French fashion has been one of the most overanalyzed and talked about subjects for years. However, this article is focusing on sustainable and ethical clothing brands that embody some of the fashion the French are known to wear. French fashion is simple, feminine, classic, and embodies that Je ne sais quoi.

When I think of what French fashion means to me my mind goes to romantic dresses, feminine lace blouses, high-waisted flare pants or jeans, structured blazers, floral midi-skirts, and satin slip dresses. Effortless style that can be simple or add flair to it with color. French brands such as La Rouje and Sezane have the styles I can only dream to wear. At first, it was frustrating as I couldn't find any brands within my price point, but with hours spent researching I've found some winners.

As most twenty-something-year-old women straddling the line between desiring to purchase ethical clothing and lack of affordability, we fall back on purchasing from fast fashion brands. Since ethical and sustainable fashion relies on manufacturing raw materials, fair trade, labor practices, human rights, etc, the cost drives up the price. Thus making it unaffordable to most people. Sustainable fashion forces you to buy timeless pieces, pieces that will last you years. Maybe that is why the price tends to be pricier, you get what you pay for with the thought that you're also contributing to making this planet more ethical. 

Looking for feminine and classy clothing can be a struggle within the fast-fashion world. Add ethical fashion, and it's even more difficult. Below is a list of over 10 slow fashion brands that cater to the French style for the upcoming warm weather. Most of the clothing prices are under $80 and I did my best to make sure most didn't go over $100.

1. Ghanda Clothing

Our mission is to ensure the Ghanda products you buy and love are made in an ethical and humane way. We are conscious of our environmental footprint & continue to put practices in place to ensure future generations can enjoy & share our passion for our environment.

Ghanda Clothing is a great starting place to buy sustainable clothing at a fair and affordable price. They produce all their goods in Australia, products that can't be produced locally come from China, and they make sure the manufacturers align with their ethical values. All the clothing is made by in-house designers, they reduced plastic consumption by 60%, and use environmentally friendly fabrics like linen. 

The best part about this brand is the clothing options are under $80! They have one of the best and affordable dresses on this list. The dresses ranged in price from $19 - $74.95. The bottoms selection is massive & has great options especially their Flare Jeans.

Oxford Wrap Dress $44.95

Quinn Dress $49.95

Abbey Jeans $69.95

2. Nobody's Child

Our mission is to revolutionize affordable womenswear, delivering expressive, feminine, and responsible collections.

Every collection is born from our instinctive ambition to strive to do better and spread the message that caring for yourself and caring for the Earth goes hand in hand. We want to empower our customers to be the very best version of themselves, regardless of their shape or size, and we create our conscious collections with this in mind.

The independent, London-based company, is very transparent on the website of what sustainable fabrics they use and the factories that produce the products. Their factories are located in Bangladesh, China, Moldova, Turkey, Ukraine, Morocco, & India. Nobody's Child is conscious of how much material is being used, any excess is used for accessories like tote bags and scrunchies.

This is THE place to shop if you want Reformation-type dresses. The prices of the dresses range from £24 - £49 ($28.74 - $58.67). They offer blouses, skirts, shorts, etc. However, the brand's focus seems to be on the dresses as there are more options.

Blue & White Ditsy Selena Midi Dress £39.00

White Poplin Collar Smock Top £32.00

Bright Floral Alexa Midi Dress £35.00

3. Sisterhood

At Sisterhood, we make beautiful, timeless & sustainable pieces that can be added to your wardrobe and worn forever. Each style is carefully designed with the female body in mind. Things that pair perfectly with your denim & classics. 
We want you to feel effortless, make spontaneous plans, and feel great in what you’re wearing. Going from a casual stroll with coffee to drinks out with friends.
We hope you treasure each piece as much as the memories you make wearing it.

Sisterhood's products are all made with recycled materials and are either biodegradable or recycled once finished. The brand uses 80% of sustainable fabrics and aims to produce fabrics that are 100% sustainable. Since the establishment, they've worked with a small factory and visit often to ensure working conditions are up to par. 

Simple and vintage-inspired pieces, Sisterhood has a smaller selection than the other stores, and it seems intentional. Their clothes are a bit pricier than Nobody's Child, with the pricing going up to $80 - coats and jackets being more expensive.

Lisette Wrap Dress - Sage Fleur £70.00

Marie Blouse - White Jasmine £60.00

Margot Skirt - Sage  £48.00

4. Marks & Spencer

We’re proud to say that 100% of the cotton for our clothing is sustainably sourced, and always will be. When we achieved this in 2019, we were the first British high-street retailer to do so. Our policy and compliance program stipulates we don’t work with any supplier in, nor source cotton from, Xinjiang Province, China. We have formally signed the call to action to address human rights abuses, in line with our long-term commitment that our supply chains are sustainable and ethical, and our workers are treated fairly and their human rights respected.

Marks & Spencer is the world's first huge retailer to become carbon neutral, use 100% sourced wood for furniture, and since 2008, reduced carrier bag usage by 90%. 

M&S is a fashion and food retail store that carries many brands, similar to how Nordstrom stores work. M&S Collection clothes are all under $60. They also carry brands such as Nobody's Children, PER UNA, and Autograph. A majority of the clothing style is modern, spring floral prints, vintage-inspired long tea dresses, and denim dresses. Very H&M or Nordstrom-esque type of clothes. The price ranges from £7.50 - £299, with the premium brands going over £100, while brands like Finery London & PER UNA stay under £70.

Chiffon High Neck Midaxi Tea Dress by Finery London £59.00

Denim Embroidered Midi Tiered Dress by PER UNA £49.50

Floral Midi Tiered Skirt £29.50

5. Revice Denim

At Revice Denim we are inspired to make the highest handmade quality jeans with a vintage soft feel and sell it directly to our customers at a fair price.

Revice Denim sells directly to the consumer, making the price of handmade denim more accessible. The brand is established in Los Angeles. They design, cut, sew, and wash in-house. They pride themselves on quality over quantity and producing small runs of each denim style. 

The denim collections are each unique to the specific theme and the designs are beautiful. The jeans definitely don't look cheap and have the top quality that makes it seem it should be more expensive. The lowest-priced jeans are around $35 and the highest is $98. 

Venus Flares / Solstice Wash $39.20

Yin Yang / Into The Groove $58.80

Rollergirl Flares / Blue Clue Wash $58.80

Vintage/Second-Hand Clothing Brands

When it comes to vintage and second-hand shopping, it's the easiest way to practice slow fashion. You're buying used clothes that were given or resold to second-hand shops instead of throwing them away. And most vintage clothing stores have been carefully curated to fit the brand and ethics of the company.

6. Petite Chineuse

As far as vintage places go, Petite Chineuse is one of the best in France. Their prices, however, do skew on the expensive side, especially their pants, skirts, and dress selection.

If you have the funds to afford clothes that start around $90 & up, then Petite Chineuse is the store for you. Most of the blouses are well under $80 but the pants tend to go over $100.

Flare Pants £110

Romantic Blouse £60

Raspberry Pleated Skirt £70

7. Adored Vintage

Adored Vintage carries both modern vintage-inspired clothing and authentic one-of-a-kind antique and vintage clothes. Adored Vintage is a small woman-owned and operated online boutique sourcing feminine, romantic, and timeless clothing from over 100 different small independent brands. We add new wares to the shop every week for you to delight in.

Definitely gives off cottage core, romantic, and vintage esthetics. They have beautiful pieces of clothing, that at times seem magical with their whimsical fabrics. Because they carry both vintage and modern pieces, the price range can go from bralettes starting at $18 to vintage dresses almost $500.

Springtide in Herbesse Dress $75

Stroll Through Cotswolds Top $65

Bisset Striped Shorts $45

8. Simple Retro

Simple Retro's mission is to make every piece of our collection timeless and beyond seasonal trends. Our inspirations range from the 1950s Christian Dior's "The New Look" to 1980s Boxy Blazers. Unlike other fast-fashion brands, we take our time to explore fashion history and carefully select the perpetual designs for our collections.

Over 87% of the people working for Simple Retro are women. The factories located in Guangzhou & Suzhou create the made-to-wear & print/dying process of the textiles. Suppliers use the most effective ways to minimize water use through cycle technologies. They also use natural resources for the fabrics to create reasonable pricing.

The blouses are simply beautiful and delicate. Gives me flashbacks to visiting Paris and seeing all the vintage collar-lace blouses on the street. Excluding accessories, the clothing prices range from $24.99 - $500 for their premium vintage pieces.

Kate Embroidered Slip Dress $54.99

Victoria 100% Cotton Maxi Dress $79.99

Alicia Embroidery V-Neck Blouse $49.99

9. Retronome

Founded by Laura Bitton, Rétronome is a boutique that is passionately dedicated to giving new life to authentic vintage pieces.

Clothes in noble materials, original accessories, high-quality jewelry, and decoration to make your home a unique place.

Each piece is carefully selected for its quality, provenance, and authenticity. Carefully cleaned and restored, ready to be madly loved again ...

I was able to find this shop through French girl's Instagram accounts. As it is a vintage store, the selections are never in store for long. So grab them as quickly as possible before they're gone. My favorite pieces from Retronome are the blouses. They are beautiful and dainty while being quite affordable for vintage wear. Retronome's prices vary but can go as low as £15 & as high as £79.

Floral Dress £39

Linden Cardigan £45

Old Embroidered Shirt £35

10. Marcel Gracieuse 

Marcel Gracieuse is a second-hand online store in ready-to-wear, based in Lyon and founded in 2016 by Marie Graux.

The products are sourced from local and international suppliers. After receiving the packages, the clothes are sorted to deliver the best possible products to customers. The raw material is selected according to current trends and seasons. All the parts are in very good condition and some are retouched to give them a second life. 

There is such a variety of white or cream blouses in this store. I spent too long in the chemise and tops section! I was most impressed with the selection and will definitely be purchasing something soon. Again, just like Retronome, the affordability ranges from £24.99 - £69.99. However, it can be more depending on if the clothing is a premium brand or not.

Austrian vintage blouse £49.99

Custom vintage jacket £39.99

80s vintage blouse £29.99

Sustainable and ethical clothing can be affordable, it just takes a lot of research to find brands that fit your fashion needs. Hopefully, this article was helpful and gave you tons of new places to shop at!