Finding dress-code compliant workwear that you actually like wearing is already not easy. Add on top of that that it’s made ethically with more sustainable materials? You might be searching for weeks. Thus this guide to ethical and sustainable workwear brands was born!
Note that there are affiliate links in this guide, which means we may earn a commission if you choose to purchase through one of these links at no additional cost to you.
What Qualifies as More Sustainable Workwear?
As with all things sustainable fashion, there are a lot of layers to it!
Secondhand Workwear
First off, repurposing what you have and shopping secondhand is always a good idea. It’s also often more affordable.
But it tends to be quite tough to find something like quality well-fitting workwear from a thrift shop. So you might want to try a searchable marketplace, such as:
- The RealReal (more premium brands and prices)
- thredUP (sells all types of brands). This online consignment store even has a workwear thrift shop collection, making it easier to find items like secondhand trousers, sheath dresses, blouses, and loafers.
Responsible Materials and Production
When shopping for new more sustainable workwear, here’s the criteria I’m looking for:
- Certified — or otherwise guaranteed — organic natural fibers (if using synthetics, then they should be recycled, but I do tend towards natural fibers over even recycled synthetics due to concerns about microplastics and my own skin health)
- Traceability throughout the brand’s supply chain,
- Transparency around their environmental impact with clear goals and progress towards reducing that impact
- A commitment to genuine partnerships with supplier factories and farms, and assurance of fair worker wages
- Prioritization of quality over quantity
- Circularity efforts such as repair programs and resale options
Where to Find More Sustainable Workwear
These slow fashion brands have button-ups and blazers, well-fitted trousers, silky blouses, and sheath dresses suitable for a formal dress code and some sustainable workwear-inspired options for a business casual dress code.
1. Eileen Fisher
Categories: Blazers, Shirts, Trousers, Dresses & Skirts
Size Range: XXS – 3XL + Petites
Price Point: $$$
Sustainability-forward brand EILEEN FISHER is known for their industry-leading circularity practices as much as their elegant timeless clothing. Among the slow fashion label’s versatile garments, there are plenty of pieces that can serve as office attire, like the brand’s Tencel
Lyocell blazers, silky blouses, linen trousers, and organic cotton collar shirts. Even EILEEN FISHER’s relatively modest dresses could be suitable for a more causal work dress code.
2. ASKET
Categories: Men’s Polos, Shirts, and Trousers | Women’s Shirts
Size Range: XS – XXL
Price Point: $$
We love a brand that’s sustainability commitments are as bold as its’ marketing. As the Swedish brand writes: “the world doesn’t need another fashion brand.” That’s why ASKET is committed to doing less, better. Instead of churning out new styles every season, the brand has a permanent collection so they can obsess over creating the best fit and using the best fibers for those pieces. Now that’s slow fashion. The brand
3. M.M. Lafleur
Categories: Jackets, Trousers, Work Dresses, Pencil Skirts, Sheath Dresses
Size Range: EU 30 – 44
Price Point: $$$
M.M. Lafleur is not necessarily the most sustainable brand on this list, but they do have the most work clothes for women with plenty of suiting options, including tailored jackets and streamlined trousers.
The brand does use some lower impact fabrics including LENZING ECOVERO Viscose and has a resale program to sell or shop pre-loved.
4. Amour Vert
Categories: Blazers, Blouses, Trousers, and Dresses
Size Range: XS – XXL
Price Point: $$
Many of Amour Vert’s feminine blouses and workwear staples are made with lower impact fabrics, such as TENCEL modal, FSC-certified beechwood fibers, GRS certified recycled cashmere, and GRS certified recycled polyester (as I mentioned though recycled synthetics are not my favorite material). The California-based brand also has a resale program, called ReAmour where you can shop or sell pre-loved garments from the company.
5. Kotn
Categories: Women’s Blazers, Shirts, Trousers | Men’s Jackets, Shirts, and Trousers
Size Range: XS – XXL
Price Range: $$
With contemporary takes on timeless wardrobe staples — like loose-fit trousers and striped blazers — offer an opportunity to add some personality to your sustainable workwear attire.
As the name suggests, the B Corp certified Canadian slow fashion brand uses primarily cotton for their garments. Kotn partners directly with the cotton farms they source from and traceability of their supply chain from the raw materials to the garment’s final stitch.
6. Filippa K
Categories: Blazers, Shirts, Trousers, Dresses & Skirts
Size Range: EU 30 – 44
Price Point: $$$$
For over 30 years, Filippa K has been dedicated to crafting thoughtfully designed classics that embody Scandinavian minimalism. Beyond the brand’s dedication to the “less but better” ethos, Fillipa K is deeply committed to sustainability with their traceability and social responsibility initiatives along with ambitious goals (and impressive progress) towards greenhouse gas emissions reductions. Find sustainable workwear in materials like GOTS-certified organic cotton and GRS (Global Recycling Standard) recycled fabrics.
7. CLOECO for Workwear Stockings
For workwear undergarments, a great pair of hosiery is often an essential in cooler weather. However, most tights are synthetic, itchy, and end up ripping after a few wears.
Enter in CLOECO: a sustainable undergarments brand that is redefining hosiery with their comfortable, high-quality, plant-based tights made from Tencel.
You May Also Want to Check Out:
Sustainably Crafted Vegan Handbag Brands
Fair Trade and Artisan-Made Jewelry Brands
The post 7 Sustainable Workwear Brands with Blazers, Trousers, and Blouses appeared first on Conscious Life & Style.
7 Sustainable Workwear Brands with Blazers, Trousers, and Blouses
Thoreau wrote in Walden that “Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in,” which reminds us that life is short and nature fills it beautifully. What are you looking for that can’t be found during an afternoon in nature?
Earth911 inspirations. Post them, share your desire to help people think of the planet first, every day. Click the poster to get a larger image.
The post Earth911 Inspiration: Time Is but the Stream appeared first on Earth911.
https://earth911.com/inspire/earth911-inspiration-time-is-but-the-stream/
Green Living
Classic Sustainability In Your Ear: The Ocean River Institute’s Natural Lawn Challenge for Climate Action
Turn back the clock with this classic interview that will get you ready for Spring yard care planning. A lawn may be beautiful but it can take a heavy toll on the environment, accounting for between 30% and 60% of residential water use in the United States. Rob Moir, Ph.D., is president and executive director of the Ocean River Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ORI works with residential lawn owners to heal damaged ecosystems by restoring coastal areas to lessen the destructive impacts of climate change. The benefits of a natural lawn reach far beyond reduced local water pollution, eliminating chemicals that can contribute to cancers, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and other cellular diseases. Natural lawns are also better for local pollinators and store much more carbon than heavily fertilized lawns. If you considered removing your lawn to play a part in the battle against climate change, this interview may change your mind — a healthy lawn is a powerful carbon sink.
The Ocean River Institute is recruiting Massachusetts communities, town by town, to take a pledge to follow natural lawn practices in the Healthy Soils for Climate Restoration Challenge. You don’t need to live in Massachusetts to participate and learn about the alternatives to the traditional, chemical-intensive lawn practices that use Roundup, a source of glyphosates that kills soil-dwelling fungi and local pollinators, and fast-acting nitrogen fertilizers. You can learn more about the Ocean River Institute at www.oceanriver.org.
Rob has contributed many articles about climate change and the history of environmental change since this interview, including:
- Finding a Northwest Passage to the Sea
- Turning the Tide—How Land and Water Shape Our Climate Future
- Learning from Captain Scoresby’s Ten-gallon Fir-Cask
- Earth Savvy?
- Let the Ground Keep Falling Rainwater
- The Sultans of Swag Versus Looking at Clouds from Both Sides Now
- Subscribe to Sustainability in Your Ear on iTunes and Apple Podcasts.
- Follow Sustainability in Your Ear on Spreaker, iHeartRadio, or YouTube
Editor’s Note: This episode originally aired on May 30, 2022.
The post Classic Sustainability In Your Ear: The Ocean River Institute’s Natural Lawn Challenge for Climate Action appeared first on Earth911.
https://earth911.com/podcast/earth911-podcast-the-ocean-river-institutes-natural-lawn-challenge-for-climate-action/
Choosing your perfect gown can be one of the most exciting decisions for your special day, but for the eco fashionista, it can be a challenge to find a dress that fits your values and style — but these brands have exceptional sustainable wedding dresses you’ll swoon over!
Using earth-minded materials like hemp, cruelty-free peace silk, deadstock recycled fabrics and vintage lace, and producing consciously, either in small batches or handcrafting each individual piece made-to-order, the brands below meet high standards for transparency, ecological sustainability, and fair labor.
[For more sustainable wedding dresses, check out this guide to secondhand wedding dress sites!]
Note that the guide contains affiliate links. As always, we only feature brands that meet strict criteria for sustainability we love, that we think you’ll love too!
1. Christy Dawn
Dreamy dress brand Christy Dawn does not disappoint with their romantic bridal collection! Each piece is more swoon-worthy than the next.
Their three sustainable bridal gowns are made from regenerative silk charmeuse —sourced through BOMBYX, an innovative silk producer using best practices — and colored in a beautiful pearl silk with non-toxic dyes. Each dress is ethically cut and sewn by makers in Los Angeles earning living wages, as with the rest of Christy Dawn’s collections.
The Britta Dress and Fitzgerald Dress are 1920s inspired while the Athena Dress is a more modern (but equally romantic) option. All of these dresses are made-to-order with an estimated timeline of 4 weeks.
Conscious Qualities: Regenerative silk and organic non-toxic dyes, ethically made-to-order in Los Angeles
Price Range: $2,500 – $3,000
Size Range: XS – XL
2. Pure Magnolia
Blending the traditional with the modern, Pure Magnolia designs classic-inspired sustainable wedding dresses with contemporary touches. And each dress is made in their Canadian studio by seamstresses earning fair wages from eco-fabrics, such as organic cotton and hemp silk.
The brand sources recycled fabrics whenever possible as well, and recycles their scrap fabric through FABCYCLE.
Conscious Qualities: Eco-friendly fabrics, locally and fairly made, recycles scrap fabrics
Price Range: $845 – $3,300 CAD
Size Range: 0 – 28
3. Lost in Paris
Lost in Paris crafts each of their creatively designed bohemian-inspired gowns ethically in their Sydney, Australia studio. Unconventional yet undeniably striking, Lost in Paris’ dresses are made from vintage lace and cotton.
Investing in a dress from Lost in Paris is seamless — the brand offers at-home sample try-ons, offers train and sleeve adjustments on several styles, ships their dresses worldwide for free, and even accepts returns. Oh, and, if one of their ready-made sizes doesn’t work for you, you can get a dress designed to your measurements.
Conscious Qualities: Made-to-order model, uses vintage lace, locally made
Price Range: $950 – $3900 AUD
Size Range: XXS – XXL + custom sizing options
For More Slow Fashion Content:
4. Wear Your Love
Wear Your Love creates feminine, effortless dresses in their Northern California studio that are — in contrast to the majority of wedding dresses on the market — actually comfortable! The brand’s free-spirited designs are made with soft, earth-minded fabrics like organic cotton and each dress is made to order for each bride to their exact measurements.
There are also customizations available for each eco-friendly wedding dress such as train or no train, skirt or sleeve linings, back coverage, skirt style, and more.
Conscious Qualities: Eco-friendly fabrics, made-to-order model, locally and transparently made
Price Range: $680 – $1,700
Size Range: N/A; dresses are made to your measurements
5. Larimeloom
Based in Reggio Emilia, Italy, Larimeloom crafts exceptional custom-made dresses by hand in their atelier. The brand creates comfortable minimalist dresses from durable natural fabrics and colors them with natural or non-toxic dyes.
Larimeloom has also implemented zero waste design techniques, cutting their patterns strategically in order to minimize fabric waste.
Conscious Qualities: Made-to-order model, zero-waste designs, natural fabrics and dyes
Price Range: 650€ – 2,650€
Size Range: XS – XL
6. Sister Organics
Sourcing quality earth-friendly natural fabrics like organic hemp and cotton, Sister Organics creates classic, eco-friendly wedding dresses for UK-based brides.
Each dress is made to order in England, so you can select a pre-defined size, customize the length of a size, or get an entirely different dress made for your measurements.
Conscious Qualities: Eco-friendly fabrics, made-to-order model
Price Range: £125 – £390
Size Range: XXS – XXL + custom sizing
7. Indiebride London
Indiebride’s vintage-inspired sustainable wedding dresses are delicate and romantic yet free-spirited, offering a unique collection for the bride that wants to skip the conventional wedding gown and choose a piece that fits their individual style.
The brand’s conscious wedding dresses are handmade in London using majority natural fibers and can be altered or customized to your specifications.
Conscious Qualities: Made-to-order model, uses many natural fabrics, locally made
Price Range: £1,200 – £1,700
Size Range: 8 – 16 (UK sizes)
More Resources For Your Eco Wedding:
10 Secondhand Wedding Dress Sites for the Eco Bride
7 Ethical Lab-Grown Diamond Engagement and Wedding Rings
17 Brands with Conscious Dresses (great options for bridesmaid dresses in here!)
The post 7 Best Sustainable Wedding Dresses for Your Special Day appeared first on Conscious Life & Style.
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