Recapping the Year of 2017
What a beautiful, crazy, complicated, wonderful year it has been! My greatest adventure of 2017 was a big one - launching The Good Wear blog.
After dreaming of ways to combine a love for style, fair trade + ethical fashion, creativity, social media and a few other loves, The Good Wear was officially released back in March of 2017. Since then, the platform has been able to connect individuals to the vision and mission behind the ethical fashion industry and dozens of responsible brands. The Good Wear has been able to provide information, facts and tips to those who did not know what was going on behind the clothes we wear. The blog and social platforms have been able to slowly provide a space for the voice of makers, creators and artisans around the world through highlighting brands, stories and future goals in this industry.
But we're not finished yet! There's more brands to cover, information to discuss, and shopping habits we can keep forming to be more responsible, sustainable and caring! So here are some of my favorite highlights, stories and work from the past 8 months of 2017 and what's to come in 2018. Cheers to a new year!
This photo is from one of the first shoots for The Good Wear - I envisioned featuring some friends to help tell the ethical style story as well as helping get comfortable in front of a camera!
A typical scene of necessary items when writing for The Good Wear. Coffee, glasses, computer and necessary resources to keep learning and providing the facts!
The campaign for 'Who Made My Clothes' was started by Fashion Revolution and advocates for those who make our clothes in factories around the globe. It's a call for action, awareness and care for the people behind what we wear.
Fixing clothing can be a revolutionary act in practicing sustainability in our closets. I've loved attempting to put this in practice to love the clothes I own well!
THE HIGHLIGHTS
WHO TO KNOW IN RVA - The Richmond, Va community is budding with the local creators and makers. This year, with the launch of the 'With the Who to Know in RVA' series, local brands, individuals and creators were able to be featured sharing their stories through brief interviews. I loved getting to hear and share these stories to continue to spread the missions of so many incredible causes. This series has opened the doors to learning more about the Richmond city as well as what's going on behind the scenes with the local ethical style community (stay tuned for some fun things on that next year!).
THE BRAND LIST - One of my main goals of 2017 was curating a list of ethical brands to help shop for new styles. One of the frequent questions I get is looking for advice on where to start shopping and find ethical and sustainable brands - with this launch begins a step to make shopping responsibly more accessible. This list will continue to be updated and highlighted in 2018 as well!
THE GIFT GUIDE - This holiday season, I had several recommendations to create gift gifts to help those looking to shop shop responsible gifts for loved ones. I loved curating these specific categories to help make shopping easier - hopefully it helped you as much as it helped me! Stay tuned for some more 2018 gift guides surrounding other holidays, birthdays and events.
THE STYLE CHALLENGES - One of my all time favorite things from the start of the blog was participating in the Spring 10x10 Challenge. It was my first style challenge and I learned so much about how to organize a wardrobe, restyling items I own, and opening up a conversation on what we actually need in our wardrobe and the "why" behind it. (Read the Style Challenge Prep here). There are many different style challenges out there to explore capsule wardrobes + minimal style and I'm excited to explore more of those next year!
INSTAGRAM - What an amazing tool Instagram has been in creating connections with others who are in similar mindset or working towards the same cause. Although there are some obvious frustrations using this tool, it's been a gift to open up conversation, be creative and tell stories about those within the ethical fashion industry ; As well as connecting with those who are just curious to learn and hear more! Many of The Good Wear readers come from Instagram so this has always been a great platform to put out appealing and fun content!
From the first Fashion Revolution magazine, this shot features an infographic on the Supply Chain in the fashion industry - it makes up the manufacturing, sourcing, creation, distribution , people, materials, behind the items we wear. Each company has one and it makes a big impact on the ethics behind the brand!
THE LITTLE THINGS
Before starting The Good Wear, I had a vision to create something to stir up conversation, raise awareness for an industry that needs more voices and learn a few things myself. I'm excited to say that this vision has been unraveling throughout this year in so many ways!
Some of the most flattering things to hear from readers are things along the lines of "I'd never heard this before" or "This really made me think the next time I went shopping" or "I shopped from the brand that was recommended!". Because ultimately, my favorite part and moments of The Good Wear have been the conversation with so many friends and strangers about the slow + gradual change we can make together as consumers. I love getting to connect with others on this topic, create discussion around what can be done, and just overall, be more conscious with our purchases together. Seriously, the support, questions, and comments have been amazing!
The Spring 2017 wardrobe from the first 10x10 Style Challenge
A favorite color combination. Millennial pink, am I right?
A few of my most worn items over the Spring and Summer 2017 season. Those slides are definitely my most loved of this year after purchasing them second-hand from Richmond's Rosewood Clothing Co.
Another most loved item of the year is this old Loft Chambray button down. I've had this shirt for year's and continue to wear this because of the weight, color, fit and versatility it can provide.
It's no secret that Everlane is one of my favorite responsible brands. Their 100% Human collection from this year is a perfect example of brands going the extra step to give back and speak out for a cause.
THE FOCUS
TRANSPARENCY - I've loved getting to use transparency as a buzz word for ethical brands as well as diving in on what it means to be a transparent consumer in the fashion industry. To me, this means to be open to conversation about brands, fast fashion and style in general. But it's also always a "work in progress" approach to life. We are constantly consuming and I want to continue taking steps to be more transparent in my purchases, brand loyalty, and sustainability. I believe that with the more open conversation, transparency will continue being a key factor to The Good Wear's reach.
CREATIVITY - The Good Wear has always been an outlet to combine a love for ethical fashion and creative ventures. A goal for this blog was always to create visually appealing content to capture attention and awareness for this industry. And with friends help, your feedback, and continue trial and error, I've loved getting to be creative with each product shoot, styling, and blog post!
STYLE - Another core value of The Good Wear is obviously style. It's a chance to show that shopping Fair Trade, artisan made, handmade or second-hand products can be stylish, beautiful and worn confidently. I love getting to create looks with ethical products, share them through content and wear the stories proudly. So I'm hoping this value continues to inspire and flow into creativity and transparency from each posts, photo and more.
One of my first highlighting partnership's with Richmond's local boutique Verdalina. A favorite shoot getting to try clothing from three amazing brands - Caron Callahan, LACAUSA, and Anaak.
A garment rack shot of favorite pieces from Richmond's Verdalina. Shopping local and responsible styles in one!
FAVORITE BRANDS OF 2017
- ABLE (formerly FashionABLE)
- TRADLANDS
- EQUAL UPRISE
- NISOLO
- VEJA
Tradland's is a menswear inspired clothing brand creating responsible, timeless pieces. Here you see their Henley Top. You'll find cozy flannels, jackets and chinos in their shop as well.
A few of my favorite pieces together - the Equal Uprise Woven Hat + Thread Co. Custom Shirt Dress.
One of my most loved items of the year - the Everlane's Wide Leg Cropped Pant
One of my first ethical style purchases of 2017 - the Veja V-10 Sneakers
Photo from the Fall 10x10 Post - featuring a few old and new loved items.
MY FAVORITE POSTS IN 2017
Style post on combining a few of my favorite old and new products. I loved getting to be creative and share simple styling tips + tricks on the blog in 2017.
THANK YOU SO MUCH
To everyone who has read a blog post, followed along, shopped ethical fashion and even changed some of their consumer habits due to the blog, thank you! You have given me the opportunity to create and speak on a topic I'm passionate about. And without your questions, support, excitement, and challenges, The Good Wear would cease to grow.
Another huge thanks goes to Lexi Wilson of Alexa Ann Photography. Without her generosity, creative eye, talent and willingness to adventure with me, this blog would not have been born with images that inspire and embody The Good Wear's mission. Thank you for your heart, hard work, vision and love for others.
LOOKING TOWARDS 2018
I have high hopes for The Good Wear in this next full year. I've received a ton of great feedback and thoughts on continuing forward ; some plans will hopefully unravel over the next few months. You can expect to see more brand guides as well as wardrobe + minimal stylings for what you already own in your closet. There will be informative posts on ethical fashion, second hand clothing, sustainability, closet style and so much more!
This content is a blast to put together for you and there may just be a few other surprises up my sleeve. Cheers to 2018!