Over the past week I’ve written or edited over ten posts without my laptop. Over the past year of freelancing, I’ve typed more words than I could ever count on here. Of course, while working away the other night, I spilt just a little bit of coffee in the exact wrong place (that area on a MacBook between the monitor and keyboard—be verrrry careful), and it lit up brightly, a rainbow screen of death, before shutting off entirely. I got it repaired thankfully, but didn’t have it for a week. I had to pay a fortune to bring it back to life and it was quite the setback. So that’s part of the reason for my extra slow blogging as of late. But I’m grateful I was able to get it working again and that I had a backup computer to use for the interim, despite my troubles clicking away on an old keyboard. It’s the little things.
Anyway, happy #FashionRevolution Day! I wasn’t going to pop in until next week (I have a few DIYs and home décor posts waiting to be drafted), but this day is so important that I wanted to spread the word. If you don’t follow @Fash_Rev on Instagram, you should. Fashion Revolution Day is about demanding transparency in our favorite fashion brands’ policies, processes, and business practices. Given that if found, make. has such a focus on independent, ethical businesses, including quite a bit of fashion, it hits home. Over the past couple years I’ve moved away from fast fashion—which has been possible really due to the rise of recycled clothing and secondhand stores (which I’ve always purchased most of my clothing from), because like most of us, I have a fast fashion budget—and began to research the story behind the product. The Gap tee in the photo is an example of things we do everyday without thinking of the implications—I was in need of some basics, I wandered in to Gap (understandable, I love their style), and left with an armful of tees from the clearance rack. It’s one of those things that once you know about—once you know the awful conditions under which a garment or product is brought to you, whether through disregard toward the environment or the people working in the factories or both—you cannot unlearn it. People buy from big chain stores and fast fashion brands (much of this type of cheaply made clothing, I’ve noticed, is sold in smaller boutiques too, but make no mistake, if they’re not telling you where it’s coming from, it’s likely coming from the same place as the big brands) without consideration. I can’t do that anymore—it’s been engrained in me ever since finding Etsy and realizing the implications that a place like Etsy has on the economy. Long story short(ish), I follow a lot of fantastic ethical brands on Instagram, and months ago when I found out what the Fashion Revolution was, I was sold.
Now today is the day! Annually on April 24th, people from 71 countries and counting will expose the tags inside their clothing and ask the brands behind them, #whomademyclothes? By doing so, we’re not only raising awareness but encouraging brands to take responsibility. You can wear your fave ethically made pieces as a way to highlight a brands’ good practices or ask a brand whose manufacturing information you can’t find, where their items come from. The thing is, brands themselves often don’t know the answer; they outsource the whole supply chain process. But just like Roxane Gay says of gender in Bad Feminist, Make the effort and make the effort and make the effort until you no longer need to, until we don’t need to keep having this conversation.
Posting my photo with this hashtag and looking at all the photos other supporters posted made me realize how much I want to continue seeking and highlighting those making a positive difference with what they create and sell.
Okay, that’s it for now! I hoped to wish everyone a happy Earth Day on Wednesday, as it is one my favorite days of the year. Hopefully you got to see my eco-friendly roundup on The Blog Market.
Have you heard of the Fashion Revolution? And how was your Earth Day?
Have a great weekend!
