Blood, Sweat and Tees.

I am the first to admit that shopping is a keen interest of mine. Nothing really compares to browsing the rails with your friends and picking out that perfect outfit that you know will make you feel a million bucks. But lately I have become even more aware that my self indulgence could very easily be perpetuating one of the most abominable crimes of our day; human slavery. The majority of my high street favourites all source their clothing from off-shore sweatshops that violate labour rights and keep the world's poor firmly in their poverty. Some argue that sweatshops do not use slaves but actually pay their workers and provide them a means of an income. But this is not always the case and the majority of sweatshops have such horrifying working conditions, low pay and long hours that their workers are most definitely not 'better off'.

The problem is, for us all the way in Australia, our continual consumption of these goods unfortunately fund this exploitation and affirm that it can continue to go on. So what can we do about it?

Well ...

The most practical tip would be to get ethical-fashion savvy and keep an eye out for an ECA label (Ethical Clothing Australia) on your purchases. This means that the product was made in Australia and the company adheres to fair working conditions. For a list of these companies click here.

Another thing would be to make some noise about it, write to these companies, boycott the worst offenders and give your money to some of the great new ethical-fashion company's that you can find on my previous posts

My response, inspired by my Saturday morning trip to Glebe Markets, is to make it myself! After seeing some stunning jewelery and very cute clothing I may just have to get out the sewing machine and get a little creative! However, it could be disastrous ... just watch this space!