Tuesday 21 April 2015

Love is not self-seeking

I want to put this post in the context of a social media campaign I'm supporting: This year's "Fashion Revolution."

For more information please see fashionrevolution.org 

How many of you remember the Rana Plaza factory collapse in 2013? It was only two years and resulted in the deaths of over 1000 people but like so many of today's disasters, it seemed so distant and removed from my existence and I struggled to remember what on earth this website was going on about.

Due to this disaster and problems across the board in the fashion industry, Fashion Revolution is encouraging social media users to ask fashion labels "Who made my clothes?" The idea is to upload a photo of yourself, with your clothes inside out, to social media and tag the designers asking them the question. 

Now I want to make a very important point here: This isn't a guilt trip. I have absolutely no interest in guilting you or riding about on my fabulous steed called Self-Righteousness (self-righteousness, self-seeking, ahhh it's all coming together). Rather, it all comes back to that Corinthians passage.

As Got Questions so eloquently put it, the opposite of self-seeking is God seeking. To fight against out natural self-centredness we are instructed to first love our God and secondly to love our neighbour as we love ourselves.

Supporting ethical fashion is the loving choice and this a small way I can contribute.

I used to groan at the mention of ethical fashion thinking, "Not this again!" However a couple from church recently shared this article by Leah Wise. With love and gentless Leah Wise shares her experience and why, as a Christian, she believes in ethical fashion. This is what won me over : the love. For once it wasn't someone riding their fabulous steed Self-Righteousness...


Her pragmatism was also greatly appreciate as ethical fashion is expensive!! To shift to ethical shopping involves a change in mindset. We live in a highly comsumer driven world where more is better. Fast fashion is cheap for a reason: someone else pays.

It's a tough situation and I really enocurage you to check out her article and blog, Style Wise, to see her tips and tricks for ethical shopping.

By choosing to support brands that ensure safe and fair working conditions we are loving others. Self-seeking says, "those shoes are really cute and sooo much cheaper than those sandals from <insert ethical brand here. Let's get 'em." Love says, "Those shoes are really cute and sooo much cheaper than those sandals from <blah>. But they're cheap for a reason. And someone's life, no matter how cute these cheap shoes are, is worth far, far more than this." 

In reality I spend MUCH longer agonising over extra expense versus the cheapness factor. Really it's my "needs" versus someone else needs (you know, a fair wage, food, housing.. Those sort of things) However God's voice whispers quietly: Love is not self-seeking.

Stay tuned for an amusing image of me with my clothes inside out on #FashRev. And if you choose to participate I'd love to see the photos! 

2 comments:

Leah Wise said...

This is a beautiful way to frame it and thanks for your kind words about my post. It's not easy to take a step back and change our spending habits - I still struggle with it - but it's so worth it to try.

MB said...

Aw thanks so much for taking time to read this and comment :)

Yeah it's difficult when I go out with friends and trying to stick to those values when it would be so much easier to just buy into fast fashion. But as you say, it's totally worth it.