Lifestyle Changes Part 1: Clothing Concerns

I have been eating organic food for really as long as I have been shopping for myself. It took me a little longer to catch on to the "local" scene, but it has been already a few years since I went to my first farmer's market and never looked back. However, all these years I never really gave that much though to the clothing that I was buying and wearing. To be honest, I did give it thought, and some guilt at times; I always assumed it would be something that I would change eventually in my life and in my own time. One of the great reasons to go local is to support the local community and to ensure that farmers receive a good wage for their hard work. It makes sense that this philosophy should natural extend to other purchases one would make. However, most clothing is full of toxic materials and made in factories far away by abused worker's hands. Aside from the occasionally organic shirt from companies like H and M and American Apparel, I have pretty much worn whatever I wanted and tended to stick to big, known companies for most of my clothing.

About a year ago, I decided I would slowly start to change the way I saw clothes and how I shopped. I would not say that clothing and appearance are a huge part of my life, but I can say that I do like to feel good about the way I look every day and enjoy getting "dolled up" once in a while. I started giving myself 3 month, seasonal increments where I would not allow myself to buy any clothing. I also started shopping more for used apparel, mostly on ebay, that I could obtain for a much lower cost. I started to change the way I saw clothes. I tried to get out of the "more is better" mentality and focus on finding used clothes that I really liked and felt reflected my personal style and taste. I started going to thrift stores and trying on many different things, focusing on the way they fit me instead of whether they were the current style or color. Before long, I discovered that I really enjoyed myself and found joy in searching for hidden treasures or items that I could make work but other people may have passed over (before I would mostly purchase things online and hated shopping in stores).

By nature I am a bit of an extremist (probably no shock, as I have noticed a lot of people concerned with food issues are), so at first there was a little of a "yay! now that I am buying used clothes I can buy as much as I want!", but that waivered over time and now I am actually more frugal than ever. I should also mention that I was living in NYC at this time, which is pure thrift store heaven and it is a lot harder to control oneself while shopping there.

In addition to buying used, I also have started buying from small organic shops as well, trying to have an attitude that it is okay to buy new if it is either from an organic or "sweat shop free" company. One that I really like is Alternative Apparel (similar in style to American Apparel) that sells Alternative Earth which makes very cute organic basic tees. Also, Whole Foods recently started carrying a line called Threads for Thought which has cute inexpensive basics as well. Workout clothes tend to be the hardest because quality and fabric really matter, but I did find a company called Green Apple Active that I have been generally happy with, although they don't seem to have a lot of "high intensity" workout gear.  Things like sports bras and sneakers really should be bought new, but I tend to take really good care of them and make them last a long time so I feel less guilty about that. 

So generally that is my plan so far. It could obviously be improved tremendously. I greatly admire people who do things like make their own clothes or people who generally don't care about clothes and are okay with throwing on whatever covers them (I don't mean to sound sarcastic, I really think that is a good way to go and makes a lot of sense). I have a lot of nice clothes that I really don't wear that much as they are no good for homesteading and we don't generally go out too often, AND I wear a uniform to work, so I expect over the next few years the amount of clothes I buy will drop dramatically still. I even have a few basic tees with a couple tiny holes in them that I keep wearing. I even like it a little because I feel like I am really "wearing" my clothes and they are really my own (this is one of those "if my old self met my new self shock type of things"). I do have a little guilt over fueling the whole cycle of people buying from large companies. For example, I have a Kate Spade purse that was a great thrift store find, but by buying it am I encouraging the consignment store to keep buying them, and in turn encourage consumers to keep buying them? Maybe a little.As far as I know, there is not a lot of "local" clothing companies really getting started around here and buying domestic is probably as close to "cottage" as one can get in terms of that. But for now, I think as long as I also support some other companies who are doing good, and support thrift stores in general because they reduce waste, I think I am good with this plan for now. What about you? Did it take you a while, like it took me, to improve your outlook on clothing? What is your general plan?