July Haul – my road to more sustainability

With the focus in the fashion industry shifting more and more towards sustainability, I find myself putting more thought into what I buy. I had already bought many of the clothes in my older blog posts second hand. Following a thrift store hiatus in the first half of this year, I promised myself to shop a lot more consciously from now on. This is why I decided to do a little haul every month to review what I bought and analyze my own purchasing behaviour.

Disclaimer: I am sharing what I bought every month to help me track my expenses and consumption behaviour. I may provide some background info on the materials used or brands and list my sources at the bottom of the page or in the text.
No affiliate links or other affiliation/collaboration with the brands mentioned.

American Apparel

American Apparel was my guilty pleasure 5 years ago. I bought a few bodysuits, hoodies, underwear and mom jeans back then. While I wasn’t happy with the quality of their jersey, I loved their jeans. Mine had always been too tight to roll them up and when they generally started to fit a bit snug I decided to order a new pair.

Now, some side Info – American Apparel went bankrupt in 2015. They drastically cut their assortment, closed many stores and outsourced their previously all American production to second world countries.

With those changes in production, the quality of their fabrics changed as well. In this case for the better. The denim is less stiff, while still being 100% cotton. While the pair in 2014 was very small this one came true to size, based on a normal/straight fit.

I am not that happy with the ribbed bodysuit I bought since it is super revealing – low cut around the top, while high-cut around the bottom, ugh! Furthermore, it is lacking the snap closures that were described on AA’s website at that time. They have since removed that description, so I guess I was unlucky to get some of the new batch already. However, the fabric is super soft and skin-friendly – 3,5 stars from me.

Fake Leather Pants

My leather pants were a very impulsive purchase which still turned out great. Over the past 7 years, I had been looking out for leather-ish bottoms to style with light-coloured knits and lace. I was bored and browsing when I found these on Zalando. When I first tried them on I wanted to return them because of the horizontal creases. Luckily they decrease – *finger guns* – a bit after wearing the pants for a while so I decided to keep them and just not go anywhere for the first few hours of wearing them.^^

Conclusion

I would certainly buy both pants again. As for the bodysuit, I will order different styles because this one is too revealing for my wardrobe. Considering the longevity of my first American Apparel jeans I made a great deal when I bought my new ones. They are a joy to wear and I hope they are as durable as my first pair.

As the title suggests, my goal is not only to be more conscious about how I shop, but also about sustainability and ethics. But neither AA’s self-declared commitment to being sweatshop-free, nor the viscose in my jeans will earn me a medal. However, sitting down and writing about it is definitely a step in the right direction.

Are you more of an impulsive shopper or planning your purchases in advance? Let me know in the comments and feel free to share your own haul lists!

Thank you guys for reading and see you soon!

Written by Clarissa

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