Last week I mentioned growing, eating + wearing plants. Today I thought I'd add making with plants...linen specifically. Again, linen is a natural fiber that is breezy + cool in the summer. It is sturdy + long-lasting...gets better with age, time + wear...resists odors, so can go a little bit longer between washes ...and looks best a little rumpled. 

Of course, linen can be used for a wide variety of garments + in conjunction with any number of sewing patterns. The patterns collected here were chosen to mirror the readymade, fair pieces in the previous post + to inspire a few linen basics that could constitute a lovely, simple, summer wardrobe. A few breezy tops, a pair or two of versatile pants, a pair of shorts + a lovely dress could be all that's needed to make it through the hot months to come when used in combination with a few existing pieces in a wardrobe (or not).

I'm never advocating making or buying a whole new wardrobe...just showing a few pieces that could inspire seeing what might be "enough". If I like the idea of the pieces here, I might take out all of the warm weather pieces in my own wardrobe...see that I have all that I need to complete this formula...all but one or two tops...now I have a shopping/making list.  :) I might then feel much better about letting a worn out piece or two go (or sewing it into a produce bag, sachets to fill with lavender from the garden, or a new top...scraps saved for patching).

Here are a few of the linen basics I've made and worn over + over in the past few years.
-bantam tank
-fen top
-roberts overalls

All lovely photos via links. Lots more linen-compatible, indie sewing patterns to be found here a post that can be accessed at any time from the bottom of the ethical brands page.

Love,
Jane

It's easy to think that shorts can be made from any pants pattern...and they can. It's just not always as simple as shortening the pattern. The shape often benefits from a little a-line shift of the outer thigh seam. Patterns made with shorts in mind take this into account for us. ​Most of these patterns also include a pants or skirt pattern as well...bonus.

When it comes to choosing fabric, a pair of shorts could easily be made from a thrifted, swingy skirt or dress (or one from our own closet or from that of a friend), a remnant from another project (or project never made), or a small amount of beautiful, new, natural fiber fabric. 

I started this post the same day I dusted off the ceiling fan out of necessity...but now I'm finishing it on a rainy, cool day...dreaming of sunshine + legs that don't glow in the dark.  ;) 

More of my favorite independent sewing pattern designers. All lovely photos via links.

Love,
​Jane

This is the week we celebrate both Earth Day + the anniversary of the Rana Plaza disaster. These events may prompt us to bring a little focus onto how we can care for our planet + garment workers. One of the foundational issues that we have all the power to address is finding + recognizing "enough" in our own wardrobes. Here are a few of the ways that I've found to engage in this practice of awareness over the past few years.  :)

--I loved the experience of traveling with only what fit in my modest backpack. It helped that our destination was warm + lightweight fabrics packed small...but I loved the few things I had to wear + the lack of decision making involved in getting ready each day. I took only my favorite things + wore them instead of trying to keep them from harm. Both of my girls came home surprised that they hadn't worn lots of what they brought. They chose to wear the same few, favorite things over + over. I did too. I repeatedly wore the same short jumpsuit I'd worn most days at home, but layered it in different ways. A trip can be a great time to see how just a few pieces can be enough.

--My journey towards "enough" started in earnest with my monthly wardrobes. I was able to see how 15 pieces or so could be enough...how to choose well...what I liked to wear...and what I was happy to wear over + over. The monthly format allowed me to switch out one or two pieces at a time for variety + climate. These modest, yet adequate, stacks helped me know that I would be ok (+ could be happy) with less. I realized what pieces I only wore a couple of times per year. I learned what only worked during certain weather that almost never showed up...and that when it did, I'd probably rather wear something else. The practice let me see what pieces were most + least versatile for my preferences, circumstances + climate.

--At the end of each season, and before I move on to the next...I take notes on what was worn the most, favorite outfit formulas, what I like to wear at home, at work/school, special occasions (+ what ones happened). I make a list of all of the pieces in that seasonal wardrobe...let the pieces that did not earn their places go (responsibly)...and make a maybe-for-next-year list (with reasons). This process of reflection helps me get to know what I really need + wear. I find these notes very helpful in providing direction for my shopping + helping me not to overconsume the following year. I've realized that otherwise I overestimate how many items I will need...still.

--A list of clothing categories (sweaters, tees, pants...) along with each + every one of my pieces listed accordingly helps me to see how much I have. Looking at this list, there is no denying just how many things I have...and it's easy to see where I may have not only enough...but excess. From here, I think about how many pieces in each category might be enough...and I can take appropriate action. This may involve testing out my guesses by packing a few things away for a period of time before letting them go responsibly.

--One good way to think through what we need is to write down all of the circumstances we find ourselves in...work/school, after work/school, weekends, parties, formal events, snow shovelling, exercising, etc. This can help us to keep what we really do need (one multifunctional pair of gloves...not three pairs)...and not to get rid of things that we wish we didn't need + don't really bring us joy (snow boots).

--I find it useful to consider "enough" in terms of bare necessity...like what if we lost everything + we had to start over. What would I absolutely need to be appropriate + warm? This list doesn't mean I can't have more than that, but does help me to accept that I have everything I need. When I can make + look at this list, it is even easier to see that I do have "enough"...and I will most likely be able to have enough in the future. I can let the scarcity mindset go.

--After learning from the monthly wardrobes for a year, I stepped back to take a look at my wardrobe as a whole. I could tackle concepts like: maybe I don't need the perfect dress for a summer wedding + the perfect ensemble for a winter holiday party...maybe the same thing could work for both (+ more). 

I can't overstate the fact that none of these practices focuses on shopping. Finding "enough" is about taming our consumption...the demand for resources to be grown, sprayed, extracted, dyed, manufactured, transported...purely for our consumption. Finding "enough" is about decreasing our disposal of partially used goods, goods that may be transported across the globe to clog other country's economies...goods that demand more + more landfill space...goods that will exist on our planet far longer than their usefulness merited. 

It is possible that through these exercises a need might be revealed, but in most cases we will find that we already have more than enough. When our goal is to rightly value farmers, garment workers + the environment, we endeavor to step away from consuming and to fully embrace + use what we already have. When we assemble monthly or seasonal wardrobes, we are shopping from our own closets. When we make our list of necessities, we can pull these items from what we already have. We are looking to expose "enough" + internalize it. We are looking to find + confidently walk forward in the enlightened, exuberant, liberating joy of enough!

Love,
Jane

I have a love/hate relationship with jeans. I change out of jeans as soon as I get home, because I find them restricting to my lounging.  :) But...there is nothing quite as cool as a great pair of jeans. My favorites are (+ have always been) soft, pale, worn-in jeans. One of the best pair I ever wore belonged to my then-boyfriend (now Mr. Tribe). They were the softest jeans I'd ever felt, were covered with patches + had just the right bit of over-sized fit...true boyfriend jeans. Someone else had done the job of wearing them in + somehow he didn't seem to mind letting me wear them too. I'm guessing they were so well worn, because he didn't have very many clothes + probably wore them every day for years. 

Similarly, I've found worn-in jeans from the sixties made of 100% cotton that have years of wear still in them. Heck, jeans labeled as the oldest in the world (dating from the 1870s) look ready for plenty more adventures. 

We all know that denim is durable, so it's not surprising that the industry needed to find a way to get us to buy more than a couple of pairs in a lifetime. Planned obsolescence in denim didn't really kick in until lately (with all of the manufactured distressing + added plastic fibers hastening their breakdown). Trends have done the effective work of psychological obsolescence instead (bell-bottoms, pleats, acid-wash, ultra-low-rise...). This gets us looking for a new pair of jeans when there are perfectly functioning jeans still in our closets.

Denim uses a lot of water in its production. Cotton growing/manufacturing, dying + stone-washing all are water intensive processes. Jeans are intricate, labor intensive garments that require specialized equipment to sew + trim. Denim fabric production + sewing have been largely moved overseas to less costly markets. Now instead of the industry built to create the most durable, long-lasting workwear, we have a wasteful, polluting industry that exploits people + fills landfills. The average American has seven pairs of jeans, and there's no telling how many pairs of jeans the average American has discarded.

One of the great things about the current state of trends coming + going so quickly is that there is little that looks too out of style anymore. When chosen carefully, it's possible to find jeans (new or secondhand) that will probably be both durable enough + appropriate enough to last for decades. 

So here's the challenge:
-No new jeans.
-How long is up to you, but if there are seven pairs of jeans in one's closet...  ;)
-Wear + repair.
-Become attached to the jeans already in the closet.
  
A few variations that could be employed:
-Only secondhand jeans, if a new pair is necessary.
-A new pair of jeans is added only if it can be committed to for 10 years.
-Put thought into figuring out a personal forever jean style.

A little motivation:
-cherishing + finding inspiration in the old
-articles of interest
-patches to love 

Fairdare mini-challenges one + two.  :)
Photos via links. Non-linked photos, mine. 

Love,
Jane

This last week of March has brought a couple of days with temperatures that touched the 70s F! As I write this I'm feeling resistant to thinking back on the rest of this cold + cloudy month. I just want to look forward to sun-kissed shoulders + bare feet. It's coming.

New collections came out this month which fueled those dreams. Dreaming made it a little easier to tolerate the still present leggings + sweaters...as did trading long-sleeved tees for short-sleeved ones, wool socks for cotton, and fur-lined boots for trainers. Little switches really did make things feel a bit fresher. 

My closet received a mini clean out + a few things were put up for sale on ebay. The usefulness of my pieces has come into acute focus over the past few years. I like the concept of objects maintaining their value through use. If I'm not using a piece to its full potential, it can feel good to pass it on to someone else who will use it well. I'm not looking to replace things with newer, shinier or more exciting versions. Less is liberating + often brings more value to the things that remain.

I'd been keeping an eye out for a restock of Aliya Wanek's beautiful sweatshirts all winter. A longer sweatshirt would be useful year-round in my simple wardrobe. This month I was able to purchase one in just the color I'd been waiting for. The rewards of patience have been evident lately. Now if I can just internalize + apply the lesson going forward!

This month it felt good to wear what is in my closet, to try on a few versatile pieces that I'm looking forward to wearing over + over in the warmer months to come, and to let a few things expand their stories with another wearer. Tiny moves have been made toward a truer alignment with function + beauty in my life + in my wardrobe.

For accountability's sake: (March)
bought fair :: sweatshirt
sold :: sweatshirt, pants, shoes

Love,
​Jane

"Acceptance of limitation, as a framework rather than as a hindrance,
​is always proof of a productive mind." ~Anni Albers
​

Vegetarianism, minimalism, zero-waste + the fair dare are achieved by accepting some limitations. Working within the framework of each of these categories leads to choices which have amazingly positive outcomes.

The food we eat
The stuff we make a home out of
The packaging that contains stuff we want
The clothing we wear 
...all of this offers the taste, smell, sound, sight, feel...of happiness.

Changing the framework to include less in each case...
less choice of foods (meatless, package-free)
less stuff in our house
less choice of stuff (package-free, fair)
less choice of clothing (fair to farmers, garment workers + the planet)
​...requires a bit more creativity.

The positive outcomes of less rainforest being clearcut for cattle, less resources being used making stuff we don't need, less landfill waste, less plastic that will never leave this earth, less abuse of garment workers + farmers, and less pollution + degradation from the textile industry...create a deeper happiness...a happiness that lasts + extends to others.

I'd say this logic is proof of a productive mind...in action.  ;)

Images via.

Love,
​Jane

As a new season arrives, so do the clothing collections. We might start to think about what we'd like to add to our wardrobe collections...what needs to be replaced...what new shapes + colors we'd like to try. I like to look through some of the ethical brands' websites to see what they have to offer. 

Dreaming is the main verb in play for me. Budget, need + enough loom large. I understand that clothing is not really cheap. Natural materials are grown, collected, spun + woven. Designing, pattern making, testing, cutting + sewing are involved. Transportation, marketing, packing + shipping matter. All of these add up to a labor intensive + costly process. Tara St. James says that there are an average of 80 people involved in the making of any garment. When clothing is cheap at the point of purchase, it is costing people somewhere along the production chain. 

When new clothing is not cheap, it motivates thoughtful buyers to choose wisely...to value these pieces more highly...to buy less. I think this is a lovely, natural course correction for our fast-fashion-trained brains. 

And while I adore these more ethical brands, my budget can still become a bit flummoxed  at the cost. Just as many of our brains became acclimated to cheap clothing prices + the "ability" to constantly add items to our wardrobes (+ often debt to our lives)...the fair clothing industry can cause us to "adapt" to higher prices. Seeing bloggers + instagrammers in their new, high end, fair outfits day after day...posts with beautiful, "regular" people wearing fair pieces in golden dessert + beach photos...even sparkly ethical statements...make us want a piece of all this for ourselves. I think a lot about my own contribution to this push toward pricey ethical brands...the guilt, the triumph, the elation pushed. Yuck. In the end it is still a piece of clothing meant to cover our bodies, keep us warm or cool, allow us range of motion, comfort...and yes, some style + personal expression. 

The main conclusion I've come to lately is that my clothing must be worth the price...to me. There may be times when I choose to purchase a more expensive piece that I will wear for a very long time, and it will be worth the price. There may be other times that I search for a less expensive fair item, an inexpensive thrifted piece, sew a less expensive version or decide to admire a style from afar. I do not want to get drawn in to spending more than my rational brain deems wise for something that is more about a hazy ideal than a functional piece of clothing to wear in my everyday life. I've added to (rather than constructed anew) my personal manifesto of clothing purchasing + it has come in handy during the last few months.

The clothing that I add to my collection must:
-be a replacement, necessary, useful +/or long-term joy enhancing
-not harm those who grew or made it...or the earth, as much as possible 
-be bought with the idea of using it up + seeing it through to the end (wear, mend, repair, refashion, reuse the fabric...rags). Reselling is less desirable, but ok too.
-have the strong probability of being worn over + over (comfort, won't get sick of, appropriate, not too trendy)
-have value that, in the end, matches or exceeds the price tag for me personally (this is not a reference to resale value...wear, usefulness, versatility + longevity = value)

Each of us gets to decide how to clothe ourselves + our children. I love that there are so many fair choices. I also really like how buying second-hand, mending + repairing, refashioning, + swapping even the playing field a bit. They are not a last resort. They are choice. Compassion all around.  :)

Love, 
Jane

During the past year I decreased my wardrobe...and then made some silly purchases trying to create excitement + style. Of course this is about more than just clothing. It's about contentment. It's about what I'm trying to say with my clothing rather than my life. I'd like to focus on contentedness + living life outside of a focus on clothes. I do like fashion, but I am feeling the need to forget clothing a little more...in order to stop always looking for more.

One of the tools that has come in handy on this journey has been my list of pieces that I've decided is enough. I compiled the first list during a year spent trying to buy only replacements. I found it helpful to have a list of things that I'd deemed worthy of being replaced...a list of highly scrutinized "necessities". Over the past year + a half, I've continued to consider the necessity of each item on that list. I've observed what is truly necessary during each season that passes + made note. Obviously we would each come to different conclusions for our basic simple wardrobes. I'd encourage taking weather, activities (work, lounge, weekends, events), style + comfort into account. My list includes daily clothing...but excludes outerwear + intimates. I could lounge, sleep + workout in the pieces I've included on my list.

My base wardrobe now consists of the 20 following items:
8 tops
7 bottoms
1 jumpsuit or dress
4 footwear

My current preferences break down like this:
-2 tanks
-2 tees 
-layering tanks + long-sleeved tees (counting these as 1 item, bc I don't wear them alone)
-1 sweatshirt
-2 sweaters 
-2 soft pants  
-2 fitted pants
-leggings
-2 shorts
-1 layer-able dress or jumpsuit 
-sandals 
-trainers
-boots
​-flats

When I have these wisely chosen items + they mix well...I have enough for all the seasons + all the situations I anticipate finding myself in. I can add pieces to this list, but I don't need more. The idea is that I can find rest...contentment...a break from the desire for more. I'd really like to get back to having long periods of time when I'm not thinking about my clothes...and short periods of time when I reassess what I need + shop for those specific pieces.

The way I composed this collection of pieces in the first place was just to shop my own wardrobe. There is no reason to go out + purchase a whole new "capsule wardrobe". I've found one trick to making "less" work in various situations is to choose pieces that aren't too casual or too dressy. Depending on the events for which one needs their wardrobe to function, pieces might be chosen accordingly (choose a black rayon dress + dressier flats or boots instead of pieces like those shown).

The images above are not the pieces I have in my simple wardrobe (those might be getting a little redundant around here).  :) They are a mix of thrifted + fair pieces that just might fit the bill. All lovely photos via links.

Love,
Jane

February was month four of real winter. I cannot remember a winter with as many ice days, snow days, and sub-zero temperature days as this one. I heard that the children in my hometown had had sixteen snow days this year...by mid-February! I know that never happened when I was growing up. February had me dreaming of spring...hard. I doubt I'm alone in that!  

End-of-season sales + peeks at spring collections came along + for the most part, I didn't even really try to resist "window shopping". The above fair leggings...a great addition to the dark ones I've been wearing since November were purchased with money received from selling some pants. A jumpsuit was made in attempts to stave off the temptation of a designer version. A dress was thrifted...and is folded away ready for warmer days. I feel like I added quite a lot to my wardrobe in February. In hindsight, I wish I'd skipped the jumpsuit (but I will reuse the fabric).

On a positive note, my simple wardrobe has proved itself functionally in this cold weather. I have this dream that there is a single pair of boots that would be enough for every function...but I have not located them yet. This year, I purchased a pair of thrifted slim Uggs (deeming them satisfyingly off-trend enough to adopt).  :) I don't feel exceedingly stylish, but they close the gap between my preferred slightly cropped pant length exquisitely. When it is wet (snow, slush, freezing rain), I wear wool socks + leggings with my wellies. My feet + ankles have not been cold this year (a frigid memory that sticks with me from last winter). Two pairs of boots is not too many.

Last month, I shared that I had made a little plan of a few pieces I'd like to add to my wardrobe this year. This month I tried a piece on the winter portion of that list (supposed to be my birthday gift) + found that it doesn't really suit me. This provides a bit of a frustration, in that, I can't shop for fair pieces locally. I'd love to be able to go to a shop, gather a few pieces to try, see if they flatter + which size suits. The postage + delivery involved otherwise is less than optimal. It causes a whole lot more feelings than simply hanging something back on the hanger + leaving it at the store. Now I need to reevaluate my plan + feel a little less settled, but I'm trying to remind myself that simplicity is not necessarily easy. It takes work to be a good editor, so I might as well try to enjoy the process as much as possible.

For accountability's sake: (February)
​made :: jumpsuit (resisted an expensive temptation, but didn't like) (fail)
thrifted :: dress (patience rewarded) 
purchased fair :: leggings (bought with profits from sold pants)
sold :: pants 

Love,
​Jane