Ethical Clothing

This year I decided it really was time to do something about my clothing.   While I've never been a big shopper and have always been happy to shop in charity shops, most of the clothes in my wardrobe are not particularly ethical.  My goal is to have a smaller, ethically minded wardrobe full of great items.  So, these are the steps I'm taking to get me there.

Getting rid of items I no longer wear or love.
While I'm not intending on getting rid of every item in my wardrobe that doesn't fit with my long term goal straight away (I just couldn't afford it) I am getting rid of items that I don't use.  I had already been pulling out clothes over the last few years, but at the beginning of this year I went through every item and pulled out anything that I really didn't wear anymore, didn't fit me or that didn't suit my style.  Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of the expectedly large pile but I did decide to take them down to my local H&M to try out their conscious fashion campaign and got a nice litte £5 voucher.
Now my wardrobe is still bigger than I want it to be but at least it's now made up of items I actually wear.  I've given myself an idea of how many of each clothing type I want (which I will adapt if I find it doesn't fit what I need) and once an item is worn out or I no longer get any use out of it I'll just get rid it, only replacing it once I've reached my goal number. 

Do I really need it.
This is something I'm going to use throughout my purchases and that is to ask myself if I really need the item before I buy.  I've already started doing this and to begin with it was more difficult than I was expecting to resist the urge to buy when I liked the look of something.  But I'm now finding that just by telling myself I don't actually need it is enough to put me off the item.

Buy second hand first.

To me the simplest way of ethical shopping is to buy second hand. The products are already out there so no extra resources are needed and it's usually easy to find a style you're looking for.  I especially like vintage clothing so this type of shopping is right up my alley. Charity shops are my usual go to when it comes to this type of shopping but ebay also brings out some good finds.  This has been especially useful when buying the dresses that I wear to work.

Ethical and new.

For items I can't find second hand I've been looking for ethical alternatives. On my list of things to look for are organic, recycled, fair trade and non sweat shop, or preferably a combination of those.  This one is a little bit more difficult for me as my bodyshape means I usually have to try before I buy and I can only really get the ethical brands on line.  I have been buying from the H&M conscious brand but I definitely want to drive a little deeper into this and get much more etical products. I'll just have to bite the bullet and order items I know I might have to send back.