the internet. Simply insert the brand you would like to investigate and the sub heading ‘ethically friendly.’
2. Price. The price of the garment can help us assess whether or not the piece of clothing has been bought for a reasonable unit price from the manufacturer and hence if the worker who made that garment is getting a fair wage for the work that has to go into producing the garment. Although this does not necessarily apply to sale items, if the price of the garment originally is so low to make you gasp at what appears to be great value, it probably isn’t providing great value to the worker who produced it.
3. Ask the shop manager. The shop manager although possibly not informed of the full details is legally obliged to tell you in his knowledge the truth about how the products the shop sells are produced and if the brand has an ethically friendly and compliant policy. Often surprising the manager with such a question will get an honest and accurate response.
4. Don’t be fooled by the well known brand. Although well known brands and high end labels are aware of their ethical responsibility, the fact that the price is high and reputation good, doesn’t mean their ethical record is excellent. It also doesn’t mean it is bad, do your research ask the questions.
5. Don’t be fooled by the hype. Just like above don’t be fooled by the claims of brands new or old that they are ethically responsible, they may be telling the truth, they may not, do your research ask the questions.
6. Check the labels. The labels of some brands may contain information about their product and policies. If they offer printed information about their ethical policies with their products, it is most likely to be accurate because if it is not they will have opened themselves up to some serious criticism and or possible prosecution for false advertising.
7. Check the company website and email a representative. This is probably without doubt the fail safe way of getting the accurate information that we require about companies’ practices. In responding to a request for information about their products in relation to any number of issues, animal testing, manufacture, packaging etc., the company has a responsibility to respond accurately. Companies that provide open, honest and detailed responses are the ones to trust. Those who appear guarded, coy or don’t reply at all, well the answer is right there in their actions. Avoid

Ultimately we shall find clothing that is ethically friendly and reasonably priced, we also might find some brands that we thought where trustworthy that are not. The idea that good ethical practices comes with a huge price tag is simply not true.

Follow this advice and I am sure you will be wearing items that are ethically friendly.