Ethical clothing?

[Jez]

This may not be strictly on topic, but have you noticed how hard it is to buy a pair of jeans that weren't made in a sweatshop? All the ethical online shops do loads of stuff for women, but ethical men can only go around in t-shirts and maybe a pair of Nepalese pajama bottoms...

Does anyone have any ideas? Given that I already shop from charity shops a fair bit...

[Shirley]

lol... I have to say that I haven't noticed that many blokes walking around in just t-shirts... I probably would notice that!!

Have a look at Howies but be sure to have an application form for a second mortgage with you.....

[Altica]

Have you tried making your own clothes at home? You probably wouldn't be able to do jeans the same as bought ones, but you could probably do some trousers out of a hard-wearing fabric for work etc.

[Andy Hamilton]

Depends what you mean by ethical? Non sweatshop or non sweatshop and organic.

You could try looking at hemp clothing or this one

orfair trade organic jeans

On the high street it is a lot more difficult, I personally would be reluctant to buy from some of the bigger named shops that are starting to get a conscious as they have invested so much money in the past in non fair traded clothing.

[Jez]

Thanks for the ideas...

I'm not too fussed about organic...

Sadly I don't have the time or skill to make my own clothes.

I am happy to buy from high street stores as long as I know that the clothing has been fairly traded that I am buying. I don't really agree with you, Andy. High street stores are driven by market forces, and an important way to effect change is to show stores that if they do change behaviour, people will spend money with them. I know their motives are still the same and their past behaviour hasn't changed, but those are moral abstracts I'm not interested in.

Thanks for the links though, that's just what I was after...

[the.fee.fairy]

www.happyhippy.com - they have some nice clothes.

Try Nomads and Namaste, they have fair trade clothes.

Making your own is a really good idea. Fabric isn't too expensive and you only need a basic knowledge of how a sewing machine goes.
The best way os to get a pair of trousers that you wear and that are the right length etc. Fold them so that the legs are together, and you have the side seams on the legs together. Pull out he crotch - make that too small and you're stuffed!!.

now either use really cheap material, draw round the trouser shape and keep as a material template, or you can lay the trousers on the piece of material you want to use to make new ones and cut round them 4 times.

Now, if you want a zip, sew it onto the front of the crotch. Then follow from the bottom of the zip right the way around. Now sew down the outside of the legs, and then down the inside.

When i make my trousers, i always make the legs too lon, then i stand on a stool and get someone to cut them off at the toes - that gives enough room for hemming.

So, hem the bottoms of the trousers, and then the waistband. If you want belt loops, then add them afterwards.

I make my own trousers a lot because i have stupidly long legs, but you can apply the basic principles to making tops as well.

I usually use 2m of material to make a pair of trousers, it takes 4-5m to make a pair of pyjamas.

If you want to make a lot of clothes, then it might be worth going to a charity shop and picking up some basic trousers, some basic tops etc, then taking them apart to see how they're constructed.

Good luck!

[the.fee.fairy]

actually, one of the most ethical ways to buy clothes is charity shops. And you get some realy nice stuff sometimes too!

[pskipper]

I took a worn out pair of trousers apart to make a pattern!

[the.fee.fairy]

that's an excellent way, and how i made a lot of my shirts - but you have to take the measurements in a few mm, otherwise when they stretch, they're too big!!