Image from VeganEtsy.com
By Erin Trauth
Don’t get me wrong – when it comes to finding fabulous yet affordable vegan fashion options, we do have several options (check out some of our past Fashion Friday posts if you’re not sure where to start). But every now and then, when I’m looking for something vegan but one-of-a kind, I still can’t help but to feel a bit… limited. You see, before I cared as much as I do now about being good to the earth, to animals, and to my own body I could spend hours shopping. Any mall, any department store, any online boutique; any time, any place – it was all game, and the pickings for that perfect summer dress were seemingly unlimited. As we all know, conventional fashion options are abundant.
Vegan fashion options, while growing every day, are still the minority in most cities and–while I’m not saying we don’t have plenty of awesome places to shop–most are online and sometimes come sort of…stock, if you know what I mean. While awesomely eco-friendly, it’s often the case that the vegan shops have what they have, and in limited quantities. Truly unique finds are harder to come by, and, in a room full of vegan fashionistas, it’s possible to end up wearing the same style of organic hemp what-have-you. What’s worse is when something goes out of stock in a millisecond because it’s the cutest vegan piece in the store.
That’s where Etsy has saved my little fashion-loving heart. The arts and crafts site is a hotbed for one-of-a-kind vegan treasures, and, if you find a storefront you like enough, most of the owners will cater to special requests. And, if something you love gets sold, the Etsy store owners are often more than willing to make you another on special order as soon as they can. What’s more is that by buying from Etsy storefronts, you’re supporting micro-businesses in the most direct way possible.
Just a few of my recent Etsy finds:
Photo courtesy of Milk and Honey Handbags
Made-for-me vegan crossover bag? Don’t mind if I do! Made by Milk and Honey Handbags, this store features vegan and eco-friendly bags made from recycled plastic materials. Their vegan foldover clutch is completely adorable, too.
Photo courtesy of CoolCorc
For something that you won’t find anywhere else, how about some cork accessories from CoolCorc? I adore their vegan cork bracelet. With natural grain cork and great prices, you can’t go wrong here.
Photo courtesy of EatYourVegTees
If you’re all about spreading the vegan word, you can even find some great vegan statement pieces on Etsy. Try EatYourVegTees for vegan statement pins that work well to help spread the word about the vegan lifestyle.
This is only a start of some of the fun vegan fashion finds you can find on Etsy. All it takes to get started is to search “vegan” in the handmade section of Etsy. Simple!
Have you had success shopping for vegan fashion on Etsy? If so, let us know in the comments! We’d love to hear about your favorite finds.
