My second post for National Vegetarian Week is looking at another angle of vegetarianism which is being vegan. Vegans can't eat the same things that vegetarians eat but additionally this includes anything that comes from animals at all, such as eggs and milk. But also this extents to more than just food and involves everything they use. This can be more challenging as we often don't look at what our items are made of and can require extra work at first. However, it's rewarding knowing that what you have bought hasn't caused any suffering to animals.
After almost a year of being vegetarian I feel ready to take the next step and try convert to being a vegan but I'm taking it slowly. It would be far too difficult to go cold turkey and suddenly cut out everything one day and hope you stick to it. By cutting out one thing at a time at your own pace, even if it takes weeks, months or even years, all these new little habits will start building up and before you know it it will all be second nature.
I've been looking more and more into vegan clothes and find it can be slightly more challenging than just searching the key word 'vegan' and finding the perfect shop with all vegan things so you don't need to think about it. Sadly, it seems we do need to think about it. Apart from
Free People and
Anthropologie where this search idea is possible, most other places don't give you this option and there's certainly no fashion forward exclusively vegan fashion brand (that I know of, please comment if you know one as I'd love to check it out).
Free People and Antropologie certainly aren't in the 'high-street' price bracket and although it is nice to see that high end brands are being humane conscious, it should not be considered just a lifestyle choice for the rich. Instead, be your own detectives and before you buy anything check the label.
Materials to avoid:
- Leather
- Suede
- Silk
- Down/Feathers
- Wool (this can come from goats, sheep, camels and rabbits). This includes:
- Angora
- Cashmere
- Pashmina
- Mohair
- Camel hair
- Shearling
- Fur
Alternatives:
Instead, try to buy products made from these materials:
- Imitation leather. This includes:
- Pleather
- Synthetic leather
- Waxed-cotton
- Imitation silk such as:
- Polyester
- Nylon
- Rayon
- Tussah
- Ceiba Tree
- Silk-cotton tree filaments
- Milkweed seed-pod fibers
- Tencel
- Wood pulp
- Substitutes for down include:
- Polyester fill
- Synthetic down
- Down-alternative
- Hypo-allergenic synthetic down
- Instead of wool:
- Polyester fleece
- Cotton flannel
- Acrylic
- Orlon
- Synthetic wool
- Synthetic fleece
- Any other wool fabric preceded by "synthetic"
- Rather than fur look for:
- Faux fur
- Polyester
- Acrylic
- Mod-acrylic
As you can see, the list of all the things you CAN use is a lot longer than the list of the materials you should endeavour to avoid. A lot of the time, you probably won't even be able to tell the difference either.
I really want to highlight too that being vegan doesn't mean being a totally hippie or dressing drably! You can still look fabulous and sexy and honestly, people won't know that what you're wearing is made any differently.
Here's some of my favourite vegan pieces I've found on polyvore to show that vegan clothes can still look incredible and you don't have to change your fashion style to be animal friendly.
What's your thoughts on vegan fashion? Do you think about where your clothes are coming from?
xoxo
