The Travesty of Men’s Eco Fashion

I spend most of my clothing dollars at second-hand stores for two reasons; it’s environmentally friendly to reuse clothes that are already made, and most women rarely use up a garment before they toss it in the donation bin. So when I visit Goodwill, I’m sure to find at least a few gems. This is not at all the case for men. Guys like to wear things until they literally disintegrate off their body or their significant other starts using that favorite t-shirt as a cleaning rag. This leaves the second-hand mens section rather lacking in selection. So what’s an eco-conscious guy to do?

You may be tempted to say “Shop for eco-fashion!” Well, don’t say it. Because if you do, it’s obvious that you’ve either never looked for men’s eco-fashion or you have a horrible sense of style. This is because men’s eco-fashion consists of a plethora of organic cotton t-shirts and the occasional pair of pajama pants.

Now if every man were permanently in college and actually wore t-shirts and pajama pants 24/7, this selection would constitute a comprehensive wardrobe. However, men are known to leave the house and have desires to look, how do I put this...like grown men...that have a job...and a mirror. This means slacks, button down shirts, sports coats, sweaters, tailored jeans, spring jackets, and anything else you would find in Banana Republic, Brooks Brothers or decent department store.

There are some eco-fashion designers that are making some super-stylish runway fashion from recycled plastic bottles and organic cotton. This would be awesome if any of it cost a reasonable amount or could be seen at a regular store. Unfortunately the average guy doesn’t want to wear most of the weird hipster stuff coming down a runway to work, so even if he could afford it, he wouldn’t buy it.

So because men’s eco-fashion constitutes either hippy t-shirts and slacker pants or uber-expensive and highly fashion-forward runway wear, I am putting in a request for what I’d like to call Normal Eco-Fashion. Perhaps fashion is an inappropriate word since this type of clothing would not include the planned obsolescence that keeps the fashion industry pumping. How about Normal Eco-Clothing?

These clothes would need to be in a style that is classic, well-constructed and flattering. Because men wear clothing until it is completely threadbare, they’re probably a lot more willing and able to justify the extra cost of organic and recycled threads. And when I say extra cost I’m talking $75 for a work shirt, not $200. If anyone knows of the existence of this sort of clothing, please leave a link to it in the comments.

Until this change in fashion happens, we can expect the granola, crunchy, hippy image of sustainability to continue instead of a more accurate picture of average people making enlightened choices.