BUYING ETHICAL CLOTHES GAVE ME A £4,800 BOOST
SHOPAHOLIC Ali Mapletoft ( pictured) was spending around £6,000 a year in High Street stores such as Matches, Whistles and Topshop.
‘I was buying clothes like you buy junk food,’ she says. ‘I worked in film in London and I felt I constantly needed to update my wardrobe.
‘Now I realise I was basically buying variations on the same item over and over just because I enjoyed the act of shopping.’
But in 2013, when news broke of a clothing factory collapse in Bangladesh which killed more than 1,100 people, Ali realised with shock that her clothes could be made by people working in dangerous conditions. She vowed to change her shopping habits and buy clothing only if she knew who made it or if it was recycled. Now the mother-oftwo, 40, orders direct from independent UK designers through websites including Etsy.com or NotontheHighStreet.com, or buys in second-hand or charity shops. She also visits markets and craft fairs, as well as commissioning designs directly from a seamstress near her Brighton home. ‘People think it’s elitist to have your own clothes made, but it can work out cheaper,’ she explains. ‘Although it costs a bit more up front, I get something that is exactly what I want and fits perfectly, and which I can cherish for years, so I spend less in the long run.’ Ali, who runs her own design business Age Of Reason, now spends around £100 per month on clothes, compared to around £500 before. ‘I don’t think my style has suffered, but I think more about what I buy and I’ve saved thousands of pounds,’ she adds.