Sunday 18 June 2017

Fashion To Die For

Fashion To Die For blogger Joined in life fashion tops jumpers ethical ethics

On the 24th April 2013, 1,129 people died, and 2,500 were injured when a building called Rana Plaza collapsed in Bangladesh. This eight-floor building collapsed despite numerous safety concerns about appearing cracks in the walls from the workers. Their worries were ignored, and they were sent back into the building to carry on working.

The top three floors were added without permission. This extra pressure upon the already unstable foundations contributed to collapse during the morning rush hour. 5,000 people mainly women were employed in this factory. These women were not just women they were wife's, daughters and mothers. They slaved away for an unprecedented amount of hours, in unsafe working conditions for minimum pay just so they could make your clothes and feed their families. The clothes you buy from the likes of Primark, Matalan and Mango. 

On a tragic day in 2013, hundreds of kids were made orphans. Hundreds of women suffered life-changing injuries, and all the workers lost their job. Their only source of income that was paying for the food they give their children. That £5 Primark dress doesn't sound so appealing now does it? 


I'm fully aware that Primark is not the only brand who uses sweat shops. In fact, Primark was one of the brands who did the most to support the injured and help build their life's back together. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a big dig at Primark. This is a dig at fast fashion.

It sickens me to think how many women sacrifice their safety just to serve our vanity. These deaths were not accidents. They were entirely preventable. I'm fully aware that there are lots of loopholes in which greedy sweatshop owners can get extra work for their factory, without the knowledge of the retail company. So you can't always blame the brand, which is fair. But don't you think they should be doing more to prevent disasters like Rana Plaza? 

Fashion To Die For tops ethical fashion shops fashion blogger UK Joined in life

They will reassure you they do routine safety inspections, but if the factory knows they are going to be inspected, they will cover up their safety issues and do what they can to make everything look okay. It's like an OFSTED inspection. We've all been in a lesson where the teacher is being marked, and you actually have to double check you're in the right class because your teacher is acting so different. It's the same with factory inspections. And that's if they actually know where their clothes are being made. If they use outside companies, they often have little control and Knowledge of where their clothes are produced.

Obviously, I'm not trying to say that you shouldn't buy clothes from high street brands. Don't get me wrong, my wardrobe is 80% high street brands which I've bought new. I'm not saying we all need to go around in rags like it's the cavemen days. God, that would just be weird. However, I firmly believe that we can all make small (emphasis on the small) changes to ensure we become more ethical consumers.

Once I realised that every £8 pair of shoes or £3 top I bought from Primark was fuelling this dangerous and just damn right disgusting trade, I took a different perspective on how I shop. I'm now focusing on buying clothes more ethically. Whether this be through looking out for ethical clothing brands or buying my clothes second hand e.g. From charity shops or Depop. I want to reduce how much I contribute to fast fashion. It only seems the right thing to do right? 

Many people come up with the excuse that they can't ditch fast fashion because ethical clothing brands are too expensive. Well, guess what I'm here to prove any of you who still believe that wrong. 

Joined in life is an eco-friendly, ethical fashion brand who sell both men's and women's apparel. So what makes their brand so unique, I hear you ask? Firstly, all their products are made from recycled or organic materials. Their production and printing cost is eco-friendly ensuring their carbon footprint is as low as possible, being kind to the environment is very important. 

Fashion To Die For Joined in life fashion ethical ethics tops jumpers charity

Another aspect that I love about Joined in life is that 10% of every single one of their sales goes to feed starving children around the world with their partnered charity Mary's Meals. Isn't that just fantastic? Knowing that your t-shirt which let's be fair you probably didn't need can help give a child a meal to get them to school for one day. I don't know what's not to like about that. 

When my t-shirt arrived, I was super impressed by the high quality and comfortable fit. Sustainability and durability are incredibly important in ethical fashion. Fast fashion relies on consumers buying new pieces regularly to keep up with trends that season. Incredibly cheap clothes from the likes of Primark never last long, so shoppers replace them frequently which as a result feeds this damaging cycle of fast fashion. Buying high-quality pieces are likely to cost you more in the short-term, but in the long term, the price outweighs the environmental and socioeconomic damage fast fashion causes. 

Fashion To Die For ethical fashion joined in life tops

Joined in life ofter a range of simple and effortless designs which are gender neutral (extra bonus points) all at affordable prices from as little as £10. If wearing second-hand clothes doesn't bother you then Depop, Charity shops and car boot sales are where you need to be heading. There are so many fantastic ways to have a fast fashion free, on season Wardrobe.

This post is by no means saying that I'm going to never buy an item from a high street store again nor am I saying that people who buy fast fashion are bad people. Far from it. If you want to convert your whole wardrobe to being more ethical then that's great- go you! I personally think it's more about realising your responsibility as a consumer and making better choices about where and how you choose to spend your money. Maybe that £10 jumper isn't worth it after all? 

I would love to hear your thoughts on ethical fashion in the comments below. 

Thanks for reading, as always X

* Thank you Joined in life for sending me over this product. This is not a paid post. All opinions are my own*

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