Here’s a confession…

Despite the fact that a lot of my friends think that my ‘anti primark’ stance is due to some sort ridiculous form of snobbishness, or the fact that I’m scared of crowds… The truth is, I simply do not trust cheap fashion.

I am not anti the high street, well most of it anyway, I am not anti Topshop (I mostly love Topshop), Zara, or Mango etc. I am anti all those other shops, the ones like Primark, the ones that somehow can afford to sell you a pair of jeans for £5, and still make a profit.

How on earth is that possible?

Though my knowledge of unethical fashion, and the working conditions of the people who make these clothes is limited to the information I have looked for, and found on the internet, I know enough to come to my own conclusion that anything dirt cheap for no reason, must have not been made ethically.

Having said that, I do also know that a lot of the high end designers have also been known to practice unethical fashion, but, I imagine they can’t be as bad as those who promise you high fashion for pennies.

The BBC recently launched an online fashion magazine called Thread. Thread is said to cut to the heart of what “ethical fashion” means, covering a range of issues from the environmental footprint of clothing manufacture, to the impact of the fashion industry on human and animal rights and why the choices we make when shopping for clothes make a real difference.
The designer Katherine Hamnett says “Thread is great because ethical fashion promises to be the next big thing and not just a passing fad. Young people are really interested in these issues.”

BBC Three is also showing a program called Blood Sweat and T Shirts, it is about six young fashion addicts who experience life as factory workers in India, making clothes for the British high street. In this four-part series, the six work in the mills of India’s cotton belt and stitch clothes in cramped back rooms, sleeping next to their sewing machine. Watch to see how it changes their attitudes to cut-price clothing.

Some of my favourite multibrand ethical clothing shops include:
Organic Boutique
Adili
Devidoll
Bourgeois Boheme
People Tree

Here are some ethical fashion picks I am dying to get my hands on:

ONE: Denim dress from Organic Boutique.
TWO: Birds Shirt by Kuyichi available at Adili.
THREE: High waisted trousers by Fin, available at Adili.

Random information:
The name of this site “Righteous Style” was chosen because of my initial need to start a website about ethical fashion. I chose not to, due to conflicting commitments and the amount of time I knew it would take to educate myself about all I needed to know about the issue. Ironically, I recently discovered a websited called “Righteous (re)Style” which is a personal blog that mainly focusses on ethical fashion, and a girls attempts to live a sustainable life.

Main image, quotes and information from the BBC THREAD website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/thread/

Find out more information about ethical fashion online at the Ethical Fashion Forum.