Eileen Fisher recycled hemp/cotton blend sweater (XS) | linked to this season’s version
Ilana Kohn Caroline Pants
Dansko Clogs
Eileen Fisher organic cotton jeans (size 4)
Entireworld recycled cotton t-shirt (small)
St. Agni cotton sweater (secondhand)
Baggu bag
Dansko Clogs
Hansel from Basel socks
Wearing/Buying
I had to get the Ilana Kohn sweatpants hemmed and got them back this week and wore them yesterday. They’re better, but I always dislike how things look after having been hemmed. Story of my life. I also took my Rachel Comey Buxton overalls to be hemmed so I wouldn’t have to cuff them; I am tired of cuffing everything a million times and I think they look better with a “clean” hem. Anyway, I almost had a heart attack at the tailor because she couldn’t find my items for the LONGEST time.
I happily passed my Ace & Jig Gatsby pants on to someone who loves them more this week – I really liked them, generally, but they just weren’t the right fit for me at all. I think the medium was too large in the legs, but the small would have been a little small in the waist. I’m not sad about it. There are other pants.
Speaking of. I ordered the new Everlane straight, cropped corduroy pants to try and received them last night. I ordered the size 8 in bone (now sold out) and they’re quite snug. And on par with Everlane lately, the fit is sort of meh & boring on me. They fit, mostly, but they’re not very interesting at all. I’ll write more about them next week and take some photos.
I ordered the new vegan clogs by Nicora this week also, with the proceeds from my pants sale and I’m excited to try them. I wasn’t going to talk much about my efforts to stop buying any new animal-sourced products (I’m a notorious backslider when it comes to that), but I am officially trying to not buy any new animal-sourced products. Aside from the fact that I literally do not need any more sweaters or shoes, it is very tricky to REALLY know where the raw materials (wool, etc.) come from for our clothes/shoes. And with regard to leather, the by-product argument doesn’t always hold water…(in more and more cases hides bring in more money than meat, so which is the by product?).
Wool can be a brutal industry, and although quite a few major brands have pledged to not buy wool from farms that engage in mulesing, there’s more to it than that. There’s animal abuse, exploitation, etc., that we should also take into account. If I HAD to buy wool/cashmere, I’d buy from Eileen Fisher, but I don’t NEED to, so I won’t.
I certainly wouldn’t buy wool/cashmere from Everlane anymore, they have no information at all about where their raw materials come from.
Reading/Watching
Speaking of Everlane, Leah wrote a follow-up to her Is Everlane Ethical? piece and got some answers from them about growth, auditing, etc. Everlane is not perfect, but I give them credit for working towards being better. I am still rather soured on their fits, and don’t find many of their items very tempting or appealing at all anymore, but they are doing what many other companies are not, and are at least willing to take feedback about moving forward.
Everything is valuable and disposable at the same time – this sentiment from Mohawk General Store founder Bo Carney is SO TRUE FOR ME. It speaks to the Buddhist teaching of non-attachment I think – that everything is temporary and we shouldn’t become too attached to any one thing because it doesn’t “belong” to us forever. Same for people. For me, viewing my wardrobe this way is so helpful; I buy high-quality, unique pieces, but many things just don’t last very long in my wardrobe, for one reason or another. And that’s okay. Impermanence is one of the only things I know to be true.
Doing
Maybe enjoying a weekend without rain? Maybe??
How was your week? What are you doing this weekend?
Don’t mean to be rude but…….compare pics for 19 and 17 October. Can you see how the silhouette for 17 October suits you so much better than the wide silhouette of 19 October?
I just ordered the corduroys in a size 6, which sound like they’re definitely going to be too small! We’ll see.
I have to disagree that your approach to a revolving closet is mindful and that it is justified via the Buddhist notion of impermanence. The Buddhist notion of impermanence is that all “existence” is temporary—I don’t think he was talking about our relationship with clothes! Likewise, non attachment, in part, is born of letting go of the “desire” for things, people, concepts, etc. Our society’s fickle relationship to clothes seems to stem from many things: the income to procure and replace, insecurity, marketing and social media that fuel the desire for what is new, changes to our bodies etc. My Mom lives in a house that was built in 1871. The closets are tiny! No doubt the clothes that filled that small space were out of need (income or lack thereof and availability). Walk-in closets of today aren’t because we need more clothes now to survive than we did over a hundred years ago. I think if we were really mindful of the earth, its limited resources and the consumptive nature of our times, we would only take what we really need. In thinking about my own relationship to clothes I struggle with desire and the reasons underpinning why and how I justify adding something new to my closet. It’s complicated and I don’t profess to have answers—and I hope you don’t take this little diatribe as a critique of you—it’s only food for thought on my part!
BTW, I should have prefaced what I said with I listened to a Tara Branch podcast in which she said that over consumption comes from our need of over controlling. That is what led me down this rabbit hole of thought, not you specifically!
Yes, I agree. Something about using Buddhism to justify overconsumption rubbed me the wrong way. I don’t think you should feel bad if something ends up not working out for you, but I do think you should be mindful of how many possessions you buy. Especially with a blog about conscious shopping. It’s not enough to pay attention to how sustainably an object is made. The culture of excessive consumerism needs to be challenged as well.
Yes, I agree. Something about using Buddhism to justify overconsumption rubbed me the wrong way. I don’t think you should feel bad if something ends up not working out for you, but I do think you should be mindful of how many possessions you buy. Especially with a blog about conscious shopping. It’s not enough to pay attention to how sustainably an object is made. The culture of excessive consumerism needs to be challenged as well.
I just reread my comment and it sounds like I’m judging you personally. I didn’t mean it that way- I’m sorry. I meant the collective “you” or “we.” Sorry about that!! I really didn’t mean it to sound judging of your specific purchases and I wish I could go back and edit it.