Ethical Clothing Directory

[November 2015 UPDATE: I'm removing inactive stores and adding some new ones! Check back soon for a fully-updated list!] When I made this post about a month ago about switching to ethical fashion, I soon realised that there wasn't really anywhere left for me to shop. It seemed like hardly any retailers I knew and loved had taken the steps to ensure that their workers were being paid fairly and had good working conditions. And a quick google search for "ethical clothing" only yielded either super-extra-organic-made-in-the-depths-of-the-himalyas-enchanted-by-the-breath-of-a-fairy sack-style clothing (always in "earthy tones" too for some reason), or beautiful indie dresses selling for $500 a pop. I was starting to think that the only way for me to get "new" clothes would be visiting second-hand stores and making my own stuff (which is still never a bad idea, don't get me wrong). But never fear - there are stores out there! They're just pretty hard to find! For the past month or so, I've been putting together a little ethical clothing directory of established stores (inspired by Ron's own curation) with clothes which actually suit my style and my budget. I've basically sorted out a place to shop for everything that I might need in my wardrobe - and all are around the same prices of clothing that I used to buy from retail stores, anyway. I hope that those of you who are wanting to buy more ethically, but also don't have unlimited money, will find this very useful. Note: if you are having trouble viewing this post or are on a phone/tablet, click here.  Clothing   Undergarments & Swimwear Jewellery and Accessories Sunglasses Bags Fair trade bags (as in satchel and messenger bags, not just handmade tote bags of which there are a plethora on etsy), were a difficult item to find. Hearts seems to be the best option for bags: And while not particularly cheap, Cambridge Co. and Zatchels are ethically produced and made to last: Boojiboo Boutique and JH Fabric Creations from Etsy do cute handmade messenger bags that aren't particularly pricy: And this store makes bags out of recycled fire hoses: Tights and Socks Birkshire and We Love Colours are both made in the USA as well. Footwear I hope that someone out there has found this list useful! The hardest thing about letting go of those retail stores, especially if you're a poor student or young worker, is that the pricing is sometimes too attractive to walk by. Well, now there's no excuses. If you think of any stores I should add to this list, let me know below! Bloglovin' | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

Golden Hour Hamburgers / Time Perception

Pinafore and shirt are thrifted, socks are from Tutuanna, necklace is from Clear It and shoes are from Japan.  Photos are by Ana Andrés. I love golden hour! It is without doubt the best time for taking photos because you can't go wrong with golden hour lighting - shadows are super soft and the light is warm and nostalgic. And these photos ended up kinda romantic too - if you look very closely you can see two separate couples in their wedding gear in the background (nawww). These photos finally prompted me to slightly adjust my blog layout so that I can have bigger photos! From now on, all my photos will be of this size (and please ignore the inconsistency between this and the last post!) A science paper that came out in the last week has utterly fascinated me, and I needed to share it with you all. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you will know that I am also fascinated by perception and have talked in depth about colour perception in particular. Your perception can be totally different both to another person's, and to other animal's perception of the world. But I've usually only focused on visual perception. Today, I'm going to talk about time perception. You've probably been in this situation before - endlessly trying to swat at a mosquito or a fly, but it always moves away too quickly for your hand to reach it. Well, a new study shows that small creatures probably perceive time as much slower than we do. That noisy flying insect starts seeing your hand moving slooooowly towards it, yawns, has a scratch, then leisurely moves out of the way. For that insect, you might as well be moving though honey. Image source Smaller animals, and animals with faster metabolisms, have their visual system send updates to their brain more frequently than larger, slower animals like humans, elephants and turtles. In order to discover this relationship, researchers from Ireland and the U.K. correlated body size and metabolism with the ability to recognise flashes of light per second. A light that appears constant to us (such as televisions, which are actually a series of images rather than a constant stream), will appear like a strobing light to animals such as dogs and flies, as TVs refresh more slowly than the visual systems of these animals do. And just as colour perception could theoretically vary from person to person, it has left me wondering if time perception can too (children certainly seem to get bored a lot more quickly than adults - could this in part be due to them perceiving the world more slowly?) A lot to think about! Read more here, and have a great day, Bloglovin' | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

Giant Snails & Floral Yellows

top is DIY (from a thrifted dress), skirt it thrifted, shoes are from Japan, socks are from Tutuanna and hat is c/o Wholesale. Photos are by Ana Andrés. Sometimes, Sydney can be pretty cool. These snails have been popping up all around the city as part of an art project, and while I was taking photos with Ana Andrés the other day we decided they'd be a good prop for one of my outfits! I made this top from a frumpy floral dress that I got from a second hand store in Japan - I couldn't go past the sunflower fabric. In fact, I made it into both a cropped top and a skirt, and it's much more flattering than it was in its previous form! I'm really getting into making my own clothes again - now I've stopped constantly buying new things, it's really forced me to start tackling my pile of "to do" clothing! I was hoping that some kind of giant snail like the one above actually existed (or had existed, though all I could find when looking up giant snail fossils was places to buy them...). However, the actual largest living snail in the world is called the Australian trumpet snail (and I'll let you google them yourselves if you want to see pictures of them, because they're pretty freaky and I learnt my lesson after people freaked about me posting about underwater spiders). Here's a picture of a shell which once contained a trumpet snail, so you can imagine how huge they are. Anyway, these snails can weigh up to 18kg, and be almost one metre long. Apparently they live in Australia - though I've never seen one haha! They exist right up at the top of Australia, in the oceans (they are in fact a sea snail), and also live in some parts of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. These snails are actually about the same size as the pet snails in Spongebob, so now I can't help but imagine that they all look like Gary. I hope that you're all having a most wonderful day! P.s. have a read of the swimsuit styling article I did for Birdee magazine! Bloglovin' | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr