Hi loves! Thank you all for the sweet support and kind words about this year’s holiday gift guide. I am so glad many of you find this helpful because I put a huge amount of time, thought, and effort into it. It feels good to know it is appreciated!

While there are some fashion and beauty gift ideas in the guide, I thought it would be worth sharing what I consider the staples and must-haves of my personal wardrobe now that I have transitioned to a mostly ethical/sustainable wardrobe and have significantly altered my consumer habits. I thought sharing these basics now might be especially useful in case you share the common goal of becoming a more mindful consumer and embracing sustainable fashion, because you could (and probably should) add some of these items to your own personal holiday lists.

In particular I realize that there is often sticker shock associated with the value of ethical and sustainable garments and this can be a deterrent to making this transition. To this I say:
1. Please PLEASE read Overdressed by Elizabeth Cline as soon as possible. This will provide you an enormous amount of knowledge on topics related to how we can change the fashion industry, and help you to understand what you should be looking for when you research companies’ supply chains, manufacturing processes, and treatment of workers.
2. Cheap prices are both a cause of and a symptom of the fast fashion epidemic, which is both an environmental and humanitarian problem.
3. Cheap clothes are costing someone, somewhere. If the price is cheap to you, it is almost certainly hurting someone else.
4. Consider well made garments investment pieces. Buy better, not more. Clothing should not be disposable. This mental shift will make all the difference in what I realize can be a challenging transition.
5. If you don’t need a thing, don’t buy that thing! Save these ideas for when you actually need them. Curb your consumption by asking yourself if you actually need an item versus just want it because it’s like, super cute (I get it, this impulse is REAL). Examining need vs. want will help make this transition feel more natural.

Without further ado, here are 15 items that I think are an excellent foundation for building an ethical wardrobe.