Watching the developments in fair trade fashion, particularly the increasing numbers of companies selling clothes made from Fairtrade certified cotton has been great, but where do I begin for this Fair Trade Wedding Challenge, with its very ‘woolly’ title?
Should I be searching for suits for the groom, best man, or page boy, or for dresses for the flower girl, bridesmaids, or the bride’s mother, and what about the going away outfits…?
Okay so I’m teasing a little here, as I realise what most want to know is: can I find a ‘fair trade wedding gown’?
As yet (notice the yet - hint, hint) I’m sorry to report, it seems you cannot walk into a bridalwear shop and say ‘show me your range of fair trade gowns!’
However, there is hope, both Wholly Jo’s (in London) and utani-uk (in Bournemouth) offer a bespoke wedding dress design and making service using fair trade fabrics – thank you!
Unfortunately, I was unable to talk with Jo or Joy today (the trouble with a one item a day challenge like this) to discuss their work with fair trade fabrics, but I’m really pleased to hear from Katie that we will be featuring interviews with them soon on Ethical Weddings.
So to carry on with the challenge, I made a few local calls here in Sheffield. I managed to talk with 10 out of the 15 wedding gown specialists listed in the phone directory (under ‘bridal wear’) and asked them: “do you stock fair trade wedding gowns?” and “could you make a gown with fair trade material?”
The response was varied, although I have to say mostly puzzled: “fair trade? what?” and “I don’t know.’
However, Dianas Bridal House (Ecclesall Rd, Sheffield) were really positive saying: “we can make anything”, and so too was Rita at The Wedding Studio (Handsworth Road, Sheffield). With her real ‘can do’ attitude Rita said she’d be happy to make a dress from fair trade material, but would need to investigate where to source it from first. In fact, Rita and I had a wonderfully long discussion about fair trade issues and bridal gowns!
This conversation then inspired me to try to source fair trade material. So far today I’ve found Fabrics Ltd (in Machynlleth), Ambanature (in Leigh on Sea) and Bishopston Trading Company (in Bristol). All of these companies have a range of fair trade cottons (although the latter is wholesale only). I’ve spoken briefly with the first two about this challenge, and hope very much to talk further with them at a later date about the suitability of the fabrics for bridalwear (and groomswear), so please keep visiting this blog.
In the meantime, if you have any ideas where to purchase suitable fair trade materials to create the dream fair trade wedding gown, please let me know. I’d love to be able to pass the information on to Rita and Diana’s Bridal House, and other interested dress designers/makers.
It would also be great for those of you who are considering the DIY approach to your dress; although memories of rising tensions when a friend made her own wedding dress makes me slightly hesitant to suggest this!
And finally for those of you who are not wanting the traditional wedding gown look but are happy with a stylish dress, I’ve tried my hardest to find you something too. How about this from think!clothing?
This is a London based business, set up to ‘address the dearth of attractive fairly traded womenswear available in the UK.’
Alternatively there’s the Enamore Spring 07 Shift Dress at equa, the ‘first boutique in Central London dedicated to the sale of fashion focused fair trade and organic clothing for women and children.’
I have to end now, but this has certainly been the biggest challenge yet, leaving me wishing I had a month to complete it (why are there only 14 days in Fairtrade Fortnight?!)
Alex
Please do contact me if you have any comments about this (or a previous) challenge!