Quince and Pact are super affordable from what I've seen! I recently found some pieces from Quince at the thrift, which made me so happy lol

I'd also like to mention The Good Trade. It's a website, blog, and newsletter that is all about sustainability, slow living, natural, organics, etc. They have articles on sustainable fashion! And provide links for any brands they mention!

The Good Trade

This is an article about 99 sustainable clothing brands organized by budget. They really do their research, and it's fairly recent, too! It provides what the brands are best for, sizing, and how they are sustainable.

Nudie Jeans. They are a Swedish brand that uses 100% organic cotton and do free repairs for life. They are extremely transparent, and Good On You gave them the rating "Great". Are they expensive? Yes, absolutely. You are staring down a $200+ price tag, but buying secondhand is an option too (I have seen them on thredup for as little as 9$ usd).

Without knowing where you live or your size range - I like ArmedAngels, Pact, and Known Supply. For outdoor stuff with some crossover, Astrid Wild and Alder Apparel. I also think it unfortunately takes time to find the brands you like as many of them will be quite niche and unfortunately often also have trouble staying in business.

No problem! There is also another website that can be super helpful

Good On You

This is a directory that rates the sustainability of tons of brands. It had plenty of filters to adjust to what you're looking for as well. Whether it be shirt, shoes, undergarments, etc.

Of course, it's always good to do your own research. As another comment stated, I did relook into Quince using this directory, and it wasn't rated highly. However, it's good to have the resource when deciding where to buy what and how much it'll cost!

Vegan Outfitters is my favourite! 🌱

Hi! I've been blogging about sustainable fashion for over a decade, and I shared my own list of favorite sustainable brands here: https://ecocult.com/my-favorite-sustainable-fashion-brands-from-a-decade-of-blogging/

I would say what gives me pause about the sustainable and ethical labels is having a hard time determining if those claims are factual versus just being said. And then what happens when I try to take advantage of a companies sustainability efforts.....like all those times I tried to bring in clean but no longer wearable clothes for upcycling/recycling. The hassle just never ended, I ended up pissed off, and just filled a dumpster.

Great post! Would you mind sharing brands that are both sustainable and ethical? I struggle to find those, and from what I’ve seen, most of the time they’re small and local brands, so it’s a bit harder to find them. I was able to find a couple in my home country, the only downside is that usually the clothing is very expensive… I understand that good quality and ethical clothing can’t be cheap, but at least here where I live it’s impractical for the majority of people to buy it. I can afford some, but also for me can be quite expensive :(

this is such a good breakdown! honestly didn't really think about the difference between sustainable vs ethical before but makes total sense when you explain it like that.

been trying to find brands that do both lately. stumbled across Q for Quinn when I needed new underwear and socks. they seem to check both boxes? they use organic cotton and work with family-run factories which sounds good for workers too. plus they have those GOTS certifications you mentioned. not sure if they're perfect but at least they're transparent about their stuff.

Next time you get AI to write your posts, I suggest looking into the environmental impact of using AI because it’s certainly not sustainable nor ethical.

I have some polyester clothes that wear like iron, wash well, are color fast, don’t shrink and are well over 10 years old and I still wear them.

Love the list! Would wanna add : Lucy and Yak, Armedangels, Pact, Maison Cleo, Osei Duro, Eileen Fisher

And if we're talking shoes/accessories as well: Veja, Rothys, Wills Vegan Store, RAFA, Been London, Opus Mind

Also wondering if anything questionable came out about boyish? Love their stuff and thought they were legit :(

You should absolutely add Maylyn & Co and Reformation to the list!

This is a great list!

Marine Layer, perhaps?

Patagonia would’ve been the first and foremost to mention

Sabo does not need an asterisk lol

Good On You is what you are looking for X

A secondhand site that I use often is Noihsaf Bazaar - it's a community resell site and they only accept slow fashion and vintage pieces. You can also check out SellTradeSlowFashion on instagram. It's also a slow fashion resell page. Even if you dont purchase from there, you can get inspo and check out the brands that are accepted by the community. Both have pretty strict guidelines for labels they accept, meaning they are vetted by likeminded slow fashion people, things like: fair wages and labor practices, supply chain transparency, price transparency, environmental footrpint, etc.

We've actually created projectcece.com while being students for this exact reason! We write short summaries on why a brand is added and work with 300+ sustainable webshops. Anddd you can filter on price! 🧡

I am a HUGE fan of Alden Wicker's substack - she always shares the clean brands (from beauty, to home goods, to fashion...) definitely worth signing up!

Thvaniearthcraft can be a good choice for you.

Check out Skunkfunk :) Their sizing isn’t great (what brand has good sizing though…), but their are eco-friendly & beyond basics.

Thrift stores

Go thrifting 😊 I've found some really cute stuff at goodwill and I've only just started warming to the idea of buying used. Or if goodwill doesn't have a cute enough selection then maybe try thread up

Vintage

tentree. Canadian brand that plants 10 trees for every item purchased. One of my favourites!

Check Good On You for location of brands and you’ll be able to look at fabrics and manufacturing from there

Gaala Paris, Sezanne, Reformation

Kate Arnell on YouTube is UK based and has lots of recommendations.

Too many to count! What are you looking for? 

Also check out Wolf & Badger which is an online market place for more sustainable UK brands

Better off for your wallet and the environment to thrift. Reformation came to mind but it’s so much cheaper and more fun to find it yiurself

All of these are basic items based off of Y2K fashion. You could find this thrifting or resale apps. Mini skirt, floral cami, scoop neck henley, cropped cardigan, mary jane's. It is the Y2K baby look that is popular right now. You likely aren't going to find new items that are "sustainable" based off these looks now commonly found in a thrift store! Just go right to the source. Buying new is not the sustainable option.

I think your best bet would be to purchase from someone who is reselling like the clothes cycle should be ! That way the clothes that ARE here are at least getting re used 😊 It should be easy to find these items on Poshmark or Depop and probably good price and quality!

WORD OF CAUTION: I'm agreeing with everyone who is saying 'thrift'. There are loads of cool, second-hand things that look just like this on Depop, especially. You can even search for brands listed by u/zurriola27 since sellers will often write 'very similar to Reformation' in the item descriptions. I just wanted to throw a word of caution out there that a lot of Y2K and trendy pieces on Depop are likely to be sold by drop-shippers. Drop-shipping is selling a whole-sale product (from unethical places like AliExpress) through a platform like Depop or Etsy under the guise of it being vintage or second-hand for a mark-up.

Ways to tell if your item is being drop-shipped:

1. No real product photos (we all know the skeevy, photoshopped SHEIN photos) and no photo consistancy
2. Listing includes that the item is available in multiple sizes (usually just S, M, L) whereas a regular seller would only have one of something
3. They claim shipping (even domestic) will take up to 6 weeks (so they can mail the product from overseas to you)
4. The descriptions seem copy-pasted or poorly translated

Ways to ensure you're getting the advertised product and not being scammed:

1. Be realistic. Is it too good to be true? Probably is.
2. Message the seller. All good, honest sellers will write back to you and be able to send you actual mesurements or answer questions like, "what is the fabric composition?"
3. Reverse image search if you're not sure. It might pop up somewhere else online.
4. Read the reviews of the sellers! Often people will report not getting a good product or that shipping took too long

Sézane, Reformation, Christy Dawn, Doen

Buying something that already exists (ie second hand) will always be more sustainable than buying new, no matter the sustainable practices of a brand. Resources are required.

Personally, I’m tired of companies/ brands greenwashing “sustainability.” To me, sustainability is a holistic approach: using natural, low impact materials, maintaining transparency about from where and how the materials are sourced, not exploiting work force, avoiding fast fashion trends, and being honest about practices. It’s about creating a meaningful, purpose-driven system.

I still see recycled plastic as plastic (I know not everyone will agree, and that’s totally fine). I’m not saying we can eliminate it entirely or start from scratch by throwing all plastic away and upgrade to brand new sustainable materials and solutions, it’s more about making mindful choices in all the small things that add up over time

If you want to buy new, I recommend researching labor/sustainability laws that countries impose on manufacturers to ensure that their products are genuinely ethically made and support a circular economy. In the US, that could be Fair Trade Certifications, B Corporations, etc.

Sustainability has always been such a broad term, even before greenwashing. I would sit down and think about your top 2 or 3 goals in making your closet sustainable. Are you trying to reduce plastic consumption? Then look into natural fibers. Do you want to reduce textile waste? Then look for clothes made with dead stock fabric or buy second hand. Do you want to support textile recycling and emerging textile technologies? Show companies, even fast fashion companies, you care by investing in things made from their collabs with mills.

I’ve decided to reduce consumption by embroidering and mending my wardrobe and buying secondhand but not everyone has the time for that! So yeah, think about your goals and what is easiest to incorporate in your lifestyle. Make some small achievable changes rather than diving headfirst into a big change.

I'm using a Good on You app

Check out r/sustainablefashion

Depends what you're into. Buying used is a good option no matter what since that requires 0 new resources to obtain. To be upfront, I think i would be difficult find inexpensive new options, at least in my experience.

Speaking objectively here; I aim for products that do not have animal derived products and are plant based or synthetic. check out a place called mooshoes in LA and NY and they do delivery (https://mooshoes.myshopify.com/). Their products are all vegan and have an inherent degree of sustainability. There are lots of different brands to look into with sustainable practices some which also feature non-vegan products if you desire. So I think this is a good starting point for you!

Check out the Good On You app, it created a rating system to measure how sustainable fashion companies are while providing recommendations.