Snakeskin, Styled Two Ways

If you’ve gone clothes shopping lately, you may have noticed a new trend hitting the racks: snakeskin! This animal pattern is popping up everywhere. Unsure about how to wear it? I’ve teamed up with my favorite ethical fashion boutique, The Flourish Market, to show you a couple of different ways to style this versatile pattern! (And I’ve got a coupon link for 15% off your first order at The Flourish Market, too!)

Y’all have been asking me for outfit styling posts for a while now. While I often blog about fashion, I come at the topic from more of a social and environmental justice perspective. I don’t actually consider myself much of a fashion expert! So, I asked Katy, Chief of Style at The Flourish Market, to help show me (and y’all!) different ways to wear one of the latest trends in the fashion world, all while keeping it ethical! (You can read more here about why I choose to purchase ethically made clothing.)

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Fasting from Clothing for Lent: A Social Justice Perspective

This post was written for my church’s series on fasting. Each week of Lent, the church focuses on a different item for fasting (food, clothes, waste, etc.). During the week focused on clothing, church members are encouraged to fast from clothing in some shape or fashion. Examples include wearing only two outfits the entire week, cleaning out unused clothing and donating it, or fasting from buying new clothes for the duration of Lent. I personally encourage fasting from buying fast, exploitative fashion, not just during Lent, but as a lifelong goal. Read on to find out more!

Fasting from Clothing for Lent: A Social Justice Perspective | Fairly Southern

We tend to envision fasting as a practice of recentering our hearts around God rather than some other object (in this case, clothing). We often treat clothing as an idol, coping mechanism, and giver of self-worth, when God should be those things instead. Working on our personal relationship with clothing and God is an important thing to do this week, but in this reflection I want to focus on a different aspect of fasting: A change in our hearts that results in social action.

I’m not going to lie: This reflection discusses difficult things, like the role we personally play in human trafficking. But if there’s any group willing to dig deep and not turn away from hard topics, it’s my church family. So let’s jump in!

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Why I Buy Organic

This post is part of my Why Series here on the blog. I often write about fair trade, eco-friendly, socially conscious living, but I am not always able to fully address in each of my blog posts WHY I choose to live this way. This series goes into greater detail about my why!

4 Reasons to Buy Organic | Fairly Southern. Is organic really better for you? The answer is yes! Find out why organic production practices are good for your health, the environment, and others.

Organic vegetables, organic clothing, organic baby formula, organic toys…the label “organic” seems to be everywhere these days. The merit of organic products is a hotly debated topic, especially since buying organic tends to come with a higher price tag. Today, I’m explaining what “organic” means and sharing why I personally choose to shop for organic products when possible.

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Small Joys: Volume 16

Small Joys: Volume 16 | Fairly Southern

All the little things bringing me joy lately:

1. Yoga. I purchased a trial membership at Colors of Yoga this month, and it has been the best thing. I don’t know how often I’ll be able to keep going as my schedule gets busier toward the end of spring/summer, but I hope I can continue to attend class somewhat regularly. I feel great when I’m doing yoga consistently, and I love the ethos behind this studio. I anticipate sharing more on the blog/Instagram in the future!

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Ethically Made Women’s Workwear

In this guest post, ethical fashion enthusiast Elizabeth Langefeld shares about the challenges she has faced finding ethically made workwear and recommends 12 sources for polished, office-ready looks!

Ethically Made Women's Workwear Recommendations | Fairly Southern. Work outfit inspiration, business casual, office attire.

The great thing about being in a book club is reading books I never would have found otherwise. Even if the book isn’t memorable, the discussion is.

Three years ago at one such meeting, Laura brought up that she had looked at the Slavery Footprint website and was changing the way she was shopping. I had long been trying to purchase items made in the USA to support families in our country, and I was concerned about the origin of my clothes made elsewhere but unsure of how to combat the issue. How could I reconcile the values I hold as a Christian with the often abusive practices of manufacturing? It felt overwhelming, but worthwhile, to find garments where I could trust that those in the production line had been paid fairly and were working in safe conditions.

Laura pointed me to a few sources, which helped me find more sources, and now I can’t imagine ever going back to my “old way” of shopping. I actually feel better when I’m in clothing from companies that pay workers a living wage. I’ve found that while the price point is a little higher, I’m buying items I love and am therefore buying less overall. My clothing budget hasn’t really changed, thankfully!

I’ve been very fortunate to not find it difficult to source items I like that are ethically made. Unfortunately, though, selection seems to be limited in the workwear category. While we are in an increasingly casual society, many of us do still need to look nice at work! On a given day in higher education, I may meet with a dean, attend a conference, or network with alumni. I don’t work in an office that expects suits (thankfully!), but for every “casual Friday,” I’ve got plenty of days to look nice.

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9 Sustainable Travel Essentials

9 Sustainable Travel Essentials | Fairly Southern

Y’all know that I always think it’s important to live sustainably, and times when I’m traveling are no exception! In fact, I would argue that it is especially important to be eco-minded when traveling since traveling tends to be inherently environmentally unfriendly. You typically burn more fossil fuels than normal when you travel long distance by car or plane. And, you’re likely using more water, since your hotel towels and sheets are probably washed way more frequently than you would wash your own towels and sheets at home. It’s great to be able to offset some of these environment ills with some sustainable packing!

I tend to travel at least a couple of times a year and just got back from a fantastic vacation in Belize. I have discovered some great products that help me be a bit more earth-friendly while traveling. Here are some of my favorite sustainable travel essentials:

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The Best Travel Pants: Athleta Headlands Hybrid Tight Review

Disclaimer: This post is NOT sponsored and is my unbiased, independent review.

The Best Travel Pants: Athleta Headlands Hybrid Tight Review | Fairly Southern

When I learned recently that Athleta is now a Certified B Corporation, I freaked. out. I had actually never shopped at Athleta before and only vaguely knew what they were all about, but I was over the moon excited to finally have an ethical big box store at our local mall!

A couple of weeks before my trip to Belize, I realized that my wardrobe was a bit lacking in outdoorsy gear. I needed some athletic tops, and I also wanted to find some cute, quick-dry athletic pants that I could wear out into the jungle but also feel good about wearing to dinner later in the day.

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Why Couples Need to Stop Having Children

Why Couples Need to Stop Having Children | Fairly Southern

The CDC recently announced that the U.S. fertility rate has dropped, with women having on average 1.8 children each. This number is low enough for negative population growth. Many news outlets and opinion articles have portrayed this information in a negative light, to which I strongly object.

For example, CNN reports that the executive director of the American Public Health Association is “concerned” about these new statistics. A Medium subheading discusses who is to “blame” for the declining fertility rate before then going on to call out other news outlets for sensationalist headlines (for example, Insider’s “The U.S. Is in the Danger Zone for a ‘Demographic Time Bomb’”). This negative language assumes (incorrectly, in my opinion) that a drop in the U.S. fertility rate is a bad thing.

Here is why the declining U.S. fertility rate is a good thing, and why those of us who are of childbearing age should personally strive to continue to keep the birth rate low.

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