The abundance and richness of discussion that have sprung up around Slow Fashion October is already beyond whatever I may have anticipated, and I continue to do my best to keep up. If you haven’t read the comments and blog posts on this week’s theme post, that alone could keep you busy for a bit. I’m also attempting to highlight some of the standout posts at Instagram by mentioning them on the @slowfashionoctober feed. If you’re not technically on Instagram, click through to that feed in your web browser and explore those. I highly recommending spending some quality time with the entire #slowfashionoctober Instagram feed, though — it’s pretty amazing. And also the hashtag activity at Twitter.

I’m planning to do an Elsewhere-style post every Friday this month, as a way to highlight some of the great blogger contributions and also to mention some other/related worthwhile links, so here we go:

SLOW FASHION OCTOBER

– Z’s origin story cracked me up (and she also did a great post recently about some ethical shoe brands)

– I love Felicia Semple’s thoughts and her focus for the month on making herself the frocks she never gets to, but don’t miss this earlier post from her about the human brain and desire

– Karyn Valino is spending the month revisiting patterns she sewed when she was new to sewing — read her intro and keep up with her series as it develops here

– Then there’s Liesl Gibson on living with plenty

– Fibre Sprite on the distinction between sustainability and wasting less

– and Kristine Vejar on the evolution of her Seam Allowance club (in which she also mentions a few more good shoe companies)

RELATED

– The case for expensive clothes: “The next time you buy something, spend a whole lot on it. Enough that it makes you sweat a little.” (thx, Kay)

– Why I wear the exact same thing to work every day: “To state the obvious, a work uniform is not an original idea. There’s a group of people that have embraced this way of dressing for years—they call it a suit.” (thx, Jennifer)

– The hypocrisy of “helping the poor”: “Every so often, you hear grotesquely wealthy American chief executives announce in sanctimonious tones the intention to use their accumulated hundreds of millions, or billions, “to lift people out of poverty.” …  In most cases, they have made their fortunes by impoverishing whole American communities, having outsourced their manufacturing to China or India, Vietnam or Mexico.” (thx, Elizabeth)

– Vintage Kate Davies: “And we luxury knitters wrap ourselves in fuzzy notions of domestic continuity and tradition, consume mountains of expensive yarn, and somehow still manage to pass off the results as utilitarian and homespun rather than extravagant.” (thx, Brynn)

– Vintage Ysolda: “I pretty much help people to make their own clothes for a living, but I make a very small percentage of my own wardrobe. In many ways, I’m not sure that opting out of the global garment industry is a solution.” (thx, Ashley)

– See also the URLs Bristol Ivy shared in this IG post

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In Fringe Supply Co. news, a lot of you have asked for photos of the Double Basketweave Cowl worked up in the undyed Sincere Sheep Luminous and I’m happy to finally have these to share. (Thanks to Jo for knitting the sample!) This version was also knitted with 3 repeats of the pattern instead of 4, for those who’ve wondered about making it a bit narrower. We have a good cache of the undyed cowl kits for you in the shop right now, and we’ll have more of the indigo soon! And in the spirit of Slow Fashion October, I’ll note that all Sincere Sheep yarns are responsibly sourced and naturally dyed.

Have a great weekend, everyone! I’ll see you on the Slow feed.

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PREVIOUSLY: Elsewhere, Cowichan edition