Beautiful Things

I love beautiful things, especially clothes, and I enjoy shopping for them. I like the process of perusing the racks for my favorite colors and running my hands over the fabric, a process that seems like a modern-day version of hunting and gathering.

Years ago, I decided to avoid polyesters in favor of all natural fabrics like cotton, thinking that I was making a more sustainable, healthier choice, as well as one that was more aesthetically pleasing. But I recently learned that cotton garments are neither sustainable nor healthy; a single garment can require up to a third of a pound of pesticide to produce. Appalled, I decided to take action—the only new clothes that I would allow myself would be those made from sustainable fibers, such as organic cotton, bamboo, soy and flax. Everything else would be vintage or gently used.

An on-line search revealed that there are a number of designers in the eco-fashion niche, with clothes that are hip, if a tad expensive (for example, a $125 T-shirt). But ordering on-line has it own costs, such as the carbon released in the delivery process, so I decided to look closer to home. After seeing the press attention to eco-fashion designers and noticing that both my local natural foods stores have a small selection of eco-clothes, I took my quest to the next level and headed for the closest mall.

I started at Lucy’s. I asked the clerk if any of the clothes were made from organic cotton, bamboo, or other sustainable fibers. She didn’t know, but asked her co-worker, who said they didn’t have anything with organic cotton, but led me to the black Tonga skirt, a long, knit garment that was made from bamboo. Fun but I have enough black in my closet. At the neighboring retailer, Lucky Brand Dungarees, the clerk answered my question by saying that most of the items were made from cotton. But he didn’t know about organic cotton. I went on to Eileen Fisher, which had two styles of dresses and two styles of tops in three different colors, six or so choices in total, made from organic cotton. None of them were my style, but I was pleased to find something nonetheless. Maybe there was hope. I went on to TSE, MaxMara, and United Colors of Bennetton, but no luck. Feeling rather discouraged, I headed for Bloomingdales. In the juniors department, the clerk I asked turned to her co-worker and asked if she knew anything about organic cotton. Her answer was “Yes, but not here.” However, as I was walking out of the department store, I sped a selection of socks in several different styles and earth colors. Each had a sustainable fiber—soy, bamboo, organic cotton, flax (a.k.a. linen)-- prominently labeled, while the other fibers (such as nylon) were listed in tiny print on the back.

My informal survey was hardly comprehensive. I know that Sephora carries a couple of lines of organic skin care products, including the locally-produecd Juicy Beauty. It is entirely possible that I missed a handful of other garments made from sustainable fibers. It is even possible that in another year or two there will be a Linda Loudermilk boutique or an eco-fashion emporium at this upscale shopping center. Although I applaud retailers who offer eco-chic clothes, solving the environmental problems generated by the garment industry is not as easy as replacing all current merchandise with garments made from organic cotton, silk, bamboo, soy, or seaweed. In other words, we can’t shop our way out.

Remember the three ecological R’s: reduce, re-use, recycle?. Most people I’ve met in the socially-progressive Bay Area are dutiful to the point of being religious about recycling. Every week they rinse out their wine bottles, soda cans, and plastic containers and put them, along with newspapers, junk mail, and used office paper, into big blue bins and haul them down to the curb. Some of them also re-use items, such as bringing their own bags to the grocery store or writing down their shopping list on an old envelope rather than a new sheet of paper.

But what about reduction? How many of us are reducing our consumption? Of course, if you’ve been laid-off or are retired or home on maternity leave, you might reduce your consumption to save money. Or you might just switch to shopping at less-expensive retailer, say, Ross instead of Nordstrom. If you were aware of the cost, not just in dollars and cents, but in natural resources extracted, in child labor and other inhumane practices, in toxic chemicals inhaled by farmers and added to the global total, and in increased landfill volume when the garment is no longer trendy or its looks have faded, would you shop differently?

Of course, there are times when you need a new garment due to changing circumstances and you might not be able to find a suitable used one. In this situation, we can turn for inspiration to those arbiters of chic, the French, who think of shopping in terms of coup de couer, to fall madly in love, with a piece of clothing. If you can let the cacophony fade, tune out those voices created by advertisers and marketers which insist that your life will not be complete without this product, and listen closely to your own heart’s desire, buying only those garments that speak to you, then you will have a closet filled not with false or fair-weather acquaintances, but with steadfast friends who, in exchange for a little care at laundry time and the occasional trip to the tailor for updating, will provide you with years of comfort and beauty.