Good for wildlife and your wallet
something old
Many new wedding dresses and suits are made with animal-based textiles like silk and wool and are responsible for greenhouse gas emissions, water pollution, and widespread habitat loss, only to be worn for a single day. So buy a vintage dress or pantsuit instead. Choosing preloved dresswear can be more affordable, distinctive, and often still looks new, all while keeping perfectly good items in circulation.
Silk — a popular fabric choice for wedding dresses — uses approximately 2,542 gallons of water to produce just one yard. That means it can take up to 26,420 gallons of water to make just one ballroom gown. In fact, a mermaid-style dress uses up to 15,850 gallons of water, and a tea-length dress uses almost 8,000 gallons.
something borrowed
If you’ve dreamed of wearing your grandmother’s hand-beaded vintage wedding dress or had your eye on an enviable item in your best friend’s closet, now is the perfect time to ask about borrowing it for the ceremony. Another option is renting a wedding dress. Renting has long been the norm for suits — why not dresses? Both options avoid the harmful waste that goes into producing a new item and can be extremely cost-effective.
More than half of all greenhouse gas emissions are embodied in the things we consume, so the longer we keep an item in circulation, the more it helps shift our use of materials and build a world where humans and wildlife can thrive.
pick sustainable materials
If you are buying a new wedding dress or suit, find a favorite local business to support and choose natural, ethical fibers like organic cotton and silk substitutes, while avoiding polyester, leather and wool. Farmed animals for the fashion industry consume almost one-third of all fresh water and are a leading cause of water pollution and habitat destruction, which in turn is the leading cause of species extinction.
To find your new favorite wildlife-friendly material, visit Collective Fashion Justice’s guide to ethical fabrics.
choose a style you can wear again
You probably won’t have many reasons to wear a wedding ballroom gown again, but if you go with a simpler dress style, a color other than white, or one made of material that can be dyed, you can get multiple uses out of it. For suits, if you’re not borrowing or renting, go with a style and color that’s versatile for other events. A suit comes in handy more often than a tux.
let the WEDDING party dress themselves
If you give your wedding party a color scheme, instead of a single outfit option, they may be able to borrow or use something they already have without needing to buy anything new. And if they do have to buy new, it’s more likely to be something they’ll wear again. Giving your wedding party flexibility uses fewer resources — which is better for wildlife — and costs them less. It also makes for happier, more comfortable loved ones and stand-out pictures.
donate or sell
Once the party’s over, donating or selling your wedding dress or suit could help a future bride or groom make an eco-conscious choice for their wedding — or help a couple with fewer resources get what they’re looking for.
Online searches for preowned wedding gowns were up by 103% in 2022, and page views for vintage designer wedding pieces increased by 53%.