A Year of Ethical Fashion

I've decided to sign up for 'A Year of Ethical Fashion', which has been launched by Pip Lincolne on her Meet Me At Mikes blog.

Here's the Year of Ethical Fashion (#YOEF) pledge for 2014...

If I'm looking for things to wear I will only:

a) Buy from ethical makers or
b) Buy second-hand or
c) Make it myself  or
d) Wear things I already own or
e) Borrow or swap garments with friends

I had been thinking about doing something along these lines myself, but it will be so much more powerful to be part of a group!

If you want to join in, you can sign up here and there is also a facebook group.

People are going to take a variety of different approaches to this. Some folks are planning to do a lot of home dressmaking, but I am more likely to wear things I already own, buy second-hand and buy from ethical makers.

Here is an example of the kind of ethical fashion I tend to wear. This second-hand denim jacket came from a dress agency.

Over the next year, I'll be trying other options for ethical fashion, including ethical knickers, jewellery and fairtrade footwear. I'll be writing about this on my Minibreak Mummy blog.

Here are the ethical fashion blogposts I've written so far:

• Slow Fashion from People Tree
• Who Made Your Pants?

Leather Satchel Co - 14" satchel in Deep Purple

My new favourite bag is this beautiful leather satchel from The Leather Satchel Co. It is so gorgeous that people stop me in the street and ask me where I got it!

The leather is Deep Purple, with black on the reverse. This is how the colour is described on the Leather Satchel Co website:

"Our Deep Purple is a Byzantine shade of purple, similar in style to indigo but with a more bold and sophisticated finish to it. It's the type of rich, deep purple that clergy men used for their stoles, or wealthy London businessmen would use as the silk lining of their tailor-made suits. The consensus of opinion is that it is also very similar to plum purple or violet, but not exactly the same due to it's deeper finish, which gives it sophisticated edge. The leather is finished in our standard method, leaving the leather very hard wearing with a slight satin sheen to it. The reverse of the leather is dyed black, a combination which serves to emphasise this beautiful shade of purple."

The stitching is light blue which looks really nice against the purple. The 14" size is perfect for me - I can fit my 11" MacBook Air and A4 documents inside along with all my other essentials.

One of the things I really love about The Leather Satchel Co is that they offer a range of customisations. I chose the following customisations to make the satchel easy to use and comfortable to carry:

• magnetic fasteners
• detachable strap and briefcase handle
• shoulder strap pad with a lovely black suede underside

You can see what the magnetic fasteners, strap and briefcase handle look like in the photos below.

So all in all this is a really lovely and practical satchel and I am very pleased with it.

This satchel was purchased using commission. All words, photographs and opinions expressed are my own.

Charity shops on Goose Gate

On Saturday I went into Nottingham to get my hair cut. It is now a proper bob shape after taking months and months to grow out my old pixie crop.

Anyway, I also took the opportunity to check out the charity shops on Goose Gate that present themselves as being 'a cut above' ordinary charity shops. (see what I just did there?)

White Rose 2

The first shop is called White Rose 2 on the corner of Broad Street and Goose Gate, which sells 'handpicked second-hand fashion' in aid of The Aegis Trust. It is a really lovely shop. As well as women's clothing, you can also buy cake plates, buttons, broaches and knitting needles.

My favourite finds from there in the last year have been:

Big mother of pearl buttons

Teal cardigan

The Oxfam Shop on Goose Gate is also worth browsing in, though the prices can sometimes cause a sharp intake of breath!

The Oxfam Shop on Goose Gate

The stock in this Oxfam shop can be pretty eclectic. My favourite ever item from here was this:

Flowery curtain

I didn't find anything I wanted to buy in either shop on Saturday, but that's the thing with charity shops, you have to go in fairly frequently to find the good stuff.

I've added both shops to a Google Map, in case you want to check them out yourself.

Linking up with The Charity Shop Blog Hop at Lulastic and the Hippyshake

Also linking up with Magpie Monday at Me at My Shadow