Fair Trade When Buying Clothes

Hi
since the topic of sewing is getting a bit more attention in the forum right now, I’d like to ask a question about it.

Experienced sewers can make their own clothes—T-shirts, dresses, skirts, or even pants. So they know exactly under what working conditions their clothes are made.
As an experienced sewer, do you ever think about the working conditions under which the fabric you use is produced?

Even as an experienced sewer (m/f), you might not be able to—or want to—make all your own clothes. It’s also a matter of time.
When you go shopping, do you look for Fair Trade options, or do you focus more on the price?

My question in this context is: if you have children who are growing quickly and you’re perhaps very busy with work, you won’t be able to avoid buying clothes. In the media, we keep hearing and reading about working conditions in textile factories.
Muetzekatze, as far as I can remember, wrote something about this topic in a thread somewhere. Unfortunately, I can’t remember which thread it was.

I know this is a topic that could potentially spark controversy.

Specifically, I’d like to know:
What criteria are important to you when buying clothes?
Personal taste has to be satisfied—that’s logical, of course. In theory. Would you be willing to compromise on style if a comparable garment—one you don’t really like as much—is significantly cheaper or perhaps even comes from Fair Trade sources?

How widespread are Fair Trade clothing items, anyway?

Can this be compared to the organic trend in food?
As far as I recall, organic food was still somewhat of a novelty several years ago and wasn’t available everywhere, but a lot has changed since then. Nowadays, almost every supermarket offers at least some organic food items.
And as far as I can tell, people are buying organic food.

Could it be that Fair Trade in the clothing sector will follow a similar trajectory to organic food? That in a few years, it will be completely normal to buy Fair Trade, and that Fair Trade products will be available almost everywhere? That there will be greater awareness of it, or that consumers will become more attuned to it?

I have to admit that I haven’t looked into Fair Trade as thoroughly as I have with organic food. But I do think this is an important topic.

Would you perhaps share your thoughts or experiences regarding Fair Trade with me?

Sunny regards
Sidney

Hi Sidney,
that’s a really important topic you’re bringing up.
But off the top of my head, I wouldn’t know how to recognize Fair Trade clothing.
I did mention that somewhere once, yes. But I don’t remember right now which thread that might have been either.
I kind of like the comparison between organic food and fair trade clothing. I’m not sure if it’ll really work out that way, though.
I tend to worry more about what’s in my food than about what might be in my clothes or where they come from.
I just always figure that you can wash clothes, and you’re supposed to wash them again before wearing them for the first time after buying them to get rid of any possible production residues.
So, I know there are these quality seals for clothing. Whether that’s ecologically sound or whatever, I don’t exactly remember what’s usually written on them—I don’t have any here right now. But I once read that these quality labels—there are several of them—don’t really have a common standard.

Well, anyway, I think this is a topic we should know more about because it’s important.
I think it’s great that you’re bringing this up here.

It’s terrible to read about the conditions under which a well-known clothing company has its fabrics and garments produced in India. I, for one, would never buy from them again—I hope you know who I’m talking about; it starts with an H. For my baby clothes and stuffed animals, for example, I make sure to use organic cotton dyed according to Oeko-Tex Standard 100. Babies put these things in their mouths. Whether you can trust the certification—I have no idea.

http://www.fairalpaka.de/

I recently came across this great shop that offers fair-trade wool, which is also said to be incredibly soft and has been recommended for baby clothes according to the Oeko-Tex 100 standard. Plus, the colors are beautiful—in short, I’ve heard a lot of good things about the shop and plan to place my next yarn order there. If anyone’s interested, I can let you know how it goes once I get the yarn ;-)
 

If you wash the handmade item several times before giving it to the baby or putting it on them, doesn’t that “stuff” wash out, or is it that stubborn?

I haven’t seen any stores around here that offer that yet.
But I buy very little, and when I do, it has to fit and appeal to me—no ifs, ands, or buts.
I used to sew a lot myself, but now I rarely do. However, I knit all my sweaters and, so far, four skirts.

@Sternen-Welt
So how has it been going with Fairtrade wool so far?

https://www.facebook.com/Fairalpaka/photos/a.250100941766339.49734.214307572012343/686667651442997/?type=1
I (unfortunately) still need to knit up some of the yarn I have at home before I’m allowed to order more, Sidney Sullivan. That’s why I haven’t ordered anything yet. Also, while browsing the shop, I saw that some colors are out of stock and probably won’t be available again until after the next shearing in the summer. So it’ll probably take a little while longer.

But apparently they had a booth at Creativa, I gathered, and anyone who likes the Facebook post now can win the yarn. I’ve included the link above (I hope that’s okay; otherwise feel free to delete it, Josefa)

Best regards, Nici

 

@Nici
the link is fine. :-)

Hey everyone,
I recently read something about this topic in an article on the American fashion industry.
According to the article, what matters most to most people is still that what they buy looks good. So they’re drawn to the design.
But people are definitely asking more questions. Like: “Where does what I’m buying come from? Who made it, what raw materials were used to produce it, and does it contain harmful chemicals?” “What are the working conditions for the people involved in production?”

And I couldn’t agree more! Especially because of the scandals already mentioned, it really gets me thinking… That’s exactly how I felt at first when it came to food. Now I mostly buy organic and local (which really isn’t always easy in America. It just depends on where you live! But things are getting better.)

I think it’s important for Fair Trade to shed its somewhat outdated image. When I was younger, Fair Trade was still considered uncool—it was something only weird, nerdy kids wore :D
But now even the stars and starlets here are wearing it, which has given the whole movement an incredible boost.

I’m definitely happy about this development and hope it continues in such a positive direction!

Well, I think it could be similar to organic food, as was already mentioned above.
Organic food has become so trendy that you can find it in every supermarket. And it’s also become a status symbol.
Just a few years ago, organic was something only eco-freaks were into. Not anymore.
Maybe fair-trade clothing will eventually be the same way.
Demand drives the market. If more customers show interest in fair trade, suppliers will (have to) respond.

Hi
I found an interesting article on the topic of fair trade.
Maybe you’d like to check it out—I think it contains a lot of good information.
http://www.stylebook.de/fashion/Greenpeace-Studie-Jugendliche-kaufen-keine-oeko-Mode-626298.html
It doesn’t really surprise me that teenagers prioritize different things than adults when buying clothes. Clothing that signals membership in a particular group is very important at that age.
Of course, the clothes also have to be trendy.

It would be great if fair-trade clothing eventually became trendy as well—or if, as they get older or become adults, young people develop an interest in where the clothes they buy come from.
The major clothing chains have apparently already started to change their approach.
What do you think of this article?

Sunny regards
Sidney

I couldn’t agree more with this article, Sidney!
I’ve observed the same thing and have to admit that I didn’t behave any differently as a teenager. But as I learned more and more about what’s produced, how it’s made, and under what conditions, I was shocked (and still am) and have gradually changed my habits.
Now I make a lot of things myself, repair things, and either sell old items or donate them if they’re still in good condition.
There simply needs to be more awareness of this!
 

Hi everyone
I have a question. This has nothing to do with fair trade clothing, but rather with fair trade food and organic/eco-friendly food. I’ve been thinking for a while now about signing up for one of those vegetable box subscriptions. They’re offered in a lot of places these days. You can choose what you want—just fruit, just vegetables, or a mix. And you can also order potatoes and other items separately. You can have it delivered once a week, every two weeks, or once a month.
I’ve just been thinking for a while now about whether this is something for me or not. It would be convenient, even though it’s naturally more expensive than non-organic food—but that makes sense, of course. And since we have this thread here, it crossed my mind again. Unfortunately, I don’t have an organic grocery store right around the corner where I could just pop in without having to sign up for a vegetable box subscription. At the supermarket or discount store here, they don’t always have organic items consistently in stock, so you just have to take whatever’s available. Organic quality is especially important to me when it comes to potatoes and apples. And bananas, too—"regular" bananas don’t taste like anything, and neither do regular tomatoes, for that matter. If anyone wants to share their thoughts on this—about vegetable boxes and that sort of thing—I’d really appreciate it.

Back to the topic of this thread:
I don’t think teenagers are really the target audience for fair trade. At that age, you’re not really aware of that kind of thing. Hopefully, that will come with time. I mean, at that age, you’re first figuring out what style of clothing suits you, what you like, what’s trendy, and what you wear to fit in—or not—with a certain group.
Although, I just realized that I’ve automatically separated fair trade from trendy stuff. But I think that’s outdated by now. If even the big fashion chains are switching to fair trade, then there are definitely trendy items in there too. I guess I fell for my own prejudice—fair trade = eco-friendly = boring—but I think that’s not really the case anymore, is it?

well, I don’t know if anyone is interested
but since I wrote about the vegetable box here a few weeks ago
I wanted to tell you what came of it
after a few minor teething problems
finding a place to leave the box and all that stuff, it’s working well now
they’re very sturdy boxes that it gets delivered in
I think the fruit and vegetables are super tasty
only the mushrooms that were in the box the other day were really not my thing at all.
I just thought I’d try them, but they simply weren’t for me. The quality was great and all, but they just weren’t my thing.
but I think the radishes are great; you can slice them thinly and put them on bread and butter.
they were really big and not at all so “half-ruined” like the ones in the store unfortunately often are.
and with the organic carrots, the difference from the “normal” carrots from the supermarket is really huge.
And with the lettuce too. The green lettuce from the supermarket is basically more or less a kind of tasteless limp stuff; the one from the organic eco box actually tastes like something.
Taste-wise, you really notice a huge difference with everything compared to the stuff from the supermarket.
The organic cheese is great too, but unfortunately very expensive, at least I think so. I haven’t tried organic meat or organic sausage; I’m not much of a meat eater. I’m not vegetarian, but I don’t necessarily need meat.
I’ve somehow gotten used to my weekly vegetable and fruit box now
and I don’t want to do without it anymore either
so, exactly, you have to put a few euros more on the table for organic/eco fruit and vegetables, but you do get it delivered and the taste is great.

now I’ll stop with the off-topic, because this thread isn’t actually about organic/eco vegetables, but about organic clothing or Fair Trade. I always get mixed up with organic/eco/Fair Trade.

Did you hear about that campaign where vending machines were set up where you could buy T-shirts for two euros, but then had to watch a film about it where the working conditions for the cheap shirts were shocking? I still have the link somewhere, but somehow I can’t find it right now.
if I still find it, I’ll put it in here. or has maybe one of you read about it or seen it?

Hello
I think if you want to raise good awareness of fair trade among children and teenagers, you have to get them used to it from an early age. It simply has to be a value that parents also model, without drifting too much into the eco corner. Simply raising good awareness of it would be very beneficial. If we as a generation think about it now and act accordingly, the generations after us will approach this topic differently from the very beginning.

@muetzekatze
what do you mean by this 2-euro cheap T-shirt campaign? Somehow I missed that.
About the vegetable box: Personally, I have doubts that I could regularly use up the corresponding amount of fruit and vegetables every week. You may know how it is: sometimes there are days when pizza and chips are more in demand than fruit and vegetables, even though of course I know how important a healthy diet is. If the expensive organic fruit and vegetables then go bad in the fridge, that’s not the point either.

Back to the topic of T-shirts again
With T-shirts for 2 euros, no one can really assume that these shirts were produced under fair conditions.
What price do you personally feel is appropriate for a T-shirt?
At what price would you assume that it was produced fairly? Without further information about the manufacturer, can you even judge that by the price at all?

Let’s say, for example, a very plain white basic shirt without a brand label and without a print. What would you be willing to pay for it? Hopefully the question isn’t too intrusive; I’m just interested in where people set their pain threshold. Of course I can understand that you might pay more for standout items of clothing. But at the moment it would be important to me simply to know what you feel is “normal” or “affordable,” especially for basics.
Thank you to everyone who would like to take part. I hope it doesn’t annoy anyone when I ask things like this.

Lately I’ve been flipping through fashion magazines more often, or reading them online, and white T-shirts are currently very popular, if the fashion magazines are to be believed. The prices for them vary a lot, however, depending on which label is selling the shirt. I’m not sure whether, with basic shirts, you can equate a high price with high quality, or conversely cheap with “no good.” I assume that Crazypatterns would not want disparaging remarks about manufacturers to be made here. So it would probably be better if we discussed this more generally, without specifically going into particular brands or manufacturers.

Sunny greetings
Sidney

I try to buy all my clothes from fair-trade production. At first, it was hard to convince my kids of that too — I agree with you there. But by now, fair-trade fashion is hip and modern too. Another solution that many people overlook is second-hand shops. This also promotes sustainability by reusing clothing instead of supporting "fast fashion." You can find more information here if you like ********

Link removed, Mod.

@Anja Eierberg,
welcome to our forum.
Please don’t include promotional links in your posts. Links belong in your signature, which you can access via Account --> Settings or on your profile page.
If you contribute here regularly with factual and informative posts, you can certainly generate a lot of attention for your website, but please don’t include links in your posts. Thank you.

@Moderator 
Thanks for the information, I’ll follow that.

For me, personal taste also comes first. But I’ve also looked into the various Fairtrade labels. They differ quite a bit from one another.

@anja-eierberg I had the same problem with my kids. But now they like the Armed Angels or Grundstoff stores so much that all I have to do is give them gift cards for Christmas or birthdays. They take care of the shopping themselves :)

This topic is also very important to me. When it comes to wool, I make sure that no animals are mistreated, and I always “buy” my clothes secondhand. That way, the toxic dyes have already been washed out.

Waschbär also sells good clothes, but not everyone can afford them—including me.

I have another good place to get wool. It’s the Finkhof, near Ravensburg. Just add .de to the end. ;-)

Thanks for the interesting links!

Best regards, Monika