Ethical Designer Spotlight: Vivienne Westwood

"People should not consume without thought, buying up stuff all the time. Buy less and make it last; if you love something, wear it all the time. Find things that suit you." - Vivienne Westwood

We stumbled onto this quote recently and loved it - it fits in really well with our ethical vibe: reduce, reuse, reconsider! We thought we'd do a little spotlight on Vivienne Westwood, since our views seem to align so well! :)

Now, unless you've been living under a fashion rock, you are likely to know who Vivienne Westwood is. Previously recognisable by her shock of red hair (she's recently shaved it off) and her inimitable style, she's been working the scene for decades and most people know of her, her collections and her spunk. 

Source: Autumn/Winter 2014-15 Campaign featuring Vivienne Westwood and photographed by Juergen Teller

What you might not know, however, is that she's doing her best to combat climate change and to shift the view on the world of fast fashion. For Dame Westwood less is more, so in celebration of that we've picked some our favourites from her stunning bridal range (well, that plus the fact that they're just beautiful!). Not everyone will want to spend a lot of money on their wedding dress, but if you do have the budget you could definitely do worse than picking up a Vivienne Westwood gown...

Couture long ball tie dress with embroidered lace, feathers & crystals

The detailing on this dress is sutble, but we can imagine that up close it's breathtaking. We're also fans of the champagne colour - a nice detour from the traditional white or ivory.

Ready-To-Wear long ball tie dress

Vivienne Westwood also has a ready-to-wear bridal collection - we love the demure nature of this dress, with the lacy shoulder caps keeping things elegant and timeless.

Couture princess dress

If you're looking for something with more of a statement style, then this princess dress is worth considering- even with the dipped hem and layers of tulle it still manages to look elegant, not over done.

Made-To-Order long cocotte dress in printed ivory organza with sequins

We just can't resist sequins, so this made to order cocotte dress is right up our street. Can you imagine how it would sparkle under a spotlight? Heaven! :)

Ready-To-Wear long glazing dress

Lastly, this one shoulder ready-to-wear dress is understated but still with that trademark Westwood glamour. 

Aren't they beautiful? If you're still not sold on a designer dress, just remember - if Vivienne was good enough for Carrie Bradshaw... ;)

Ethical Alternatives to Angora

There's sadly been a lot in the news recently about the terrible conditions that angora bunnies are kept in, after PETA released a shocking video with some very upsetting footage. 

A lot of major stores - including Topshop, H&M, Marks & Spencers and ASOS - have suspended usage of angora following the reveal, which we think is great news.

Angora ethics probably aren't something that most people know much about unless they've done the research, so we thought we'd put together a list of ethical alternatives to that angora sweater, to help you make better, more well informed choices!

Cashmere

First up, this beautiful cashmere shawl from Brora (£169) is made using ethically sourced cashmere from Inner Mongolia, hand spun in Scotland. Be sure to make sure that you're cashmere is ethically sourced if you do decide to splash out on it - if it doesn't say then best not to purchase it!

Cashmere is expensive for a reason - it usually takes 2-3 goats to make one jumper, plus those lovely goats can only survive in six regions in the world. If your cashmere jumper is cheap that should ring alarm bells!

The Guardian put together a really useful list of ethical cashmere firms, so check it out if you really want to purchase some.

Angora

Believe it or not it is possible to buy ethically sourced, humane angora items. Ambika Conroy has a whole collection of 'friendly fur' items (including this gorgeous beret $265) which she makes using fur from her own angora bunnies.

Aren't they cute?! :)

Synthetic Fibres

The easiest way to make sure that your products haven't inadvertently caused any animals distress is to steer clear of anything made from animal fur at all. These super cute Flufflies socks from Sea Salt Cornwall (£6.50) are made using 30% recycled polyester - also perfect for people with allergies to fur!

Lambswool

A lot of people might not think of wool as something that needs ethical protection - it's so prevalent in our society and in our stores that it's easy to forget that it comes from an animal! 

If you're looking to make sure those sheep are well looked after before they're sheared, then try one of these beautiful fairisle designed blankets (£69.99) from The Wool Room via Not on the High Street. 

They raise funds for RABI (the charity for farmers and farming families) and are also strong supporters of the Campaign for Wool - who aim to help wool growers get a fairer price for their fleeces.

-

It's not always easy to know where your products come from - shops don't often make it very clear which makes it difficult for consumers to be able to make ethical choices. It can also feel a little overwhelming trying to make sure that the people you're buying from aren't owned by a larger company that may have a different ethos or ethical practices.

It is possible to shop ethically and affordably tho, so don't give up! Hopefully this post will have given you a few ideas on where you can spend your money and receive ethical fashion goods in return. 

With a little bit of research and education you can find a wealth of independent and international retailers who are happy and proud to display their ethical status, making it a cinch for you to shop ethical-dilemma free.

Perfect! :)

Love

Sarah 

A Round Up of Ethical Fashion Blogs

Hola Ears & Whiskers readers! :) It's Sarah here, the newest member to the E&W blog. For my first post I thought I'd start simple and do a round up of the sewing and ethical fashion blogs that I like to read - after all, everyone loves to find new blogs to read, right? :)

First up: Ms Wanda's Wardrobe. Billed as 'the home of sustainable and ethical fashion', Ms Wanda's Wardrobe also has a directory of ethical brands and blogs, which is really helpful when trying to find ethical brands to shop from :)

Second we have What Katie Sews. Katie originally blogged her sewing explorations on her main blog, What Katie Does but started to enjoy it so much (sew much? Ha) that she started a new blog just for her projects. Her progress is amazing - it's so fun to see what she's going to tackle next :)

Next up is Style Is... (who also wrote a post on ethical fashion inspiration, I'll be checking out those other links pronto!). This blog is super varied and always has something interesting to read on it :)

Emma writes Adore, reflect, sustain. She actually ran some ethical fashion workshops this year, which is pretty cool. Emma doesn't just write about ethical fashion, she covered the whole spectrum of ethical living. She has an ethical brand directory as well - useful!

Jana writes Clothes, Camera & Coffee - a fashion blog mostly focused on second hand and vintage clothing - my kind of blog! :)

E&W is based in Cardiff (you can pop it and see Sophie at Hubbard's Cupboard in the Castle Arcade if you're ever in town, just don't blame me if you end up buying something, the shop is full of irresistible bargains!) and so is our next blogger, Elena from Seamless. Not just a seamstress, Elena has gone one step further and pledged not to buy any new clothes this year - eek!

& finally we can't really mention ethical clothing without talking about Who Made Your Pants - an ethical duo making the world better, one ethical pair of pants at  a time. While they don't have a blog (yet! Fancy starting one, girls?) they do have a Twitter account so follow them there if you fancy :)

I'm always keen to follow new blogs (especially fashion blogs!) so if you have any favourites then pop them in the comments and I'll take a look! :) Who have I missed?

Love

Sarah x

Eva...

My re-designed version of Eva! 

Eva is a chiffon and lace dress

The delicate lace bodice has capped sleeves and a full button opening down the back. 

Eye lash fringed edging is hand sewn to the neck line, sleeves and at the waist. 

There is a silk wrap around waist tie made to match the color of the under dress.

The chiffon is gathered and full at the bottom to give an elegant floating skirt.

Pair Eva with our champagne under dress for a vintage feel.

A throwback to the beginning…

After a wonderful, inspirational chat with Catarina of Mrs.Crafting today, it’s a little post about our original inspiration point for E&W!

Having just started researching and guest posting for Something Kinda Cute’s new wedding blog (here) I loved the idea of Catarina giving us a helping hand with ours too! Seeing as I constantly complain about the lack of time and inspiration!

After our little chat about what we’d like the blog to revolve around - ethical fashion seemed to be the biggest presence. After all, that is what we’re all about! It got us thinking about a recent project that was done to discover people’s emotional attachments to their garments. Don’t pretend like you don’t have one - whether it’s a lucky pair of socks or your mum’s cardy, we’ve all got a special item of clothing that we just can’t seem to shake off.

The great thing about making clothes from old items (be it curtains or garments) is that they all come with a story…

When we first started E&W, piecing together bits and bobs to create our dresses we gave them their own identities. It started as a bit of a fun, but as it turned out people really loved reading about where their dresses story!

So, a throwback to the old it is! We’re heading back to our roots, letting you all know the stories behind your dresses, where they’ve come from so that hopefully you can add to it!

We’d love to hear about all your stories and attachments to your clothes!

These lovely girls were at Hubbard’s Cupboard today, handing out leaflets and sweeties to everyone - dressed in the very best of E&W handmade!

Buttons & Buckles

We’ve been having a sort of our beautiful buttons and have mounted each couple onto very suiting cards! Busy sewing them all on watching Mo Farah do the Mobot and Jess Ennis storm the heptathlon! What a great day for GB! 3rd on the medal board!!

Another round of dip dye?

We ♥ denim shorts!

A Grand Day Out…

Today was the last stall we’ve had lined up for the rest of the year! (devastating news I know) but on the plus side, we’re setting up online! Some consolation?

We turned up this morning after a 5am start from the E&W household and a 3 hour drive not knowing what to expect and apart from the weather (which did hold off) everything was amazing! Powis Castle is a beautiful place and we had a prime spot staring at it all day…

We took everything we could find from home and the shop that was red, white or blue to make a lovely rail of clothes and I finished off the Jubilympics dress just in time!

Yet another busy day ahead for the up-cycling combo… We have a dip dyed sheet ready to be transformed into King and Queen capes for the quirky Cowbridge Hub procession and then our celebrations are over.

Hope everyone’s had/has an amazing Jubilee long weekend , we saw some street parties on the way back that looked amazing but my camera had run out of battery :(

E&W

♥ 

Lots of love 

Jubilee outfits for me an my mum!

I’m wearing a beautiful 1950s lace Jean Allen dress (that fits me to a T)

and I’ve made my mum a fitted sweetheart neck ‘wiggle’ dress from recycled materials! Vintage up-dos and fur stoles all round!

Jubilympics

As much as I am not a fan of either, I do love a good old Union jack print and as we all know with the Jubilee and Olympics fast approaching, its a major must have this year on ANYTHING! So… I made a dress.

It’s a very ‘unique’ dress, in style and fabrics, only half re-cycled and it’s a work in progress (as per usual) but it will all be finished (and revealed) at the Diamond Jubilee Festival this Monday in Powis Castle - its definitely one to attend if you love your vintage! We’re hoping to get ourselves a generator to power the sewing machine so you can get your shorts ‘Union Jacked’ while you wait!

We are also offering it in store, and at our second Jubilee event in Cowbridge on the 5th June. Join in and get upcycling!

Its a Jubilympic Jubilation, celebrating all that is British!

Pins and Needles

Don’t you just love a good productive week?!

We’ve pulled together our shorts collection for in store tomorrow! We’re also half way through the online shop… its going to look amazing!

Not only have we done all of this, there’s also 3 more dresses from the famous 50’s collection completed and ready for sale from tomorrow - the rest just need zips!

This is my favourite one - the candy stripe! Its had to have a wash thanks to a very unhelpful mutt…

We’ve got some more ideas to make some completely unique amazing shorts - all will be revealed soon! We can also up-cycle yours, bring them to us in store and get a new makeover for Summer!!

So here’s to another good week, lots to see and do tomorrow with the Book Festival in Cowbridge - we will be in the shop so come say hi!

E&W 

♥

Hello Summer!

The new shorts collection for E&W summer!In store from tomorrow, limited stock available online soon! 

Project Jubilee…

The time is now! We’re currently under a little move about of the workshop due to my sister moving home and reclaiming her room for a month - so there's no better time to sort out the projects for the next few weeks!

I want to create the 3 main looks of the 50's to showcase at the Jubilee festival and to me that means the dress, the coat and the suit, all with a cute 50's eco look.

The box coat. The Chanel suit. The classic full skirted dress.

These 3 pieces, for me, exude the 1950’s look and although there are a lot more dresses that have the classic 1950’s look, I wanted to choose something a little different that I can experiment with…

Then to go with all of this we’re expanding the Famous 50’s collection - a whole load of circle skirts, little tops and cutsie dresses. All eco, all vintage, all amazing! And these are the fabrics…

And for once Ill show it as I’m going along - from start to finish.. (promise)

I’m also (finally) in the middle of uploading all our wedding dress stock to our web page! So if you want to see our amazing wedding dress collection from 1940’s to 1960’s, handmade and up-cycled gowns check out the website here

So much to do! With some time to settle in and do it! Bring on the week ahead.

Lots to catch up on…

It's been yet another busy and productive weekend for us at E&W!

We started the weekend early Friday when we attended the Cowbridge Fashion Week Fringe, organised by Cowbridge Hub to help some amazingly creative pupils completely re-design a blank dress by adding just about anything!

We set up our little workshop ready for the task ahead and sorted out all the fabrics ready for the girls to pick and choose what they wanted!

We had 90 minutes in total to upcycle 5 dresses fit for a fashion convoy on Cowbridge High Street, and although it completely took the wind out of us and I don’t think we stopped to breathe - it was very much appreciated and the girls looked fab!

Then today we trolled up to Bath, for the BathVA Vintage Sunday and although we sat in the car at 7am in -1 waiting for the windscreen to defrost, we eventually warmed up after endless amounts of tea and buscuits and thoroughly enjoyed our day!

Not only did we get lots of amazing feedback off some lovely people, we met the face of the Ethical Fashion Blog, got some brilliant future contacts and we also got a lot of interest in what we do and how we do it, so all in all its been a good day!

What a brilliant weekend we’ve had and this week is going to be as busy as ever! With a wedding dress to get cracking with, some bouquets and button holes for a lovely customer and a complete re-vamp of the work room but not before we get everything back to the shop ready to sell!

Please keep all of your feedback coming - good or bad we love to hear your thoughts!

Lots of love

E&W ♥