HOW TO SHOP ETHICAL SUSTAINABLE FASHION | 8 Top tips for beginners

[@SustainablyVegan]

Hey Everyone! I hope you enjoy the video - please see the description for more resources and info :). Immy xx

[@amberconstante3916]

Sustainably Vegan can you do a video on sustainable brands? Thank you! Love the content

[@nicolegugliotticraft]

great video. it would be awesome if you could just acknowledge the lack of size inclusivity in ethical fashion brands. i thrift almost everything and would love to support ethical designers, especially for basics like leggings, but they don't stock my size. i hope by mentioning this at every pass will encourage smaller brands to start working on increasing size inclusivity.

[@nicolegugliotticraft]

@Bethany Brown absolutely. and at the thrift stores it's easiest to find lower quality items in plus sizes, which-if you're going to buy synthetic fibers, etc, best to get them second hand, but-i want access to high quality, natural fiber clothes in sizes that fit me. right? i know that it's difficult for smaller businesses to add stock but i would like them to know that plus size is a market in need of quality clothing and with money to spend.

[@vanessa-m8d1u]

Maybe those brands do not sell big sizes because they do not want to support people that use so many resources that they get so big in the first place. When you really are an ethical consumer you eat vegan and do not eat so much you would need big sizes anyway. Why would they produce sizes that do not represent the lifestyle they are promoting?

[@ArtyAntics]

Vilandra Wagner you make a lot of assumptions about ‘big’ people there. I’m not saying there aren’t some people in that category but I know myself about of weight because of medical reasons. I had never been overweight before that. I am now vegan, I’ve lost some weight but I’m still plus sized 2 years later. I still have a right to buy clothes that are in line with my values no matter my size, and to assume big people are not ethical is incorrect. Also if we want more people to change their lifestyles we have to stop excluding them. Staying on a moral high ground puts people off trying at all which is counter productive for any kind of real world change.

[@user-fg6hg7ds1v]

@@vanessa-m8d1u Having eating disorders or lack of healthy food are ethical issues, not moral ones.

[@mmirandaxx]

@@vanessa-m8d1u That's quite presumptuous of you. First, clothing fit is very personal, a small person might prefer oversized clothing. Next, people with small frames also struggle to find clothing; I'm 5ft tall but the clothes my size are meant for tall skinny people, not short people of average composition, so fit is often awkward. Second, a big person could also be tall and have a wide frame, would you tell Michael Jordan to eat less cuz he's consuming too many resources? Or someone might be slender with very large breasts. I think it's more fair to assume that ethical fashion brands have a higher production cost so they are limited in the number of sizes they can offer, and need to start with the most popular/standard sizing.

[@Shelbizleee]

Loving all the collabs you're doing Immy! Such valuable information 💕

[@marie-christinelandry6983]

You should make a video on how to shop linens, comforters, pillows, etc. ethically! :)

[@RovingReader]

Patagonia has a used portion of their website. You can also send them items to repair and send back :)

[@coralpardo8825]

I love that you are really responsible in the information you are giving. As a scientist sometimes I cringe at some people trying to do good, but spreading false info. Cheers

[@FinsternisSan]

Yes! Especially the op shop/charity shop/thrift store stat. I work at an thrift store and we have to throw out so much stuff because people 1. don't wanna feel bad about throwing things away, and 2. people are classist and don't have a high opinion of people in poverty who buy second hand so they think that their trash will just do (you see this a lot with food banks too). We do textile recycling, but that isn't enough. I try to do most of my shopping second hand, but i'm also poor, and plus sized so finding things like underwear or bras ethically and in my size/comfortable is almost impossible because sustainable/eco fashion brands don't cater to plus size people. Big tip is that if you're just starting to move out, or just need things, check out your local second hand store. We will have what you are looking for. Especially kitchen supplies because we have it, and we have too many. Just always research which second hand store that aligns with your values (ex: salvation army is anti-lgbt, good will has questionable wage practices with workers, etc).

[@lizachka333]

Thank you so much for mentioning faux fur and faux leather; I feel like their environmental impact is so overlooked by many vegan/ethical vloggers. Really great video.

[@julecaesara482]

After doing some research on faux fur and leather I kind of felt it were much better to buy real leather and fur o.0

[@Canadiangirlagain]

Exactly. I prefer to just purchase real leather items - at least I know they're a material that will last (shoes & bags, and not that it makes me a better person but I like classic items that don't go out of style. I don't do trends.) I generally avoid fur except for parkas. Most brands seem to always have fur on the hoods (and I don't believe that half of what they say is faux fur)

[@kalpic11]

I love the clothes rotation trick to make it seem like you've gotten knew clothes! I might try that.

[@HenryRobertDuncan]

Your channel is a must-watch for me. Keep up the fantastic work!

[@crystalh1402]

I think the discussion of taking care of your clothes is so lost in the sustainable conversation. Washing on gentle and lying flat or hanging to dry extends the life of my clothes immensely. I learned so many of the care tips from my mom when I was younger and they have served me well!

[@professorthread]

This is so cool! I'm about to take a friend shopping for winter clothes (he claims he's "useless" when it comes to clothes and I make costumes for a living), and I will definitely keep lots of this stuff in mind. I've gotten him into second hand shopping and he lives in a great city for it :)

[@Linda-on3no]

while i was working at one of the fast fashion brands, i learned that to make/dye one pair of jeans you need as much water as in one olympic size pool. aslo, if you donate your jeans to recycle them into a new pair, you have to consider that cotton fiber gets shorter and therefore your new pair of jeans is less durable. plus, black dye is the most unsustainable as opposed to other color dyes because of the chemicals and amounts of water used.

[@SM-bh5dy]

Theres an awesome app called "Good on You" which rates brands depending on environmental, labor and animal welfare. Would recommend

[@estheryamuza2788]

Querida Immy, I’ve been following you since the end of last summer and I’d like to tell you I find your channel truly honest and inspiring. You’re being of the greatest help in my way to zero waste. Where I currently live (south of Spain) is difficult to find good quality an pretty second hand clothes. Tomorrow I fly to London where I’ll stay for less than one week and I’ll be grateful if you can recommend me a couple of shops where to go. I hope you can read this on time! Thanks for your help and dedication. Cheers!

[@sarahj2586]

I've been thinking about starting a more low impact lifestyle for a couple months, but my parents don't seem to get it and they just keep buying me stuff (all kinds of stuff just to surprise me). Anyway I have to ask for items for Christmas because my family doesn't like giving money instead of presents for Christmas. I was online shopping (I know, I know, I'm trying to break the habit of moving away from fast fashion) and I saw this super cute sweater. I was just about to add it to my list when I watched this video and immediately removed it because it was made entirely from polyester and acrylic! Your video saved me from polluting waterways with microfibers, so thank you so much. Keep doing what you're doing :))))))

[@caterinaca1246]

Fruit of the Loom is a great sustainable brand! It's all cotton (probably organic but I'm not sure), they use natural dye and have a lot of sustainability certifications

[@tessaawoods]

Hi Immy! I've been watching your low impact/sustainable fashion channel for almost a year. I love your videos and how informative they are! I started working at Patagonia this school semester, and they're kind of pricey but they are also another very good, sustainable brand with fair labor practices for their workers & the environment. I love working here because the people I work with are wonderful, and I've been learning more about ethical business practices. Check them out too! Like I said, they are a bit pricey but their products are such great quality and have an ironclad guarantee. Thanks again for your videos!❤️

[@bethaniebentley1340]

This is the most informative video I've found so far!

[@sopheco3432]

I started becoming concerned about buying synthetic leather because of the whole being made of plastic thing, BUT, and I don't know if there are other brands doing the same thing, Will's Vegan Shoes makes at least some of their shoes out of bio oils made from European crops. I just bought a pair as my work shoes (after my current pair literally fell apart, eek!) and am still breaking them in, so hopefully will be able to give a better review soon. Balancing both environmental and animal rights ethics can be difficult sometimes!

[@JE-ng4ty]

Hemp would be a great replacement fabric for many things

[@anastazjagrant8074]

There is one shop in Poznań (Poland) that opened recently. This is non profit place when you can leave you things for free or take something for free too. It’s called Po-dzielnia, and it’s basically mean share, you can find it on Facebook, it was made by Kasia Wągrowska, she wrote a book about zero waste living! It’s like second hand, and there are a lot of clothes but you can find some other stuff there like plates, some toys for kids, a lot of books, bags, pillows or frying pan even! It’s really great! So next time I will need something or want something knew I will just go check if I can find it there! It’s so great that people want to share their stuff for free!

[@Lady_dromeda]

The majority of my clothing is hand me downs from my sister, which has saved me so much money too. The only unfortunate thing is that they don’t really fit properly at the moment, but they will in a few months or so (I’m pregnant so nothing “fits” but at least I have clothes)

[@kymberlishea2036]

Thanks for sharing all this info!!. I find so so many people have no idea how awful a problem this is. Esp here in small town USA!

[@JM-wt4bf]

By this stage, I've just given up and making my own clothing and slowly reusing my old clothes as material for sewing projects like QUILTS!

[@lizaborisova6969]

i miss living in europe mostly because of second hand stores. I live in Dubai now and there are NONE. It simply does not exist. It was my favourite place to shop(

[@TheTKGan]

Very useful video. One thing about cotton, especially organic is the insane water consumption required to mass produce it. I seems to me that there is no perfect option in terms of the material, the most effective tactic seems to be to reduce demand, and thus supply. Buy better quality, use it for a long time and don't over buy and buy second hand.

[@SoulintheRaw]

Learned so much from this video! Thank you so much!

[@ailishlalor9241]

This is such an awesome, comprehensive video! (I also loved the bloopers!)

[@becky8059]

Dyes! I completely got to check about the dyes! Xx

[@annaliistahevali771]

Such a great video. Thank you!

[@lsamoa]

Attagirls! Thank you so much for all the useful info! Off to read the Ethical Unicorn blog now x

[@elizavetasigova5030]

Thanks for the tips!

[@celiam.1572]

What about athletic clothes do have any good brands for ethical athletic clothes for people who work out a lot.

[@rosemarybruce6290]

Celia M. immy and a lot of other ethical youtubers talk quite regularly about girlfriend collective, who do ethical activewear

[@Mkr7942]

Gossypium for yoga clothes.

[@rossellamiccoli9874]

I suggest to buy second hand ;)

[@brookeseitter4102]

I believe prana is pretty sustainable

[@mollydavison1759]

Love this video, learned so much thank you!

[@annagrzelcz]

Rotating the wardrobe is great tip! 💛 A lot of my tees are lying forgotten at the back of the drawer 😒

[@kalpic11]

I didn't know that sometimes companies don't tell you how their clothes are made because they don't know! I thought they all kinda knew and avoided that their clothes were made unethically.

[@tadrushijani6154]

Can you please do a video about affordable ethical shops to buy from in London? Love your content. Thanks! :)

[@emilianachateau]

Haha, had just read an article she wrote and had thought what a smart person :D And now she's in your video! Yay! Haha Love this topic

[@loislaidlaw8666]

I looove Know The Origin! Another one of my favourites is People Tree :)

[@kathiewalli8746]

Very informative 👍🙏

[@aesyfreedom9655]

This was a brilliant video! Thank you.

[@SustainablyVegan]

Thanks so much for watching xx

[@FountainBeee]

Thank you, great ideas to consider.

[@dragontatoes]

Since I only buy secondhand clothing, I really only choose fabrics based on whether they will continue to pollute with consumer use. Everywhere I read says viscose and rayon are biodegradable, it's just the processing that's harmful to the environment. I also don't know what to do with the plastic fabrics, because recycling them would just make more, wouldn't it?

[@laurenmay4762]

Super video! One thing I was wondering was what brand of running/workout shoes you wear. For some reason I can't seem to find much good information. Thank you so much!

[@soemham8168]

StudioJux has realy nice sustainable clothes collection. You should Google them!

[@PolpettinaDiRana]

I feel so lost after watching this video, there are so many things to consider before buying something... And I feel that in my area there are not that many shops that sell ethical clothing or second hand clothing, and I don't feel like buying stuff online because I usually have trouble finding clothes that look good on me even when I can try them on...

[@amyberg2981]

@Froggirl the most sustainable part of your wardrobe is already what you have. If you are looking for clothing that you don't have I'd recommend checking on the app Good On You. The app does an anaysis on a good amount of brands to see how ethical and sustainable they truly are. Another helpful piece of advice is to take body measurements before you buy a piece of clothing online to see if it will fit you. For personal style I'd highly recommend getting pinterest to find certain items and styles you like and pinning them. Also one more thing is to look into color shades and hues that best match your undertone and flatter you. For more info on clothing I'd look into youtubers AlexandrasGirlyTalk The art of color and Justine Leconte for fashion tips and tricks

[@mayragallegos3860]

it would be great if a chart was made with sustainable/biodegradable fabrics.

[@theamacore]

This is brilliant! Fantastic Video

[@SustainablyVegan]

Thanks for watching !! We need to get you over here to do a collab with us tooooo xx

[@vincentt27]

Plants that are being grown in an "organic" manner actually need more resources than the ones that are grown conventionally. This is because in an organic production you get quantitatively less value out of the crops which then means you have to grow more plants of cotton (or anything) for the same product that would need less resources when being farmed conventionally.

[@rosemarybruce6290]

ᠸᠢᠨᠰᠧᠨᠲ everything has pros and cons. this is a con of organic farming, but a definite pro is that there’s much much much fewer nasty chemicals going into our waterways.

[@rosemarybruce6290]

nothing is perfect

[@BigHeartsTinyVegans]

Super helpful thank you!

[@mamischolar]

I wish there was a google doc that lists companies that do greenwash in order to know this misinformation

[@SustainablyVegan]

What a good idea... you should also check out Ethical Consumer Magazine online - they have something similar that you may find useful!

[@Ally-ug3nq]

A great video 🎬 🎥

[@Ellie-sy1yn]

Is it ethical/sustainable to shop at discount retail stores like Ross and TJMaxx?

[@isabbygabbyorcrabby]

Any advice for selling clothes on ebay, I don't want to ship them in a plastic bag but what are the alternatives?

[@emilianachateau]

Reuse packaging you already have! Kristen Leo (she has a youtube channel) ships the clothing she sells on Depop using reused packaging. You can check her videos.

[@Cat-nf9bh]

You could even ask local business if they can save packaging for you that you can pick up. Stores and businesses always needs to order stuff and I know people at least at my job feel bad about wasting a lot of it.

[@doro8856]

I've been trying your no shampoo method and my hair is just hanging limp. Any suggestions? Please?

[@estellescordellis4332]

I'm sorry I didn't catch the name of the bags that are recycled, could you tell me what they are called?

[@SustainablyVegan]

Of course! Grunbag :)

[@amandable7106]

So viscose isn't ever biodegradable?

[@mmirandaxx]

Donating to thrift stores is great and all but I find it unfortunate that people don't talk about donating directly to shelters.. The people in these places need clothing/toiletries/kitchen items to help get started so that can more easily more towards a permanent housing solution. This makes the biggest difference since you're giving directly to those in need, not to a shop that needs to turn a profit.

[@evelijn7566]

This is great, thank you so much for all the information!! You mentioned companies and brands that upcycle clothes, and that reminds me of a company that has been in my town for years, called Van Hulley: www.vanhulley.com. You can bring or send them old button shirts and they make boxers out of them. So if anyone is in need of a nice Christmas gift, it's not only for Dutch people! 😁 And another great thing: The women that make the boxers are women that do not yet have the right qualifications for the job market, and Van Hulley is providing them official education and work experience.

[@ludovicatirone4304]

i think this is a great video, however I am a little perplexed about all this "organic is better than regular" mentality. Organic crops have a 15/20% lower yield than normal crops, which means you need more land and water to make the same quantity of product. Also, because you can't use chemical fertilizers, the farmers use the byproducts of the meat industry (bones, skin, manure), so, depending on your concept of veganism, it may not been considered vegan by some. You can use some pesticides according to the laws and in specific quantities, but you will have to use more "natural" products in general (hwhcich means, again, more resources used). organic does not mean you have a family of farmers growing 2 acres of land: it's still an industry, so i'm not really sure it's the most sustainable option nor it's necessarily better than regular farming. I wholeheartedly suggest you do some scientific research about the topic if you haven't yet, so you can make a more conscious decision: we are all here to become better versions of yourselves after all

[@Clonecorpse]

The chemicals can also get into rivers/streams and later oceans and harm the plants and animals there.

[@jessicampbell2380]

Lol, followed both of your ig accts, btw

[@atticustay1]

As a guy it’s quite frustrating that it seems like the majority of sustainable clothing brands are more aimed at women or are often exclusively women’s clothing

[@SustainablyVegan]

I totally agree. I'm working on a video related to this so I hope you'll watch it when it comes out next month. It's definitely an issue. We just need to get brands to recognise that there is a market there.

[@Lisa-RenéeDV]

I thought the title said "how to STOP ethical sustainable fasion". I was really confused 😂

[@raigs9484]

So did I

[@belletwilightshine6488]

👌💖💖

[@rosechristen9460]

[@jessicampbell2380]

#followedyourig