October: Greenwashing, Tights and Knitting

The October Edit

There is a magical feeling around October, especially near the end of the month. It feels like anything could happen, in a cool drinking tea kind of way. I’ve been reading about the ancient Scottish Samhain festival traditions, which was the beginning of many of our Halloween traditions. However, it saddens me that so many of these holidays and celebrations become over-commercialised through time. Even in the last few years, the amount of plastic tat has risen on Halloween. No, I don’t want a new polyester costume every year! Apparently, UK Halloween costumes contain the same amount of plastic as 83,000,000 bottles!

Tights Season Has Begun

It is officially cold in Berlin. If I am to keep wearing what I love to wear, I’ll need to cover my legs! I found these tights in my drawer, they are years old but I never really liked the look of 15 denier tights. However this year I’ve changed my mind, so wore these tights and tore them! For hard-wearing tights that have high sustainability, credentials try Swedish Stockings. I wore their thicker tights last year all through winter with no casualties.

Bringing Foliage Indoors

I saw this red berry branch in a flower stall in Berlin but didn’t end up buying it. The next day I went on a hike and found trees of the stuff in the countryside. I’ll be honest and say I don’t know the picking rules for Germany, but this tree could have done with a prune anyway. It brightens up the apartment and brings a bit of winter colour without changing the decor too much.

Light and White

Let’s be honest. Not all summer looks work when it gets cold and dark. The time change this year felt brutal! However, I love wearing white and cream in autumn. As long as it’s not a rainy or muddy day, it looks great. Especially layered with other colours. I bought this skirt from Grus Grus, a vintage shop in Berlin. I also wear my white jeans, layered with boots, knits and a blazer.

Winter Knits

The woolly jumpers are out in full force in my house. I particularly like wrapping up, so I don’t need to wear such a thick coat outdoors during the not so cold days. I picked a few of my favourites here if you are looking to update your winter woollies this year. If you treat them well, they should last for years. It’s time to look out the winter woolly scarves; this is a great list of cosy, sustainable scarves.

Knitting & Sewing

It’s the time of year where I feel like picking up the knitting again. I’ve never been someone who knits or sews in the summer. After the six month break it is a painfully slow process to get going but worth it to make something I will wear or use. I love Wool and the Gang for simple patterns and kits. I might even advance from beginner to an easy kit if I’m feeling adventurous!

Greenwashing

Unfortunately, I’ve seen a considerable amount of greenwashing this month. It is hard to trust the big corporations and the marketing tripe they throw out daily. Large fast fashion companies are trying to gain consumer trust by taking out various conscientious collections. I wonder about the wages of the people who make their regular clothes, though. Marketing a small collection as being sustainable when you also have a huge amount of other clothes for sale is greenwashing.

A report from Clean Clothes Campaign claim Romainian workers get paid as little 14% of the current living wage. Could you live on 14% of the living wage to survive in your country? And it goes on; plastic bottle companies suggest they use recycled plastic when they use very little ie they use greenwashing as a tactic to make us believe they are more sustainable than they actually are. Wealthy celebrities who claim to be environment activists take out fast-fashion clothing lines ; I’m looking at you Cara Delevingne . Or ‘Made in Britain’ labels which can mean only the buttons or something similarly as small are sewn in Britain. The list is endless and depressing.

For more autumn tips, check out seasonal tips for November.