.png)
I’m excited to share some of my favorite sustainable brands, secondhand platforms, and online sewing + DIY classes. This list will continue to grow as I learn about new businesses and designers putting sustainability first in innovative and stylish ways.
Some of these links contain affiliate links in which I earn a commission if you make a purchase, this is at no extra charge to you but helps me run this blog. Thank you so much for your support as a reader and follower of ThoughtFul Flamingo.
Sustainable Brands
Ace & Jig
Price: Dresses, jumpsuits, shirts, pants and more from $100-$350
Throughout their many years collaborating at fashion brand, friends and co-workers Cary Vaughan and Jenna Wilson spent a lot of time bonding over a mutual love of antique textiles and how it would someday play into their own line. Enter Ace & Jig, the fabric-focused collections they launched in 2009. Centered around on one-of-a-kind materials sourced from India, Ace & Jig is one of the sustainable brands packed with playful, personality-filled pieces—think slouchy plaid shifts, the striped Ace & Jig Heather Top, and graphic tanks—guaranteed to elevate both your outfit and mood.
All Birds
Prices: Shoes $95-$115
Footwear brand Allbirds uses merino wool to manufacture the textile uppers of its Wool Runners shoes, which also feature laces made from recycled plastic bottles and insoles produced using castor bean oil. Allbirds co-founder Tim Brown was disappointed with the synthetic materials used to manufacture most footwear and set out to develop an alternative that is both more comfortable and more sustainable. The brand now also sells underwear and socks.
Alternative Apparel
Prices: Tees, sweats, shorts, jackets, jeans, bags, and more $10-$210
Founded in 1995, Alternative Apparel (now a a HANESbrandInc. company) is a fashion lifestyle brand best known for comfort, simplicity, and commitment to sustainability. Founder and Chief Creative Officer Greg Alterman set out to create the perfect t-shirt—one designed for fashion, made for comfort, and tailored for a flawless fit. Today, Alternative has elevated the tee from casual basic to fashion-forward staple, simultaneously broadening its horizons to offer a complete collection of ready-to-wear clothing and accessories.
Amour Vert
Price: Tops range from $40 to $160
Amour Vert has sustainable basics and bright, colorful pieces so it definitely belongs in some 90s fashion inspiration . Items are made in limited quantities to ensure the highest production standard and eliminate excess waste.
In addition, 97% of items are made in California, most within a few miles of its San Francisco offices. Amour Vert also partner directly with mills to develop fabrics that are sustainable, soft, and durable. And the brand starts with the most sustainable fibers and raw materials available.
Baggu
Price: Bags from $10-$260
The brand’s goal is to make every bag you need for your daily routines. Baggu creates products to have long, useful lives. The design uses minimal waste and sustainable materials. The company also has a long-standing partnership with its manufacturer in China, which is committed to ethical and environmentally responsible practices. Learn more here.
Beyond Yoga
Prices: yoga shorts, leggings, tops, bras, bodysuits and more $23-150
Former yoga instructor Jodi Guber Brufsky launched her lifestyle label Beyond Yoga in 2006, looking to construct apparel that is relaxed and functional. The silhouettes are designed to complement curves and flatter the figure, earning the brand a devoted following. Cut from comfortable materials and detailed with lively patterns and embellishments, Beyond Yoga apparel transcends the studio and is easily incorporated into any active-casual ensemble.
Birkenstock
Price: Shoes from $39-$150
Along with a cushioned, crazy comfortable footbed, and effortless, slip-on slip-off design, every pair of Birkenstock shoes has nearly three hundred years of history built in. Over the last decades (including the 90s!), styles like the Birkenstock Arizona sandals and Boston clogs have proved enduringly popular, seamlessly transitioning from the go-to accessory of ‘60s hippies, to a grungy ’90s-era staple, to, most recently, one of the most frequently spotted shoes on street style blogs.
Boyish
Price: Shirts, jeans, jumpsuits, and more from $40-$150
Boyish Jeans is a collection of sustainable women’s denim founded by California native, Jordan Nodarse. Inspired by the stylish women who often describe their personal style as “Boyish”, the brand utilizes men’s fabrics and fits tailored for a woman’s body when creating all collections.
Boyish utilizes ethical and sustainable practices when developing and manufacturing its products. All jeans are produced with sustainable fabrics through a completely environmentally-friendly and cruelty-free process. Boyish Jeans’ efforts in sustainable fashion include working with ethical factories, using less harmful chemicals during the dyeing process, utilizing one-third of the amount of water typically needed to produce a pair of jeans, and working exclusively with recycled fabrics and materials for everything put out by the brand.
Cuyana
Price: Shirts, pants, blazer, leather bags, vest, dresses, and more, $35-$400
Cuyana designs premium women’s essentials, inspired by a philosophy of fewer, better things. Each piece is made from highest-quality materials and created by skilled craftsmen throughout Europe, South America, China, and the United States. The brand has new arrivals but celebrates its “Core Collection“, a permanent assortment of beloved signature styles, featuring timeless pieces designed to endure and defy season or trend.
Eileen Fisher
Price: Dresses, loungewear, tunics, tops, sweaters, accessories, and more $50-$550
Eileen Fisher was one of the first major US sustainable brands to believe clothes should be ethical, timeless, well-made clothes designed to work together, wear effortlessly, and be part of a responsible lifecycle.
In 2009, the brand also launched Renew, a take-back program that gives clothes life beyond your closet. You bring back your old pieces, and the brand finds them another home—or turns them into entirely new designs.
Fjällräven
Price: Bags $30-$150
As a teenager, designer Ake Nordin was already breaking new ground in the outdoor apparel industry. After discovering that popular backpacks did not offer optimum comfort and ventilation, Nordin borrowed his mother’s sewing machine and set to work on his first item: a framed backpack. That original concept eventually turned into Fjällräven, Nordin’s line of functional, durable, and chic outdoor equipment. Since its launch in the 1960s, Fjällräven backpacks and equipment make up a revolutionary, premier collection of smart and innovative adventure gear.
Girlfriend Collective
Prices: Sports bras, leggings, windbreakers, skorts, run shorts, and more $38-$128
Husband and wife Ellie and Quang Dinh founded Girlfriend Collective after spotting a gap in the market for luxurious, responsibly produced activewear. Using fabrics made from recycled water bottles, fishing nets and other plastic waste, the brand designs high-performance leggings, tops and sports bras in fresh colorways achieved using eco-friendly dyes. Don’t miss the popular ‘Compressive’ styles.
Kotn
Prices: T-shirts, jeans, trousers, turtlenecks, and more for $20-$200
Kotn was born from a desire for better basics: premium quality, ethically made, honestly priced. Using direct trade practices, the brand sources raw cotton straight from the farmers in the Nile Delta and Faiyum, Egypt, and works directly with responsibly-run cut-and-sew facilities in the region. That means fair wages throughout its supply chain, better prices for customers, and traceability throughout.
Made Trade
Prices: Varies, home decor, furniture, clothes, accessories, gifts, & more
Made Trade actually calls itself the ethical alternative to Anthropologie! With 2750+ ethically made products (and growing) across clothing, shoes, accessories, home decor, furniture, lighting and more, it can more than make that claim. The team hand-selects only the most artfully-designed, ethically-made goods that put people and our planet first.
Mara Hoffman
Prices: Dresses, swimwear, pants, jumpsuits, and more $70-$500
Focused on bright colors, energizing graphics, and global influences, Mara Hoffman’s bold, uplifting aesthetic quickly made waves when she launched her namesake label in 2000. Fifteen years later, she shifted her focus to sustainable materials and production methods—adopting a more sophisticated aesthetic to match. Today, airy Mara Hoffman dresses, color-blocked skirts, and high-waisted bikinis round out the brand’s polished-eclectic offerings.
MATT & NAT
Prices: Backpacks, totes, fanny packs, makeup bags, footwear, sunglasses, jackets, and more $30-$150
MATT & NAT is a vegan line designed in Montreal, Canada since 1995. From the start, the brand has been committed to not using leather or any other animal-based materials in bag designs. In addition, bag linings are also made out of 100% recycled plastic bottles.
Nisolo
Prices: Shoes range from $88-$250
Nisolo creates intentionally designed, ethically made products (mostly shoes), sold at fair prices. The brand’s vision is to push the fashion industry in a more sustainable direction—where success is based on more than just offering the cheapest price—a direction that not only values exceptional design but the producer and the planet just as much as the end consumer. Check out their mules, flats, sandals, and Chelsea boots.
People Tree
Prices: Dresses, jumpsuits, shirts, pants, underwear, and more $15-$150
People Tree is a pioneer of Fair Trade, ethical, and sustainable brands worldwide. The brand designs and produces quality, fashionable garments for women and men using Fair Trade certified organic cotton and sustainable materials. Clothes are sustainable and also colorful, and with patterns.
Prana
Prices: Yoga pants, jackets, swimwear, shirts, and more, $30-$150
Prana creates versatile, stylish, and sustainable clothing and accessories that you can wear during every activity, every adventure, every day. Clothes are great for yoga, hiking, travel, climbing, and just hanging. How do we know? The brand focuses on details but isn’t afraid to go bold when it comes to colors and geometric patterns. Prana loves to combine classic style with modem materials, mindful of where and how items are made.
RE/DONE
Price: Jeans $150 – $300
RE/DONE jeans are a celebration of Levi’s jean’s past and a continuation of the jean’s story. The brand takes the vintage denim apart at the seams, repurposing it as the fabric of new jeans. All jeans are remade in Downtown Los Angeles uses water-conserving methods and no harsh chemicals. Quantities are limited since each pair is handpicked, hand-cut, and one-of-a-kind.
ROUNDS + SQUARE
Price: Tees, bandanas, shawls from $28-$290
Designed with passion, driven by values, ROUND + SQUARE is a conscious fashion brand powered by values and vision to bring together style, substances, and sustainability in support of gender equality. Tees are 100% organic cotton and feature feminist quotes and statements.
Sells: Clothing, Accessories
Ethics: Female Founder, Fair Trade, Gives Back, Organic
Made In: Turkey, Italy, India
Stella McCartney
Price: Shoes, dresses, swimwear, shirts, pants, and more from $70-$1,000+
After successfully following in Karl Lagerfeld’s footsteps as the creative director of Chloé, designer Stella McCartney left in 2001 to launch her own ethically-minded label. Her cruelty-free line, which avoids fur and leather and practices sustainable production, is proof that vegan materials can be wildly covetable. The collection’s irresistible mix of sharp menswear influence and whimsical femininity has kept Stella McCartney clothing, bags, and swimwear in high demand ever since.
Veja
Price: $90 – $170
Since 2005, VEJA’s goal is to create sneakers differently by mixing social projects, ecological materials, and design. The brand uses organic cotton and Amazonian rubber directly from producer associations based in Brazil and Peru. It also uses recycled plastic bottles to create a mesh in some sneakers.
VETTA
Prices: Blouses, pants, jumpsuits, and more $80-$150
VETTA creates mini capsule wardrobes made up of 5 versatile pieces that can be mixed and matched to create a month’s worth of outfits. You can buy the entire capsule or shop individual pieces to start building. The designs versatile can be worn multiple ways, and everything mixes and matches.
The brand primarily uses Tencel ( made from sustainably harvested wood pulp that’s processed in a closed-looped system that recycles solvents), Organic Cotton, and deadstock fabric (leftover fabric that we save from the landfill and give a new life).
Secondhand Platforms
‘A Curated Thrift’ Subscription Box
Price: $35 – $44 a month
A Curated Thrift is a clothing subscription box that sends curated secondhand fashion & vintage straight to your door. Just choose your box type and fill out the fun and quick style survey. First box ships in one week and every box after that ships the first 2 weeks of the month. Use coupon code 2020SUMMER to get 20% off your entire order.
ASOS Marketplace
Price: Varies by seller
Now don’t go to the typical ASOS site you may be used to—check out Marketplace instead. Marketplace launched in 2010 with just 20 sellers and since then we’ve become the leading online platform for independent and sustainable brands and vintage boutiques. 800 boutiques from across the globe have a storefront on ASOS Marketplace. You will find plenty of small business stores giving you 90s fashion inspiration.
You can find all your 90s fashion inspiration favorites like vintage 90s sportswear from brands like Tommy Hilfiger and Champion, artisanal hand-made jewelry, and more.
Etsy
Price: Varies
Etsy is a marketplace where people around the world connect to buy and sell handmade and vintage goods. Etsy also gives independent, creative businesses around the world the tools to be successful. Find vintage clothing, handmade gifts, and so much more sold directly from small businesses and designers. Again, so many small business stores giving 90s fashion inspiration.
Vestiaire Collective
Price: Varies, items are priced at up to 70% off retail price.
Vestiaire Collective is my favorite for premium and luxury pre-owned fashion due to its range of designers and deals. The global platform is unique due to its carefully curated catalog of over 600,000 desirable items. Once sold, pieces are expertly checked for quality and authenticity. Instead of buying new brands like Adidas, Champion, Dr. Martens giving 90s fashion inspiration you can get them second on Vestaire Collective.
Sewing + DIY Online Classes
Painting with Thread: Modern Embroidery for Beginners
Platform: Skillshare
Offered by: Embroiderer Badass Danielle Clough
Starts: Ongoing
Duration: You can do this beginner embroidery class in your own time, includes 1 hour and 30 minutes of video lessons
Price: Skillshare offers 2 months free, 8€ a month ongoing if you pay for the year, 14€ a month if you pay month to month
Danielle Clough does the coolest embroidery and has worked with brands and artists like Nike, Gucci, Adobe, and Netflix to create unique embroidery pieces. (I mean how much cooler does it get than a Tina Fey embroidery piece.)
Her groundbreaking techniques and nontraditional materials mixed with her authentic and fun teaching style make the class super fun.
She teaches you how to prepare your needle, about the thread, and fabric, basic stitches, and even her signature color-blending stitching technique.
Cute Embroidery Cacti. Hand Embroidery 101
Platform: Skillshare
Offered by: Hoops and Expectations Embroderier Cristina Alcantara
Starts: Ongoing
Duration: Can do in your own time, includes 18 minutes of video lessons
Price: Skillshare offers 2 months free, 8€ a month ongoing if you pay for the year, 14€ a month if you pay month to month
If you want to start off with a simple and short embroidery project this class may be more for you. You will learnall about must have embroidery materials and supplies, how to transfer your designs onto fabric (what I really wanted to know!), how to create 4 different stitches, and how to finish the back of your hoop.
The instructor says, “Let me show you that embroidery is not a grandma thing anymore. It can be a lifestyle, a hobby, a passion, a moment of relaxing or any other thing that it can to inspire you.”
Intro to Visible Mending by Hand: Fix Your Jeans – Simply and Beautifully!
Platform: Skillshare
Offered by: The Far Woods Instructors Nina and Sonya Montenegro
Starts: Ongoing
Duration: You can do in your own time, includes 22 minutes of video lessons
Price: Skillshare offers 2 months free, 8€ a month ongoing if you pay for the year, 14€ a month if you pay month to month
I am all about visible and hand mending during this quarantine and this is one of my favorite beginner sewing classes. I just need some help and this short class showed me the basic tools I needed to get started. In this class, you learn how to fix a hole in the knee of your jeans by hand, with a few basic tools, in a few simple steps. You also don’t need to know how to sew to take this class.
They focus on getting you comfortable with two basic hand-sewing stitches: the whip stitch and running stitch.
The class is taught by Nina and Sonya Montenegro, a sister design and maker team living on an organic farm outside of Portland, running their creative studio called The Far Woods.
Sewing 101: Building A Strong Sewing Foundation
Platform: Udemy
Offered by: Let’s Learn To Sew Instructor Margaret Smith
Starts: Ongoing
Duration: Can do in your own time, includes 2 hours on-demand video, 6 articles, 8 downloadable resources, and full lifetime access
Price: €19.99
This course follows the same format Margaret has used to teach hundreds of people how to sew in her studio, fabric stores, and schools for over 15 years. It is another one of my favorite beginner sewing classes.
She starts right from the beginning (yay for beginner sewing classes!), so don’t worry if you’ve never sewed before.
You will need a sewing machine though to participate in the teachings. For example, she starts by taking a quick look at the sewing machine and some of the tools used in sewing. You’ll learn how to thread a machine, cut fabric, stitches and seam finishes, how to sew a pillow, and more.
Pattern Cutting & Making for Absolute Beginners – Fashion
Platform: Udemy
Offered by: Pure Pattern Cutting Instructor Caroline Barulis
Starts: Ongoing
Duration: Can do in your own time, included 1.5 hours on-demand video, full lifetime access
Price: €19.99
This is a perfect short course to teach you the basic fundamentals of pattern cutting & making and one of the best beginner sewing classes online. The instructor covers pattern cutting basics, basic garment construction, tools and equipment needed, necklines and seems, and how to create a basic shift dress and basic pencil dress patterns.
The course is taught across video only.