a sustainable and ethical (life)style blog
Those of you who have been with me for a long time (thank you so much btw!!!) know that I’ve struggled with my skin pretty much since I started this blog. After many trials and tribulations, I’m happy to present to you the fruit of all my skincare labors!
Winter is all fun and games until after New Year’s when all the festivities are over and the only thing to look forward to are more rain, numb toes, and chapped lips.
That being said, wintertime is the best time to slow down and cozy up with that book you kept saying you’d read and that knitting project you forgot about amid the holiday rush. Here are some things this winter that sparked joy for me; enjoy!
Hi friends! It’s been a long time coming, but after extensive testing I’m excited to finally share my thoughts on Girlfriend Collective’s LITE leggings.
The LITE leggings are the softer baby sister of Girlfriend’s classic compressive leggings. Made out of recycled fishing nets rather than recycled water bottles, the material is thinner and more breathable for higher impact activities.
The website has mixed reviews, so I was apprehensive myself about springing for a pair—but Girlfriend generously offered to send me a pair of LITE leggings to test out since so many of you were asking about them!
I believe that conscious consumerism can be even more impactful when we approach it with an anti-racist and intersectional feminist lens. Shopping BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Color – more context here) and woman-owned brands helps supports these communities in a world where wealth and power are mostly centralized in the hands of white men, while supporting more ethical practices.
This Black History Month, I’ve curated a list of ethical and sustainable Black-owned brands that you can support any time of year! Be sure to bookmark this page for future reference 🙂
I have always been a messy person. Every space I’ve inhabited—my childhood bedroom, my college dorm room, my current apartment—has been a victim of my tendency to cover every horizontal space with stuff.
So, with an admittedly skeptical mind, I read Marie Kondo’s famous self-help book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.
And, I am now pretty convinced that tidying up will change my life. Surprisingly, I also learned a thing or two about conscious consumerism from Marie Kondo.
In their first drop of 2019, Reformation kicked off the year with a new style they’ve dubbed the “May dress.” According to the website, the dress is “a tight fitting, mini length dress with a mock neck collar, frog closures and short sleeves.”
According to Chinese people, that’s a qipao (also known as a cheongsam)—a traditional dress most often worn for formal occasions.
As one might expect, when Ref posted a photo of the dress on a white model on Instagram, the comments section blew up in outrage. And as one might, sadly, expect, Reformation hasn’t issued any statement in response, or pulled the dress off their website; in fact, the dress is on their front page.
In 2018, I majorly stepped up my reading game and have been blown away by the poignant, imaginative, and diverse stories I’ve seen on the shelves of my local bookstore and library.
So, in no particular order, here are the best books I’ve read in 2018!
Yup, you read that right. One whole sweater, in seven days, with my two hands.
You might be wondering if I have knitting machine hands or something, but the secret is simple: Big yarn and big needles. Not only are extremely chunky knits the very definition of cute and cozy, they also knit up super quickly.
I reached out to Wool and the Gang to try one of their chunky sweaters, and they sent me their Eden Jumper kit.
Thanks to everyone who’s been sending me screenshots of the Girlfriend Collective website, with MY FACE on it! I truly appreciate the love!
For those of you who don’t know, I was lucky enough to hang out with the team that makes my favorite leggings ever, along with some fellow Girlfriend fans. Here’s how it all happened.
When I think about shopping more consciously, I’ll admit that my electronics and tech don’t top my shopping list. I’ve happily given up my fast fashion addiction to embrace slow fashion, but taking a more conscious approach to the gadgets that power my life, my career, and this blog is mostly uncharted territory for me.
This is partly because I find shopping for clothes fun and do it on a regular basis, but rarely buy new electronics. It’s also because, compared to the overwhelming selection consumers have when it comes to fashion, there are narrower options when it comes to the electronics we buy.
I recently learned about Nimble, a company that takes a more thoughtful and conscious approach to consumer electronics and tech, and I’m thrilled to partner with them to share their story with you.
Hey, glad you’re here! I’m Cat, the one-woman show behind Restitchstance.
I’m a lifelong writer and practitioner of slow fashion. From an early age, I learned to design and make my own clothing through knitting, crocheting, and sewing, gaining an appreciation for the connection between mind, hands, and cloth that fast fashion subtracts from the modern conscience of style. Restitchstance is the confluence of my passion for storytelling, love of fashion, and desire to create a more sustainable and ethical world.
No matter where you’ve come from, Restitchstance aims to make slow fashion and living exciting, accessible, and inclusive through education and inspiration.
