Tara Stringer, Queensland University of Technology; Alice Payne, Queensland University of Technology, and Gary Mortimer, Queensland University of Technology You’ve found the perfect dress. You’ve tried it on before and you know it looks great. Now it’s on sale, a discount so large the store is practically giving it away. Should you buy it? For… Continue reading ‘I can only do so much’: we asked fast-fashion shoppers how ethical concerns shape their choices
Category: The Conversation
What COVID-19 means for the people making your clothes
Workers everywhere are feeling the impact of COVID-19 and the restrictions necessitated by COVID-19. In Australia, retail and hospitality workers have been particularly hard hit. In other countries, it’s manufacturing workers, hit by disruptions to value and supply chains…
Sustainable shopping: where to find a puffer jacket that doesn’t warm the Earth
The environmental, ethical and social impacts of your puffer jacket might not leave you feeling so warm and fuzzy. Here is a guide to the considerations you should keep in mind when looking for your winter jacket, and where to find the best options…
Sustainable shopping: for eco-friendly jeans, stop washing them so often
Denim jeans – whether ripped, straight, flared, vintage or raw – are one of the world’s most-loved garments. But from fibre to wardrobe, they have a considerable ecological footprint…
Will we soon be growing our own vegan leather at home?
Conventional leather is one of fashion’s most ubiquitous materials – but it is fraught with ethical and environmental issues. We have been growing vegan leather from kombucha tea since 2014 – and the results are promising…
The story of … the military jacket
Fashion and war don’t seem an obvious pairing, but the military jacket is a fashion staple. It may take the form of a double-breasted dress uniform with brass buttons and epaulettes, trimmed in rock star braid, or it may be a khaki combat jacket, worn with Doc Martens and a scowl. Here I explore how these two forms of the military jacket were frogmarched into fashion…
The story of … the top hat
Throughout the 19th century, the top hat was a mainstay of Victorian life: a man in a topper was well-to-do, respectable, a man of industry. But now the top hat is only a caricature of the upper class privilege it once represented. Its history traces a line through dandies, beavers, silk, and madness…
Counting the cost of fast fashion
Fad fashion has never had it so good… but the fast fashion trend comes at a cost…