The Organic Clothing Debate – Worth Considering?

Organic Clothing - Consider It?

With more and more pith and vigor every day, the UK public is being told that it really should be looking toward organic clothing as the only clothing for the future. A veritable arsenal of outspoken supporters is growing by the day and trying to push the message that to have any real beneficial impact on the environment for the years and decades to come, the public as a whole needs to make concerted efforts to favor organic clothing, or ideally switch to organic clothing exclusively.

Therefore, is organic clothing just another fad with little to nothing of value, or is it the way of the future?

Say What?

First of all, it is, of course, vital to clarify what organic clothing refers to. In the simplest of terms, organic clothing is the kind of clothing that has been made not only of 100% natural and organic materials but by way of a process that is also 100% organic and uses no synthetic products, chemicals, or compounds.

This is where true organic differs from standard “natural” clothing, as in the case of the latter, the material may be organic, but the process used to create the garments is anything but.

As far as motivation goes, it’s a simple case of trying to prevent tens of millions of tons of harmful toxins and chemicals from finding their way back into the Earth and, ultimately, our water supply every year, resulting from mainstream manufacturing techniques. Organic manufacturing produces not a single shred of anything that stands to harm the planet or its people, which of course, sounds like a pretty appealing concept.

The Benefits

As far as the buyer goes, the immediate benefit of 100% organic clothing is the distinct lack of chemicals and toxins, which otherwise would solely creep into the wearer’s body and not exactly benefit their health.

They are among the most comfortable clothes and fabrics to be found on the face of the Earth, can be used to create many styles and designs possible with synthetics, and are also considerably more hard-wearing than their conventional counterparts.

And of course, there’s also the satisfaction that comes with doing the so-called “bit” for the planet that everyone should be doing.

And the Downside?

However, it is anything but a one-sided story, and there are still plenty of critics having their say. For one thing, organic clothing as a whole is still considerably more expensive to stock up on than regular clothing. It is in lower demand and thus in shorter supply, leading to higher prices, if only slightly.

And then there’s the ongoing argument that so many organic clothing suppliers are not offering anything of the sort. They use the moniker either deliberately or due to their misunderstanding of the subject and summarily charge higher prices for standard High Street wares that aren’t close to organic.

All in all, it’s a situation where the organic clothing industry does have an incredible amount to offer but will not reach its potential until demand is sufficiently high. And market won’t reach such heights until supply increases and prices fall, which depends on 100% on-demand.

It’s a bit of a circle that’s become stuck.

By Lisa Morton

Lisa Morton considers herself the antichrist to the mainstream fashion world, priding herself not on blogging what we all should be doing but rather what we’re doing wrong. She shares a home with her partner of four years, where he has amassed a pretty bewildering tweed blazer collection.

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