{"id":2171,"date":"2013-09-09T21:15:18","date_gmt":"2013-09-10T01:15:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/meshell.ca\/blog\/?p=2171"},"modified":"2015-02-19T17:34:47","modified_gmt":"2015-02-19T22:34:47","slug":"vegan-wedding-dresses-veganmofo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meshell.ca\/blog\/vegan-wedding-dresses-veganmofo\/","title":{"rendered":"Vegan Wedding Dresses – VeganMoFo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Continuing with my VeganMoFo theme this year on Vegan Weddings<\/a>, Let’s talk Dresses!<\/p>\n

\"Vegan<\/p>\n

What’s not vegan about a wedding dress? You’re not eating it…?<\/p>\n

This is a question I was actually asked a couple of times. Well that’s one of the instances where being vegan and following a plant-based diet differ. Sometimes people don’t consider silk or wool when they’re thinking about their dress. And some people\u00a0(if they’re me) think about it too\u00a0much.<\/p>\n

So, what’s wrong with silk? I was going to give you my thoughts on this, but I think\u00a0The Ethical Man sums it up perfectly for me too:<\/p>\n

In silk operations, the insects are viewed and treated as inanimate commodities, nothing more. I am hard-pressed to think of anything more arrogant than wholly appropriating the lives of other creatures — literally claiming to own others’ bodies. In that regard, the silk industry is no different from the animal industries we often more willingly deem immorally exploitative. (read more about what’s wrong with silk here<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To me, it just seems logical that I would avoid that particular industry as well as some of the others.<\/p>\n

But what about “Peace Silk” or “Ahimsa Silk” well… again, I’ll leave that to someone that’s already covered it extensively. Worm Spit is run by a non-vegan producer of regular silk products and they have an interesting write up on the realities of peace silk (as in, is it really that peaceful?):<\/p>\n

I think that Ahimsa Silk doesn’t really equal non-violence to insects, once you understand the process and do the math. I think that a lot of vegans and vegetarians want to find a way to rationalize using silk \u00a0… The thing that many people\u00a0don’t<\/i>\u00a0do, is look carefully at how the whole system works. (Read more here<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Knowing that, I felt like the search would be daunting. How would I find a dress without silk in it? After one of my emails was ignored by a bridal shop… I thought the question was hard, and they didn’t want to bother with a bride like me. While, they might not have wanted to bother with a bride like me, the question wasn’t difficult.<\/p>\n

In actuality, if you want a totally vegan dress…. it’s out there. There are a few fabrics to look out for, and something we had to look out for when selecting a chuppah <\/a>as well, but most of the time, the dresses I was looking at were made of polyester or cotton. Occasionally there was some tulle, chiffon, or organza which are fabrics you should double check on as they can contain silk… and sometimes they don’t (rayon often takes the place of silk in these blends.)<\/p>\n

Vegan Fabrics<\/strong>:\u00a0
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