It’s November…somehow?! And thoughts of Christmas slowly infiltrate!

It’s always my hope to help you buy better when you need to! Whether you have no idea what shopping more responsibly looks like, or whether you’re a pro but just need some ideas- let this be for you! 

Can you believe it! November is here which means…. here are my ethical and sustainable gift guides for 2022.

It’s always my hope to help you buy better when you need to! Whether you have no idea what shopping more responsibly looks like, or whether you’re a pro but just need some ideas- let this be for you!

This year more than ever before, I’ve been really challenged in my buying. Buying responsibly is great, buying secondhand…better, but, do I even need to buy at all? There’s lots of questions being asked and conversations being had. Let’s buy things to be loved and well used, passed on even. Let’s dig into a companies ethics before we commit, let’s linger rather than buy on impulse, let’s support the small guy, the start-up and minority-owned businesses.

I thought it was about time to get into one blog, a list of places where we shop the most. I have tried out countless places, looking for what works best for us as a family and these are our most loved. They will most probably change and evolve over time. I am always looking for ways to cut down our spending yet find things that don’t come at a cost to people and the planet.

Thanks so much for joining me for my latest series. I really hope you found it useful. I thought to make things more accessible I would post a list of the brands I featured based on cost. This of course is tricky to do especially when there is a range of items available, and what is affordable is so different for each person, so these brands aren’t fixed in these categories it’s just to give you a general idea and to help you shop more consciously when you need to. Please let me know any other ethical brands you know of and value, I would love this to become a growing list!

We made it! You made it! It’s the final day of the series- day 9!

Today we’re taking a look at activewear- let’s just say i’m not that active right now (but…in anticipation of a local netball team starting up wahoo!) and had never worn a pair of leggings unless I was doing sports until after I had Moses and a friend gave me a pair of girlfriend collective leggings and wow- life changed.

It’s day 7 of the series. We are almost at the end! Are you discovering new brands you didn’t know about? Today we are looking at ethical and sustainable knitwear. Again, this has been a favourite because I absolutely LOVE a knit and always welcome autumn with open arms with a chance to layer up with the maximum amount of knitted items.

Welcome to day 6 of the series where we’re taking a look at jumpsuits and dresses that are sustainably and fairly made! Wow! I had SO much fun creating this incredible collection of brands below- I am an absolute sucker for a jumpsuit and apparently now dresses after drooling over how many incredible options there are available. I am in love. I’ve always been a pretty play it safe clothing-wise kinda gal. My wardrobe has always been small and because I spent a lot of time travelling and in need of easy clothing the majority of what I have owned was black, or very dark colours.

Welcome to day 5 of the blog series…YES, i’m still here! Today we are focusing on outwear, something I am so glad to say we won’t (hopefully) be needing this bank holiday weekend. Outerwear is probably the weakest part of my wardrobe and one that I will have to most probably look into for next winter as I noticed this year my vintage jacket is a little small and my Everlane jacket (a company I rated when I bought it and since have had some concerns over) is in need of some repair/some way of making it a bit warmer. With that in mind, I will be looking in sales of some of the brands below to make it work for our budget, second-hand and saving up and selling on what I already have to find something that works!

Welcome to day 2 of the series where we’re taking a look at footwear! Incase you missed it, the aim of the series is to introduce you to a bunch of brands doing great things for the people and the planet and to empower you to buy well when you need to. My priority in shopping is always that those who have made my clothing have been paid fairly so you will see that all of these brands mentioned here, and across the whole series mention explicitly on their website or in answer to my questioning on emails or Instagram that they pay a fair wage, a living wage or above. Feel free to dig into these brands yourself though and ask them the questions you need to ask that allow you to feel comfortable in buying.

‘How do I know if a company or brand is ethical?’ is one of the questions I find myself answering the most in my private messages. That question often comes hand in hand with other questions about the cost of ethical clothing, where ethical clothing brands can be found and where on earth to start with creating an ethical wardrobe. While I don’t have all the answers- (I’m very much figuring things out as I go) I wanted to create a space on here for those questions to be answered, looked over, and to hand you a bunch of resources to make buying ethically and in turn buying well so much more accessible.

I LOVE giving gifts, anyone with me? 15 years ago you could find me in a queue at Woolies or WH Smith excitedly buying my mum something with the ten pounds i’d saved up from my weekend job- probably something plastic and probably something completely unnecessary- and six years ago I would have had no problem ordering all my gifts from Amazon with no idea how or where they were made or what harm I could be causing in the places I chose to invest my money. A few years later and with the exposure to some hardcore facts and realities, and mainly with a strong conviction to know those making my products were paid fairly, I chose to start shopping differently even though I didn't really have a clue where to go or where to start.