Since I went through my punk rocker phase that started back in the summer of 1999, I have been wearing second (or third, or fourth) hand clothes. Primarily these used clothes have been from thrift stores like St. Vincent's, The Salvation Army, Goodwill or Savers--non-profits where the clothes were donated by charitable citizens to help those less fortunate.

Occasionally I have gotten second hand clothes at consignment shops like New 2 You, 2nd Appearance or Plato's Closet. Things at these stores tend to cost more because both the store and the previous owner are out to take a slice of the sale.

And some of the most expensive second hand clothes I have purchased have come from fashion themed boutiques such as Ragstock or Hollywood Mirror. These stores (I think, but don't quote me on it) get used clothes from above said places and maybe a few grandparents attics and yard sales to resell at a profit. Sometimes they have even altered used clothes to make them a little more attractive, trendy or whatever.

The cheapest used clothes I have scored have been free. Some friends and relatives are up on current fashion a little more than I and give me their castoffs when they update their wardrobe. This is much appreciated, although I don't necessarily like to support a chasing after trend.

So, through the last 9 years, I have been very open to and glad for access to good quality used clothes. However, until this summer I was buying some new things and some used things for their uniqueness and low cost. Since this past summer I decided to stop buying new clothes all together. My reasoning was mostly based on a book I read about the recycling of clothes.

Apparently 70% of the worlds population never wear new clothes. The US and Canada export the majority of their used clothes to Central and South America while Europe exports it's excess apparel to Africa and Asia. And then a lot of it is thrown away (just ask anybody who is into dumpster diving). What a waste! And if you know me very well at all, you know how much it gets under my skin when things are wasted...

I have also been learning over the past few years that the production of new clothes is not often done in an ecologically or socially responsible way. To quote a guy named Tom who commented on a blog called Africa Flak I've recently looked at, "Conventional cotton is dependent on large quantities of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides that are harmful to the environment and human health and cost way too much for small-holder cotton growers."

The no-new-clothes kick started off really well. I had a pretty steady supply of used clothes from roommates, access to a few thrift stores and a good stock of necessities already in my possession. However, after a few months the dorm dryers had eaten a fourth of my socks, another fourth had gotten holes in them and the elastic in some of my older undies was shot.

You can't really find used socks for sale because they are one item people seem to be pretty good at wearing out by themselves. And although I have seen them at thrift stores, I draw the line before used underwear, and I don't think that makes me an affluent snob, either. From my experience helping out at shelters for the homeless, not even people who do without much more than I can really imagine, want to wear underwear some stranger has already used. That's just gross. Instead, new undershirts, new socks and new underwear are in high demand at homeless and disaster relief camps.

My search for ecologically and socially responsible underwear and socks began mid-fall 2008. The goal was to find organic and fairly traded or North American made products. Being in a rural town in the Midwest without a car, I was limited to an online market. Local looked like it wasn't an option, but underwear seemed to be the exception to the rules already, and so I figured I'd have to break a few more before I was done with my quest.

Some of the online companies that had products that seemed to be what I was after were obscure, although their prices were more reasonable than up-scale and recognized brand names I came across. Either way, as a college student with a tight budget, no ecologically and socially responsible underwear and socks seemed to be within the reach of my checkbook.

By Thanksgiving I was pretty desperate for these items as my frequent laundering habits were becoming a bit unreasonable. I broke down one day, in a moment of desperation and weakness, buying a package of socks and a package of underwear at Wal*Mart (not to mention a 500-sheet stack of virgin-fiber printer paper and two ink jet cartridges--a story for another day...). I was not and am not particularly proud of these purchases, but they filled a need.

Then, Christmastime came around. A good friend who had gotten wind of my underwear search and happens to work for Victoria's Secret gifted me with 14 pairs of Victoria's Organic panties. A very practical and thoughtful gift, if a little late. (Perhaps I will give some of these away to similarly sized friends, since I don't need that many pairs at this point.) I was impressed by the little booklet included with my new garments. It read's:

"Victoria's Secret is committed to supporting women who own and operate small family farms in Burkina Faso, A West African Country that struggles with endemic poverty. Our partnership brings you environmentally friendly, pesticide-free, %100 rain-fed cotton, while bringing a better future for women and their children and their communities. Your choice makes a real difference: the higher prices we pay to the farmers of Burkina Faso support the construction of new water wells. With your purchase, you help bring clean drinking water to hardworking families. Good for the Planet. Good for women. Good for the children who depend on them."

I was very impressed with Victoria's Secret's mission to helping small cotton farmers, etc. These underwear seemed to be exactly what I had been looking for! however, when I shared this info with a few people, they guessed that VS had done some fabricating to sell a very over-priced product to sucker eco-fanatics, like myself. I figured VS would be smarter than to do false advertising. My response was to do a little research into the matter. After reading this AFP Article I concluded that VS organic products are legit. I makes me really excited that big name chain stores and companies are honestly pursuing a better world through their material supply and consumption. It did worry me a bit that the public hadn't caught on to what the company had, though, when I found that VS organic products are mostly on clearance a year after being introduced...

Any thoughts on environmentally and socially responsible clothing consumption? Some of you can make your own clothes. Maybe some of you would be willing to wear used underwear. I don't know! What about spending a lot of money on responsibly made products? Is it really worth that much? Is it responsible to spend that much? Most people can't afford organic anything! Let me know what you think.