Why Should You Care About the Sustainability of Your Tailoring?

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The clothes industry has witnessed a great deal of changes over the past few generations. In the mid twentieth century, the availability of ready to wear clothes rocketed. More and more people began to buy their clothing ‘off the peg’ rather than going to a tailor, dressmaker or making their own.

What are the downsides of this? 

Though this certainly made fashion more accessible for all, it did also have some signifiant downsides. In order to make ready to wear clothing so affordable, many companies shifted their manufacturing overseas where labour was significantly cheaper. 

This meant that many of the items of clothing on offer on the high street were created by exploiting workers in other parts of the world. It also meant that some more traditional British clothing companies found it hard to survive. 

How important is the sustainability of your tailoring?

There is a growing awareness about the downsides of fast fashion. Not only do we need to consider how workers have been treated, it’s also important to think about the quality of the clothes themselves. 

Inexpensive clothing may seem like an easy way to bring new trends into your wardrobe, but poor quality clothes tend to be cycled through very quickly. Clothes that end up being thrown out after a season or two not only represent poor return on investment… they also have a very negative impact on the environment. 

What can you do to make more sustainable choices? 

In today’s world it’s more important than ever for us to be conscious about how we’re treating the world around us. We can do this in three key ways; 

  1. By choosing to buy clothing that we know has been made without exploitation
  2. By choosing to buy clothing that is good quality and made to last
  3. By choosing to buy clothing that fits well, suits us and that we’ll want to keep wearing for years to come

You can read more about the environmental costs of fast fashion here.