The Ultimate Ethical Alternatives to Shein, ASOS and Boohoo

Fast fashion is irresistible. Whether you like shopping for the latest styles that the likes of Shein, ASOS and Boohoo have to offer, or maybe you just love a bargain, fast fashion scratches the itch in just a few clicks.

But the more discerning shoppers want something different. You're already well aware of the impact of fast fashion. The amount of waste fashion generates. The poor working conditions and lack of pay. And we're all well aware of the need to make a change to our lifestyles in this climate emergency. Every little helps, even the clothes that you choose to wear and buy.

Here's the Ethical Alternatives to Shein, ASOS and Boohoo Fast Fashion

Sustainable Fashion Alternatives: Try These Brands

So where can you shop for your everyday fashion, right up to occasionwear that is still sustainable, ethical and doesn't cost a fortune?

Sure, there are lots of sustainable brands where you can buy brand new. Earth Wardrobe offers everyday wardrobe essentials using organic materials at low cost thanks to their supply chain efficiency. If you're looking for sustainable activewear, you can choose from the likes of Girlfriend Collective, Thought, People Tree or Gossypium. There are plenty of other ethical clothing brands that are better than buying fast fashion.

Other Sustainable, Ethical Alternatives to Shein, Alibaba, Pretty Little Thing:

Lucy and Yak - this is perhaps not the cheapest brand but all their work is high quality and they pay their workers fairly. They even resell their returns and seconds via Depop which are well worth checking out
Yesfriends.co sell organic tees made in a solar-powered FairTrade factory for just £9.50 each!
Patagonia - again, pricey but their owner just gave away the entire company to help tackle climate change. This is also a great brand for look for second hand.
Rapanui/Tee Mill - UK-based, Rapanui have a state-of-the-art factory powered by renewable energy. Their clothes had a scannable QR code for traceability. Did you know you can create your own designs and sell them using Tee Mill?

It is always worth researching sustainable fashion brands and using tools and websites to check for greenwashing.

But what is the ultimate way to buy new clothes sustainably and cheaply? The answer is to buy second hand. Hang on. Before you click away in disgust. Buying preloved is very often the cheapest (and always the most sustainable) way to find something new to you.

There are lot of second hand myths that just aren't true.

And that includes second hand garments being too expensive. You can shop our End of Season Sale with brands including L.K Bennett, Coast, All Saints, Zara, Uniqlo all for incredible prices.

How to Find Shein, ASOS and Boohoo Second Hand

You don't have to throw away your wardrobe. You don't necessarily have to stop shopping for your favourite brands. When you shop preloved, you aren't actually contributing to fast fashion. So why not try searching for second hand fashion instead.

If there's an item that you definitely have in mind, then you can search for it online.

A quick search finds Reliked who have a selection of Shein fashion. They resell clothes that are no longer needed by influencers. So you'll also find ASOS, Boohoo and much more on there.

Keep an eye out on all the usual platforms. Depop, Vinted and eBay are all popular with lots of users. You can often set up alerts so that you can automatically find something that you might like.

But with second hand shopping, it pays to be open-minded. There is a joy in digging through racks to find your special something. Sometimes you stumble across something in your size that just fits perfectly and looks great. And that might not necessarily be 'on trend'. That's okay!

At Green Heart Collective, we don't turn our noses up from fast fashion. We recognise that there are mountains of clothes in our wardrobes that are unused. That's why we sell a range of high street and fashion brands on our Vinted store. Sometimes we do come across some items that are a little more quirky. These go onto our Depop. And then we curate high quality clothing for our very own website collection. Are you based near Newcastle-upon-Tyne? Pop into our shop, where again we have our online items available to try on but also a range of offline only garments. Happy shopping!

Build Yourself a Wellbeing Wardrobe

Err, so what's a Wellbeing Wardrobe? It's ultimately all about buying a lot less new clothing and looking after the ones you already have. Ugh, but isn't this boring? What about the clothes you might need for a night out?

We all could benefit from a wardrobe audit from time to time. Often we buy clothes because we've been told we need them. Take back control and decide what you NEED for your wardrobe.

When you've worked out what you need, you've taken a big step towards a Wellbeing Wardrobe. Wellbeing Wardrobes come in all shapes and sizes. They do not have to be filled with luxury eco-friendly garments. Instead it's the clothes that you already have.

Seasons change, you get invited to exciting events and parties and then you need more clothes. The objective of a Wellbeing Wardrobe isn't to stop you enjoying clothes, nor is it to condemn yourself to the same three boring outfits. It's about doing what you can to reduce the demand for virgin materials to make brand new clothes.

Have you thought about renting outfits for a special occasion, for example?