Hi guys, I find myself talking a lot about sustainable fashion but I need to practise what I preach more. I find it so easy to make simple changes to shop more ethically (pre-lockdown). It’s easy to choose an independent restaurant over a chain for example. With fashion, I still struggle. It’s becoming increasingly easier to find exciting clothes from smaller brands. While so many big brands are greenwashing its hard to really know who to trust. Is it just a smaller business getting their stock from a bigger un-ethical supplier. Sustainable fashion doesn’t mean beige drab ‘hippy’ clothes anymore but rightly so if the business owner is designing it herself or even making each piece by hand if you want 100% transparency it will be out of most of our budgets.
I am on a mission at the moment to find as many businesses where you can get garments for under £100 but it’s still a lot more ethical, you know who designed it or where the fabric came from.
Dress – Pink Lemons Boutique (AD-gifted)| Sandals – New Look | Watch – Olivia Burton | Sunglasses – Topshop | Earings – Bloma
What’s even better is if the brand is Cornish too. Pink Lemons Boutique is a Cornish brand owned by husband and wife Leah and Paul. The brand started from a love of Cornish lifestyle and Indian fashion upcycling recycled Saris into beautiful prairie dresses. Now the brand is growing and they’ve just launched the Check collection for this summer. Leah designed the collection herself and works with a small manufacturer in India who give a fair wage and support the local community.
Gingham prints have been massive the last few summers a trend I’ve become more and more obsessed with. It used to be very hard to achieve the look well without going too picnic rug. This range masters that so well. I think this shade of blue is a perfect take on the trend. Works wonders for me, one reason I’ve found the trend hard to master is the colours mainly red don’t suit me but this blue is just perfect. The print beautifully encapsulates COrnish lifestyle dressing in a modern way.
I think no spring summer wardrobe is complete without a pinafore dress, especially in the UK. There are endless ways to style it (watch my IGTV styling video here for more inspiration). A t-shirt over the top and wear the dress as a skirt or a shirt with a big collar underneath to tick of two of this season’s biggest trends in one look. With British weather being temperamental its a good style I find for slightly chillier sunny days too. Plus it has pockets, so really what more can you want from a dress?
Especially during this lockdown heatwave, the traditional ‘house dress’ is making its way back, all we want now is a loose, comfy dress that still looks fabulous.
Have you found a perfect sustainable dress for this lockdown summer yet?
Love Charlotte xxx
Love this post!! Your dress is so pretty, I love anything sustainable and try and shop as sustainably I can but I complete get what you mean about not knowing who to trust! If I do want something I do sometimes check Depop/Ebay but trying to support small businesses too if I want something new xx