Check out this fun idea to find eco-friendly formal wear for your teen.
I was just talking with my mother in law, who is in her 80s, and she was saying how we live in this disposable society these days. We don't expect things to last very long, because they don’t.Things aren’t made as well. But also, we just want new all the time.
Fast fashion is really the peak of this and it is impacting our whole ecosystem. Fast, single use fashion is a main source of microplastics in our oceans and air and impacting our health.
We are buying more and we're throwing more away and it's really not good for the environment or for us.
The reason why I wanted to talk about this topic today is because there's been some formal events happening in my life that reminded me, formal wear is one of the most important and easiest ways to not participate in fast fashion and to choose green and sustainable methods with the clothes that you wear.
Why start with formal wear?
Formal wear is almost always made with synthetics, like nylon or polyester. Have you ever seen a cotton prom dress? These types of materials increase microplastics in our ecosystem when they are washed or thrown out after only being worn once, or not at all.
Once I know something like this, like how brutal fashion is on the earth, I can't unlearn it. The thought of going to a store and buying a new dress which is bad for our environment, makes me feel like a terrible human. Maybe that’s a little harsh, but I just can’t be a part of the problem when there are other options that are so easy. There are so many dresses out there that have been worn only once and they are gorgeous and in perfect condition. Why buy new when used is better?
Wedding
So my friend got married this summer, and she decided that she wanted to shop with Brides for a Cause. Instead of going to a brand new bridal shop and paying exorbitant amounts of money for a dress that is worn one time, you can shop for previously worn or sample dresses. What more eco-friendly choice is there than not buying something brand new that you're going to wear once? Plus they do amazing work as a non-profit, donating the proceeds from dress sales to various women’s charities. My friend had the most gorgeous dress at a fraction of the cost, both to her budget and the environment.
Homecoming and Prom As you may know, I have a high schooler, and she has homecoming coming up. I did not want to contribute to the problem of fast fashion and I really wanted to encourage others to be a part of the solution too. So what did I do? Hosted a styling session in my living room for my daughter and her friends. I drove to a few of my friend's houses that have older daughters with closets full of dresses that have only been worn once and I collected them all. I put them up in our living room and it was so nice being in the comfort of our own home and letting the girls choose dresses. We had such a variety of colors, sizes, and styles. And it took me maybe five texts, and an hour of driving for us to have this huge collection. I offered it up to a lot of my mom friends who have teen daughters. A lot of these girls are going to have more than one dance, so they have the option to save money. But also learn to make a smarter choice when it comes to choosing a dress. I know that having this battle with a teenager can be tough and I wasn't sure how to do it. Last year when my daughter was a freshman she borrowed a dress and she looked beautiful and perfectly 15 years old in this wonderfully sweet dress. It was so great that she was able to borrow this dress from a senior at her school and nobody remembered the dress that was worn 4 years ago. She agreed last year and when I brought it up this year, I wasn’t sure now that she's 16, she might not be as open to the idea of wearing her friend’s dress. But we talked about it, we talked about why fast fashion is a problem. We also were open to her renting a dress. If you have never heard of renting formal dresses, it's very popular. I've done it many times. I told my daughter that if these dresses don't work, then I will pay for you to rent a dress and gave her a budget of $75. In our family that seems to work really well, where I give her different choices and I explain the reasons why I have chosen to not go buy a brand new dress. She looks gorgeous in both of the dresses she chose and when we go to the event and take the pictures, I know that I'm going to feel great about the choice that we both made in deciding not to participate in fast fashion and instead to do something that makes us feel good and yet still look beautiful.
I know I'm not going to be making a huge difference in this one decision to borrow a dress instead of buying a new one for one event, but sharing it with my daughter, offering the opportunity for other girls to borrow dresses that are just gorgeous and sitting in closets and also just talking about it has a collective impact.
Another eye opening event recently that has me thinking about fast fashion is our recent trip to the Goodwill bins. “The bins” is a Goodwill outlet where instead of the clothing being hung up and priced, it's just bins that you dig through. Maybe you find a gem, and maybe you don't, and then you pay by the pound. I will say it’s not for everybody. I went recently with some friends and my 13 year old daughter because she'd heard about the bins and she wanted to go check it out. It is such an example of fast fashion and the issues of what is going on with our society when it comes to having a plethora of used clothing, and not knowing what to do with it. I've known that this is a problem. I've known that Goodwill and other thrift stores can't keep up with how much clothing they're given, and how they honestly end up throwing out a lot of this fine clothing that anyone could wear. But seeing it first hand was very eye opening and has me thinking a lot about the most sustainable fashion available.
Here’s a great article all about fast fashion and its impact. https://earth.org/fast-fashions-detrimental-effect-on-the-environment/ I’d love to know what you think about it! Find out below how to get in touch with me.
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Thanks for helping me make this planet happier and healthier one step at a time.
