Fashion's Conscience

Ok so you might know if you've popped in to Art & Writing, that I'm working on my final project for art. I'm planning to create a magazine article, possibly a poster and leaflet and I've chosen an article from this months British Elle: can fashion have a conscience?

So do you ladies have an discussion or input in this?

I'm not really talking about fur and stuff, I'm talking those "I'm not a plastic bag" bags and slogan tshirts and all this sort of "Green/Eco-Friendly" stuff.

Soooooo....I dont have the article on me to pose things from but any discussion on this would be helpful to me.

I guess like...do these products interest you? How could they be made interesting to you? What would you/do you know about these products? Things like that, that might with work on leaflets and posters and stuff.

I'm not a big fan really, I feel that most of the people who own those tees do absolutely nothing to help the earth...
"Daddy took me to the mall in our Hummer to get this 'go green' shirt."

I like them. I have a Care Bears tee that says our future is green and i love it! I think any reminder to the people of earth about global warming and stuff is helpful.

fashion and beauty CAN have a consience. its very obvious that being "green" has turned into a fad, because you'll see someone carrying the "Im not a plastic bag" tote throwing a can on the ground [for the record, I prefer the "Im not a smug twat" totes].

HOWEVER. some fashion/cosmetic brands have really busted ass to be more environmentally friendly. physican's formula, for example - no parabens, talc, or any bad things in their makeup, and some of their containers are either recyclable or biodegradable. cargo also has a lipstick container made of flower seeds, so when you use it up, you can plant it. there are also clothing lines that use only natural dyes and things of the sort.

I think that with the RIGHT PEOPLE behind it...fashion and beauty can have a conscience. but as long as people keep trying to cash in and commericalize on it, the whole thing will continue to lose its meaning. that's the only thing that would keep me AWAY from "green" stuff.

I don't buy into it either.
I feel it's more of a trend.

Like the whole "Let's help people with AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa" A lot of people where like "Oh no the poor SSA people if I buy this shirt it will help save them beacuse AIDS is the biggest problem over there." Which isn't true at all.

Another example would be veganism or vegetarianism it was pretty trendy for a while as well.

Anyways, if I felt that the majority of the people buying that stuff and talking about it where really trying to make the world better I would buy the stuff and support it.

I know there are people who do take this stuff seriously, which is great.

But sadly for now I feel that going green and Eco-Friendly stuff is just a trend.


I hope that was helpful.

Dang puffy you type faster then me.

:/

sorry, once I get goin, I just can't stop! its nice to know that someone else has the same views as me. I'm so goddamn tired of hearing the phrase "GO GREEN YAWL." they're killing my favourite colour.

but isnt fashion all about trends?
so turning stuff like that into a trend...it still gets it noticed right?

Kiki wrote:

but isnt fashion all about trends?
so turning stuff like that into a trend...it still gets it noticed right?

Yes it gets noticed but not in a positive light. Or thats what I think.
It becomes annoying and over done then people stop caring and move onto the next trend.
It's great to have fashion that has a positive message behide it.
But if you're just using that message to sell more product it becomes ... well annoying.

oh yes, that's true. trends do get noticed; thats why they're trends. but when its overdone? that's when I get annoyed. when your mum or teachers run around talking about being "green," then yeah, its just way overdone. but now, you don't even need a t-shirt to tell you to go green - there's blogs, television, whole forums and websites [have you seen Yahoo! Green?] dedicated to the fact. its almost as if fashion was a little late in the game cashing in on it!

I don't have a problem with it, I just wish the people spending $15 a shirt on the stuff would put it towards something that will actually benefit the environment. Go buy a recycling bin to remind yourself, and take it in once a week. Make donations of old clothes, instead of throwing them away. Make an effort, don't just wear the banner of the people making the effort. Only a portion of those proceeds go towards helping the environment, as far as I can recall. Great and wonderful, but how does a dollar off a $20 tote really benefit the environment? I don't see nearly enough of those totes to encourage me to think that they're doing any good, because they're bought just to be seen, so the person can feel good about themselves for 'helping.' It's almost as if most of them are afraid to get their hands dirty actually doing anything, and it irks me. I'm not saying it's everyone, I'm not even saying I'm right about a percentage of the people buying the stuff.. but I won't support those items, because I know where to send my time and money to actually make the difference, instead of pretending.

I wear my t-shirt because i happens to do two things- include my beloved care bears and include a slogan I actually support. It's better than something saying lame about being whorish.

I have a friend who has a tote saying "I'm so over plastic bags".
I love it.

It reminds us everyday that we can do things to help! And the fact that it's a trend makes it all the more better, because there's more reminders and more involvement.

I like the idea of all this stuff, but the Anya Hindmarch bag got absolutely slaughtered because it was actually made in sweatshops. Not cool.

I haven't read through all this because i don't have the time (sowwy!) byut my personal opinion is anything that's going to help the neviroment a tiny bit must be good? like Yeah, the Anya Hinmarch bags are slated and fashion victimy, but she brought the idea of reusable bags to the spotlight didn't she?

Admittedly the money for them was disgusting (£400 on ebay? not cool) but things like it really bring ideas into the spotlight, personally i'm happy it's a fad, like all the (red) stuff, they've only just started it over here (i nearly bought the converse(red) the other day lol) but at least it's getting more people into the idea! even if they buy it just for fashion sakes, some of the money is still going to a cause and like the bag thing, they're still not using them because heaven forbid someone saw them with one.

I honestly do think it's the best way around things, in the Uk recently there's been loads of hoo-ha about buying bottled water when it's on tap and the bottles can be reused - now when i go out i'm not gonna lie, i buy bottled water ebcause often it's all i want, and i don't carry it with me, but the other day i actualyl got a littl eparanoid that the cashier was glaring at me for buying it!! now i'm too scared to. hahahaha, but it's helped the cause hasn't it? now i fill up a bottle of my own before i go out!

And what puffy said about it being overdone, i personally think that this is probably a good thing, and i can't see it going away for a fair while.

anyway. i now cannot think of much more to say but i'm sure i'll be able to, me and my bff have like hour long debates on this sorta stuff.

I don't have much to say other that that I agree with most of you. I think its great that a lot of companies have been switching around the makeup of their products to be more eco-friendly. With "organic" or "biodegradable" on the labels, they'll sell more products because being green is one of the most popular trends at the moment. I worry that saving the environment will just be another trend to go in and out faster than say, ugg boots and the people that only care a little will forget all about saving the earth.

However, those girls who wear their "omgz, recycle!" totes are advertising a good cause, and there's nothing wrong with that

I guess fashion can bring attention to a good thing (I mean, we only get THIS earth, we better be nice to it). But I hate seeing people wearing t-shirts advertising greenness, and then tossing their paper Starbucks cup on the ground, or not even bothering to recycle it.

I only started recycling when I moved to the house. It's a PAIN to try to recycle when you live in an apartment (the supers always put the recycling bins as far away from everything as they can). But now, I recycle EVERYTHING. We have maybe a 1/4 of a bag of garbage every week. I'd compost too, but the city hasn't brought me my green bin, even though I ordered it a year ago.

I freecycle clothing and stuff that I don't use anymore---that way it not only doesn't go to a dump, but a person who NEEDS it gets it for free.

I've used reusable totes for many, many, many, many years now. It's a habit I picked up from my parents.

I don't do these things because any tote says to, I've done them because I always have. I was raised in an environmentally conscious home.

It's NICE that the fashion and beauty industries are getting involved, but it's sad that it takes that for people to care about the Earth.

I actually think that this kind of thinking is really catching on. I work at a indipendant clothing store that also rents spaces to other designers, and I've noticed quite a trend lately of people who make recycled clothing. We have one girl who made her entire fall line out of recycled sweaters (Paper people, if you wanna look it up) and they sold like crazy! We also have a girl who makes bags out of old ties and she doesn't concionsly feel right even buying new buttons and purse handles for them.

alot of what i learn about in designing is about being eco-friendly, and maybe that's just my school. yes, it is trendy to be green, but it's also quickly becoming necessary. (for the record, i don't equate trendy with anything negative, I used it to describe the current situation in fashion, architectural and product design)

Let me think how to say what I wanna say in english and i'll post my answer asap

sweeet.
i just found this article on the ecologist website.

http://www.theecologist.org/archive_detail.asp?content_id=1149

im gonna try to use it in my work.

i also had an idea for something...like yknow those anti-fur campaigns and stuff? i was thinking some cute little drawings with fig leaves and stuff would be cute.

didnt really know where else to put this:

Spoiler: