In this post, "A Guide to Organic Fabrics and Apparel," I am going to share why organic apparel is good for you.
What is this organic fabric/apparel guide about?
What you need to know about organic fabrics and apparel
Organic fabrics and the environment
Types of organic fabrics
Organic fabric certifications
Organic apparel brands
What is organic fabric? Organic fabric is plant crops that have been grown organically. The plant crops are not grown with synthetic chemicals, fertilizers, or pesticides. Why organic fabric? It is the safest material to wear.
The organic industry is fast growing. Organic food, cosmetics, personal care items, and textile sales were $63 billion in 2021.
You don’t have to be wealthy to wear organic apparel. Organic fabrics are excellent.
People are divinely guided to wear organic apparel. It is a cleansing fabric. Organic fabrics will actually support your spiritual development. Wearing healthy, intelligent organic fabrics is complementary to your healthy lifestyle.
Many people eat organic food and would rather eat organic food. But the price of eating organic food is higher, like the price of organic fashion. I know this personally because I have tried to eat all organic food. At one point in my life, I spent over $800-1,000 per month on all organic and natural foods. That was ridiculous, and I wasted a lot of money! The reason I spent so much money on food was that I was so feeling sick at the time, and I was trying to see if the food would make me feel better, but it didn’t. But now, I spend maybe around 400+ dollars a month, which is half the price I spent on organic foods.
In regards to organic apparel, if you are on a budget you can still buy organic fashion, just buy the accessories. Wear organic underwear, socks, camisoles for women, and undershirts for men. The cost is not as much as organic clothing. What I love about organic accessories– they last a long time.
What types of accessories can you buy made with organic fabrics?
If you can’t buy a whole wardrobe with organic fabrics (and that would be difficult for anyone no matter the budget), purchase these fashion items made with organic fabric:
These are accessories you will have for a while, and they don't go out of style.
Scarfs
Socks
Stockings
Underwear
Men’s undershirts
Women's camisoles
Shoes
Hats, beanies, baseball hats
Leg warmers
Gloves or mittens
Pashminas/shawls
Totes
If you do purchase organic apparel, I would buy organic loungewear and nightwear because we spend a lot of time sleeping in our clothing. Part of eco-friendly living is wearing organic fabrics—or you can at least buy smaller organic items like socks, underwear, and basics.
There is a difference between organic cotton and non-organic cotton. For example, I bought a pair of non-organic socks at the grocery store one time because they were 80% cotton and 20% polyester. That is a good price for predominantly cotton-based crew socks. But, these socks I bought and wore around the same time I bought my organic cotton crew socks. After a couple of years of wearing them, the dryer machine dried out the polyester and elastic in the non-organic socks. They are now getting holes. When I go to pull them on, the fabric keeps ripping at my heels. My organic socks do not have any holes, they do not rip when I put them on, and they look much newer.
It is not just about the quality of the fabric and apparel items either, it is about the energy of the fabric. When harsh synthetic chemicals are used on plant crops, some of those chemicals change the "energy" of the plant. Additionally, when I wear organic apparel, it feels cleaner and purer to wear.
When I was hand-making my fashion designs for my previous handmade brand Alternative Fashion in 2015, I was designing clothing with organic cotton fabrics. I loved designing with organic cotton because as I would cut and sew the garment, I would be touching the fabric the whole time, and I could literally feel the difference between sewing designs made with conventional cotton and sewing designs with organic cotton. I literally felt more energetic while sewing with organic cotton. The fabric would literally give me positive emotions.
It is also important to note that you should use organic cotton gauze and organic cotton balls for wound care. You can use conventional cotton balls and gauze but don't use synthetic polyester or poly-cotton blend wound care. I had a minor surgery where I needed to use bandaids and Neosporin. I couldn’t believe it when I got back to my home. I looked at the box to see the ingredients-- and the gauze was partially made of plastic! I thought that it would be made of cotton!
About organic fabric + apparel
The Benefits of Wearing Organic Apparel
Organic fabrics are skin-friendly. They are very soft and better against the skin than other fabrics. They also gently exfoliate the skin—the skin needs to exfoliate when thousands of skin cells die every day. They have healing qualities.
You are supporting the health of the farmers when you buy organic apparel. You are supporting your own health. They are healthy to wear and healthy for your body.
Organic fabrics are hypoallergenic. The human body is not made up of synthetic toxic chemicals, so organic fabrics are similar to the human chemical composition.
Organic fabrics can only be plant-based (synthetics cannot be organic).
Cons of wearing non-organic fabric
Not all non-organic fabrics are toxic to wear. Many manufacturers do not want to lose their crops and will use a little fertilizer, and that is OK.
Many of the non-organic cotton fabrics are GM—genetically modified. Many non-organic fabrics are made with toxic chemicals, fertilizers, and pesticides. People may experience damaging side effects from these harsh chemicals.
Processing of organic fabric
Organic cotton is grown without pesticides and synthetic fertilizers and processed with no chemicals. In the past, we did not farm or plant crops with synthetic fertilizers, chemicals, or pesticides. We were always organic farmers up until the past several decades. Organic fabrics are processed using organic and natural chemicals, fertilizers, and pesticides.
The environmental impact of organic fabrics + the environmental impact of synthetics
It is important to support the sustainable, organic, plant-based fashion industry because fashion is one of the most polluting industries. Organic fabric doesn’t hurt the earth. During the organic farming crop stage, the farmers do not use harsh chemicals, toxic pesticides, and fertilizers to cultivate the crops.
When non-organic fabrics like synthetic polyester break down in landfills, they release harsh toxic fumes into the air. Organic fabrics do not do this. Organic fabrics are biodegradable and compostable.
Unfortunately, flora and fauna may get poisoned by the toxic chemicals, fertilizers, and pesticides used to grow non-organic crops. These chemicals, pesticides, and fertilizers are attached to the crops. Once the crops are watered, the agricultural chemicals attach to our drinking water and also poison marine life. Organic fabrics will not pollute our water or the soil, or hurt marine life.
Organic fabrics are made from plant crops that are grown in soil that is hearty, well, and robust. This soil will assist in helping the habitat. This kind of soil can restore itself, so it is regenerative.
Fabric types
Popular current textile plants are being grown organically, and they can all be recycled:
Organic cotton
Organic hemp
Organic-linen
Organic bamboo (bamboo linen)
Organic jute
+more
Organic certifications
11 organic fabric certifications:
2. Oeko-Tex 100
6. EKO
13 ORGANIC APPAREL BRANDS FOR MEN +WOMEN
They are not all made 100% organic, but most or many of their products are organic
1. Nordstrom (type in "organic cotton" in the search bar)
2. Inner Waves
3. Kent
6. Tentree
7. Pact
8. Outerknown
10. Thought
12. Pangaia
FINAL NOTE
We all want to wear sustainably sourced, organic apparel. It is earth-positive and eco-minded to wear organic fabrics. I would personally like to wear more innovative organic apparel. I have a few tee shirts, socks, and other apparel items that I have worn in the past that were made from organic cotton. I know I need to wear more organic apparel! I do love my organic socks. They are from Maggie's Organics. I do notice that the energy of the organic apparel items that I own is different from my non-organic conventional cotton apparel.
I am sure that organic apparel can support your mind, body, and spirit more than any other kind of apparel that is non-organic. Organic fabric will self-heal the body. Organic fabrics care for the soul. Organic fabrics support our energetic health, emotional health, spiritual health, physical health, and mental health. Organic apparel is wellness-focused and a part of the body care trend.
When you can, check out these brands I listed above. They have lots of organic accessories and basics if you don’t want to spend more money on outfits. Also, you can Google search for the organic certifications above. Organic fashion brands will pop up in the search feed. The future of fashion is organic fashion. We don’t have to have a large wardrobe of organic apparel; we can have a minimal wardrobe, like a smaller collection within our wardrobe collections. It will help the ecosystem and our planet!
References
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