Act as if What you Wear makes a Difference. It Does.

May 05, 2018

Why, you ask (and even if you didn’t ask, pretend you did) should you wear ethically made clothes, sometimes called “slow fashion.”

 

Here’s why. There are 26 million Google entries when I searched for “a link between clothing choices and emotional states.”  Let me boil those down a bit:

 

• When you look good, you feel good and you perform at a higher level.
• Within three minutes of meeting you, another person has decided who you are—based largely on how you look. And it will take 20 more meetings for that person to change that opinion of you, no matter how wrong that first impression was.
• Your style and clothing reflect your mood, health and self-confidence. Researchers even have a phrase for it: “Enclothed cognition.” I could give you the psychological definition but trust me—it means you should wear what makes you happy, what make you feel self-confident and competent.

 

In other words, what you wear influences how you feel and how you behave. What you wear tells people something about your beliefs and values. What you wear can be a silent request for others to follow your example.

 

Which brings me back to slow or ethical fashion.

 

When you wear beautiful, durable clothes made with care for the environment and for the people who make those clothes, you are telling the world you are a conscious consumer. You express your faith in the future by choosing clothing that minimizes waste, both in the manufacturing process and in the quality that will make them last through many fashion seasons, not just one. Your Fair Trade clothing says it matters to you that the people who make your clothes have secure incomes that allow the to support their families and educate their children.

 

Mehera Shaw is a small company with a global reach. We’re known for our block-printed fabrics made by artisans whose families have been perfecting their skills for generations. We have our own brand of clothing and home goods and custom manufacture high-quality garments for companies in Australia, England, Ireland, Switzerland, Germany and the United States. We use organic cotton, cruelty free silk, and low-impact, AZO free dyes.

 

Everything that we make has been touched by several pairs of hands, from the men who carve intricate designs into blocks, the printers who apply the blocks to fabric, the pattern makers and cutters and stitchers who bring the clothes to life, and the pressers and packers who get them to their final destinations. Our 35 employees have permanent, full-time jobs with living wages, pensions and health care benefits. We believe their work reflects pride not only in their heritage but also in the quality of what they make for you.

 

We provide our employees with economic stability so that their families—and communities—can survive and flourish.

 

We’re launching a CleanWater4Artisans campaign to raise $35,000 for an new water filtration system that will cut Mehera Shaw’s water use by 80 percent. In addition, we plan to donate 10 percent of the money raised to pay for individual water filtrations systems for home-based printers in the villages around Jaipur.

 

When you support CleanWater4Artisans, you’re contributing to the vitality of these communities and these people who make your clothes.

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