"Consumerism" 6 Considerations when Buying Clothes.

6 deliberations as consumers – easy choices regarding clothing & accessories

This blog ponders consumerism: easy choices and fabrics when buying clothing - 6 considerations.

Firstly, these are simply thoughts on fibres and clothes in general. This blog is not a ‘you must do this or that’ kind of lecture. These are simply considerations!

So, let’s dive right into these 6 considerations.

1] Easy choices. 

Shopping for clothes is a necessity. We all wear them! Schools usually prefer their students and staff to dress in uniform. As do many workplaces. Immediately, this dictates a ‘set’ of clothes for these settings and occupations. No need to make choices here, they are already made on our behalf.

This leaves our leisure time. Here we can choose the fibres we prefer to dress in: polyester, wool, nylon, viscose, acrylic, cotton, modal, bamboo, and so on.

Easy choices, as we either buy and wear what is set as uniform, or we let our ‘likes’ in colours and fabrics guide us.

2] Fabrics.

Delving a little deeper, the fabric bases on offer are ever-growing. One can now buy fabrics and clothing made from birch trees, recycled soft drink bottles, bamboo plants and more. Natural fibres include silk, cotton, hemp, linen or flax, and wool (alpaca, sheep etc.). There are arguments as to what constitutes a ‘natural’ fibre due to the process it undergoes to become a yarn which can be spun into fabric. This is for another blog!

First preference for most items sewn and sold within Planet Terra are cotton, followed by linen and some small amounts of PUL (polyurethane laminate) to satisfy customer needs.

3] Allergy friendly fabrics.

A lot of my time has been invested into fabrics in relation to skin sensitivity before I founded Planet Terra. Interestingly, for both babies and adults alike, fine wool infused with silver, or wool blended with silk, are a great solution for those with skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis and dermatitis. This is purely personal reading, not a medical recommendation here.

One would think wool would be a scratchy and irritating fabric on the skin, but it has come a long way in the last one to two decades and is now a soft and smooth fabric, cool in summer and warm in winter.

4] Organic cotton.

This is an affordable alternative to the above options. These days, quality organic cotton clothing, bedding and toweling is readily available in Australia. Please ask if you need a few businesses/shops recommendations. I am not going to list them here.

Within Planet Terra’s growing range of products, I have always pointed out that I have an increasing range of organic and certified organic fabrics (is there a difference? I am not sure, to be honest!) available for customers to choose from when they place custom orders.

5] Consumerism.

Let’s look at this. The dictionary defines this as:

 “a social and economic order in which the aspirations of many individuals include the acquisition of goods and services beyond those necessary for survival or traditional displays of status.” (Source: Wikipedia)

Let’s read that again and ponder. Nothing needs to be added here.

6] How Planet Terra fits into this.

My first instinct and obvious thought here is: “I am simply adding to the problem!”

Quite bluntly and on the surface: Yes!

On a deeper level, maybe not. When we buy well-made, quality items, we ‘consume’ less. We do away with single-use, throw-away and disposable products, and that mentality.

Deb, from Stalia (Stalia Design – Instagram) recently called clothing “disposable clothing/fashion”. That term has been on repeat in my mind. She is right. Huge department stores offer just that. And fashion needs to be just that in order to continue to make money, that is the economics/business of fashion, I also understand that!

I have noticed that a lot of my customers use words like “quality” and “well made” when they receive their custom orders, or purchase ready-made items. In a way, this is not good for my business, as the items I offer are hopefully long-lasting and will not need to be replaced for quite some years. 😊

And on this note, let’s finish. Business versus the Planet’s future.

I love to sew with 100% cotton as it is produced by nature and will compost back into nature once we are done with it. Surely that’s not a bad thing?