Wear No Evil Book Review, Part I

Happy Friday! This has been such a long week... I was teaching a dance camp in the morning with young children and I forgot how hard it is to keep up with kids, even for just a few hours. At the end of last year, my Spotify top songs were all Kidz Bop and Disney because I spent so many hours working at the studio (and playing the same songs over and over. Moana anyone?) Even though I only spent one week this summer doing that job, I am so ready for a nice weekend of relaxation AND heading into my birthday week next week!

For today's post, I wanted to chat about a book I recently read called Wear No Evil, which is about aligning sustainability and ethics with good fashion sense. I wasn't sure that I was going to love this book from the start, but I was overall impressed with the guidelines that Greta Eagan (who is also a blogger, by the way!) laid out for choosing pieces that make you look and feel good.

Her method consists of 16 factors that make a garment ethical or not. They are listed below:

1. Natural and Low-Impact Dyeing: What Color Is It?
2. Natural Fibers: What's It Made Of?
3. Organic: How Is It Grown?
4. Fair Trade: Who Makes It?
5. Recycled and Upcycled: Was It Ever Something Else?
6. Local: Was It Made Nearby?
7. Social: What Does It Stand For?
8. Zero Waste: What Was Left Behind?
9. Slow Fashion: How Much Thought Was Put Into It?
10. Vegan: Is It Animal Friendly?
11. Water Footprint: How Thirsty Is It?
12. Transparency: How Much Are They Telling Me?
13. Cradle to Cradle: What Happens When I'm Done With It?
14. Convertible: What Else Can It Do?
15. Secondhand: Who Else Wore It?
16. Style: How Sweet Is It?

Basically, what Eagan suggests is that everyone choose 4-5 factors that are most important and judge all future purchases based on those factors. Also, Factor #16, Style, is a MUST. As Eagan says, "if a piece of fashion is produced in a more sustainable or ethical way but falls short on the fashion front, it cannot be a real contender as a wardrobe builder." 

Every time you make a future purchase, pull out the mental list of factors that are important to you and assess the garment, the brand, etc. Some of this will be obvious but sometimes this will require research behind-the-scenes. Style is the number one factor that must be met, but if you can "fill the bases" with other factors, that item will be an even better addition to your closet. The goal is to always meet at least two of your 4-5 chosen factors, but the more criteria checked off, the better.

This methodology is so simple and easy to follow, that I feel a lot less pressure about trying to add sustainability into my life now. Of course, the book goes into way more detail about what things mean, providing workbook pages, and offering outfit suggestions with real items from real sustainable brands. She even touches on beauty and menswear for the gentlemen in our lives. Next week, I'll be sharing which factors are most important to me, and I hope to start incorporating more sustainable options in my fashion and beauty posts.