Indigenous: A Boho Look that Changes Fashion

Knit Pullover | my Mom's      Belt | Becoming      EZ Skirt | c/o Indigenous

First of all, can anyone shout out last day of classes? I can! Although, now that my school year is over, I am filling every minute of my day with activities... so I am really as busy as I was last week during finals week. On the plus side, I am happy to bring you this video and editorial I have been waiting to put together since right before finals!

I was first introduced to ethical fair trade fashion through Listen Girlfriends' current blog series on Critical Fashion.  Let's just say I'm currently obsessed with her blog because it teaches me about where my fashion comes from! The editor Nadia, who I interviewed for Bloggers Against Social Injustice, does an A-MA-ZING job teaching about ethical fashion, and uncovering the problems in the fashion industry while offering suggestions to change these problems.  Feeling a bit like hugging a tree with my organic clothing and eco fashion, but hey, the trees need some love, right? :p

I am so excited because I have my first piece of ethical (fair trade, offering fair salaries and regulations) and sustainable (eco-friendly) fashion!  As I mentioned before, I am transitioning into ethical, sustainable fashion. My first piece is the EZ Skirt from Indigenous. They wanted to send me something for my Truman Interview because I was looking for ethical interview attire. I was able to select this EZ Skirt  for the summertime! Great birthday gift too, which was this week!  When I first got it in the mail, I wasn't sure what it meant to me that this skirt was ethical and sustainable. 

 I realized that my fashion is MY STORY, and now, a part of my story are the stories of those that worked to make this skirt, from the organic cotton farmers, to the women's group that hand made this skirt.  It is important that I take a stand to have fashion that does not uphold slave labor or unsafe worker standards, because I am a sister to all those other people in the world.  What if it was my sister that died in one of the two factory fires in Bangladesh? 112 deaths the first fire, and 8 deaths the second fire.. and Nike garments were found, by the way!

I would like to encourage you to be conscious about not only the style, but the ethics of your clothing. If you are going to make an online purchase, go to the bottom of their site and check their:

California Transparency Act / CA Notice

Corporate Social Responsibility

Supply Chain Transparency

Accountability Standards

Garment Information

Ethical Practices

and from there, see if they state that they ensure absence of slavery, child labor, fair wages, labor compliance, third party inspections/certification.  Based on my experience, if they don't have that link, they probably ignore problems in the industry, don't care, or do nothing to combat slavery within their company.  You can even contact the retailer about the background of the specific item you want to buy, I just did that last week!  If they care about their workers, and not just money, they will let you know.

So stay lovely, enjoy summer, for all you on vacation, exercise, and do something for someone to show that 

you love them...weather it is big or small.  I am so excited about having time to go for nice joggs outside and create events to connect with the community!

Thank you Indigenous for being fashion #WorthWearing!

On my way out to summer wonder,

Christine