Know a thing or two... Ethical fashion

On the eve of London Fashion Week, here are some starting points for dressing with a conscience

ON DEMAND & CUSTOM MADE
Encompassing made-to-order, tailormade, and DIY. Campaigners believe that the fashion industry should be more responsive to consumer demands, rather than make in bulk. Consumers can put this into practice, too. If we play a role in the production of our clothing, we’re more likely to look after it and hang onto it. Getting custom-made is an increasingly affordable option, thanks to the likes of Fox in a Glove, foxinaglove.com, offering modern styles made in Europe, and Brighton-based Dig For Victory, digforvictoryclothing.com, which specialises in vintage-inspired shapes. Clever sewers can make their own clothes. For fashionable patterns, try the Sewing Your Perfect Capsule Wardrobe project book by Arianna Cadwallader and Cathy McKinnon (Kyle Books), Sew Over It (sewoverit.co.uk) and Tilly and the Buttons (tillyandthebuttons.com).

GREEN & CLEAN
Try to buy green, where you can – and ideally items that are green through every step of the process. The textile certification helps identification, but in general look for organic, natural fibres, such as wool, cotton, silk, lyocell and hemp, rather than the likes of petroleum-derived polyester, nylon or acrylic, which don’t typically degrade in nature. Ideally you’d be able to track a garment’s credentials at every stage of production – virtually impossible at the moment, so join the campaign for greater transparency from clothing brands at fashionrevolution.org/about/transparency.

HIGH QUALITY & TIMELESS DESIGN
When you buy, try to buy better. The WRAP Love Your Clothes campaign offers best buy guides at loveyourclothes.org.uk/guides/best-buy-guides that highlight what to look for to get the most from an item of clothing. Livia Firth’s #30wears campaign is simply a prompt to ask yourself before buying if you’ll wear something at least 30 times – it’s surprising how many garments won’t reach this criterion.

FAIR & ETHICAL
Referring to traditional production, artisan crafts and animal rights. As with the Green & Clean, try to find out who made your clothes – and if anybody or anything has been harmed in the process. This can feel impossible to ascertain, so demand better and join in Fashion Revolution Day on 24 April by asking companies, Who Made My Clothes? To educate yourself further, try a copy of Fashion Revolution Zine (fashionrevolution.org), or a free course exploring the subject; futurelearn.com/courses/who-made-my-clothes.

REMAKE, REPAIR OR UPCYCLE
Extending the life of a garment by nine months reduces its impact on the environment by 20–30%. Learn the quick fixes – replacing a broken zip, sorting a wayward hem – to keep a garment in use, or up the ante and try remaking your clothes entirely. Dressmaking courses around the UK are listed at thesewingdirectory.co.uk/workshops-and-courses/ – or take advantage of the skills of a local tailor to keep beloved items in use.

RENT, LOAN OR SWAP
There’s a wealth of desirable clothing that won’t cost you a penny, if you decide to borrow from friends and family. ‘Swishing’ parties – pooling donated clothing and accessories – are a social way to share unworn clothes. And for big occasions, consider hiring rather than buying
an unlikely to be worn again frock: wearthewalk.co.uk and girlmeetsdress.com offer fashionable rental options.

SECONDHAND OR VINTAGE
Extend the life of an item of clothing by buying secondhand or vintage. See issue 63 of The Simple Things for pleasurable ways to shop secondhand, from car boots to charity shops. On Instagram @knickers_models_own offers plentiful inspiration on how to style pre-loved clothes: Caroline Jones did a full year of only dressing in clothes sourced from Cancer Research shops. And it goes both ways: hand on your own items, rather than throw away. Even garments that are no longer wearable can go for textile recycling.

Green Strategy, a Swedish consultancy on improving sustainability, suggested these seven ways we can start to shop and dress more sustainably. You can read all about it by searching ‘seven’ at their website, greenstrategy.se.

Turn to page 89 of September's The Simple Things for more on our ethical fashion feature.

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My Plot | Natural born swimmers

Sarah and Will Murch dreamt of wild swimming in their garden. So they turned a disused patch into a tranquil pool, now a haven for wildlife a well as their family.

'Every time I visit the pool, I am blown away by its magic; it always surprises me. It doesn’t matter if it’s a dull day, windy or sunny – it is always beautiful and every time I swim, I am gobsmacked that we built this. The wildlife that is drawn to the garden is a big thing for me. Sitting by the water and seeing the swallows dip and the dragonflies hover is pretty amazing. It is also the place we all come together as a family – we are all drawn to the water. It is where we gravitate, it calms and revitalises, and not just when swimming in it but also by being beside it. It is a very special place.'

Turn to page 110 of September's The Simple Things for more on how Sarah and will created their pool.
 

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Stories behind superstitions | New shoes

Why is it bad luck to put new shoes on a table? Turns out this bold move may be a step too far

There are many reasons why it’s considered bad luck to put your shoes on the table – none of them pleasant. Let’s look at the death-related reasons first.

It may be because criminals were often hanged still wearing their shoes, or because it’s associated with a laid-out corpse. Back when shoes were more expensive and poorer folk had only one pair, it could also be a way of identifying a body. Which brings us to why new shoes are thought unlucky; when shoes were pricy, they’d be passed from the dead person onto another family member, as a “new” pair.

If not for deathly reasons, you don’t need to be a mastermind to understand why you might want to keep the soles of shoes away from anywhere involved with food. Back in less hygienic, less medicated times, it was quite possible the resulting illness could lead to another pair of shoes going spare...

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Recipe | Silken pear cake

Barely any flour is used in this clever recipe, resulting in a mere whisper of a cake – fairy light, pale gold and studded with morsels of juicy pear

SILKEN PEAR CAKE

90g unsalted butter, melted, plus extra for greasing
3 eggs
130g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla essence
35g plain flour, sifted
30g cornflour, sifted
1 tsp baking powder, sifted
3 ripe pears, peeled, cored and cut into 2cm dice
FOR THE CHANTILLY CREAM (OPTIONAL) 
300ml whipping cream
30g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract or paste or essence

1 Preheat oven to 170C/Fan 150C/Gas 3. Grease the ring of a 24cm springform tin, then turn the base upside down, so it no longer has a lip. Place a piece of baking paper over it, then clamp the ring around it to secure.
2 Combine the eggs, caster sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl, and whisk with an electric mixer on high speed until the mixture has tripled in volume.
3 Using a hand whisk, gently fold in the plain flour, cornflour and baking powder with a pinch of salt until you have a smooth batter. Pour in the melted butter and fold with the whisk until totally combined, tilting the mixing bowl to make sure you’re reaching right to the bottom, where remnants of the butter might be sitting.
4 Pour the mixture into the prepared tin, then scatter the chunks of diced pear evenly over the surface. Don’t worry if there are a few pieces peeking through the top of the batter.
5 Bake for about 45 mins, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. The cake will balloon up when cooking, then collapse a bit after cooling, but this is entirely normal.
6 Cool completely in the tin before sliding a paring knife around the edge of the cake to release the ring. Carefully slide the cake onto a serving plate (leave it on the baking paper as the texture is very delicate). Serve with your choice of cream.
7 To make the chantilly cream, combine the cream, icing sugar and vanilla in a medium mixing bowl and whisk by hand or with an electric mixer until medium peaks form, being careful not to overwhisk.

Recipe from Poh Bakes 100 Greats by Poh Ling Yeow (Murdoch Books).

Cake in the House is our monthly recipe feature - get a cake recipe every month in The Simple Things!

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September horoscopes | Virgo

The start of a new season is a natural time of transition, where we pause to reflect and plan for the next phase of the year. Astrologer Donna Taylor looks at the coming season in your star sign and offers her guidance on how to find balance and contentment in the months ahead

Virgo

23 August – 22 September

“If you’re not happy at home, you’re not happy anywhere else,” said actress, Angie Harmon. Your domestic life may have been a theme for some time now, from your home to your family ties. This year is likely to have seen a lessening of difficulties but the real turning point comes in November when a much happier phase begins. Why is this important? Because the more happy and secure you feel in your foundations, the more able you’ll be to go out into the world and shine your light. This autumn is about new beginnings after which you’ll find it easier to make progress.

Turn to page 125 of September's The Simple Things for the other twelve star signs.

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The Comfort of Things | Handmade home

My eldest son has started pottery classes at school, which he enjoys and which is to be applauded, etc. However, I now have a shelf laden with misshapen bowls, approximately rendered plates and several lumpy things beyond description. I would rather replace these with lovely handmade ceramics made by proper craftspeople but I don’t want to upset him. How should I go about it?

Answer in brief: select a single piece to display, then chuck the rest. Although the artistic soul is a sensitive thing and needs to be tended to carefully, you don’t want to give your son a false sense of his own genius if it’s not deserved. Does he, actually, show any real promise? If so, select one of his better pieces and display it prominently: on a side table, say, with an anglepoise directed at it in the manner of a gallery. Then sweep the rest into a box and put under a bed. He will be so thrilled with the attention given to one of his works, he won’t notice. If he doesn’t show any real promise, just chuck the lot out. It’s a tough world out there and he’d better get used to it.

Turn to page 114 of September's The Simple Things for more on how to make a handmade home.

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Positive News from around the world

Where statistics and optimism meet

• 620k caged hens have been rehomed by the British Hen Welfare Trust since it was established in 2005. The Devon-based charity, supported by more than 500 volunteers, finds ‘retirement homes’ for hens otherwise destined for slaughter.
  

• Out of 35m flights in 2017, only two were involved in accidents with fatalities. The figure, based on research by aviation consultancy To70, means there was a fatal accident rate of just 0.000006% – a record low.
  

• 75% of Americans believe that immigration is good for their nation, new research by Gallup shows. It is the highest share of citizens to hold this view since 2001. Only 29% say immigration should be cut, the lowest share since 1965.

Turn to page 50 of September's The Simple Things for more articles written by our friends at Positive News, the quarterly magazine for good journalism about good things.

See the world from a different angle; positive.news/subscribe.

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A could-do list for September

Things you might want to do this month (no pressure!)

• Print your favourite summer photos
• Wear clothes that make you feel happy (and give away any that don’t)
• Spend more time with the people you love
• Start a new notebook of thoughts and ideas
• Notice summer making way for autumn
• Enjoy the restoring of calm and order
• Set yourself a mini physical challenge. Write down reasons to give it a go

What would you add? Come over and tell us on Facebook or Twitter. 

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Restore | September cover reveal

There’s an energy

that arrives with September; an urge to learn, to make, to buy but also to restore order after a laissez-faire summer. The satisfaction of a job well done can cheer up any chore and brings a chance to enjoy favourite parts of your home at their best. Take time, too, to appreciate the lingering season before autumn proper. It’s a month for outdoor swimming; harvesting peppers, chillies and tomatoes; long walks and weekends away. Restorative quiet never felt so good.

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Garden hacks | Make a self-watering herb garden

Gotta lotta bottle(s)? Put them to good use with this windowsill wonder

YOU WILL NEED:
Used bottle (glass* or plastic)
Mesh
Thick string
Herbs for planting
1 Cut a bottle in two, with the base longer than the top bit.
2 Turn neck part upside down into base. Cut a length of string to reach through the neck to the bottle’s base. Add water to the bottom part. 3 Cut a piece of mesh, just big enough to rest securely over the top of the bottle’s neck.

4 Make a small hole in the centre of the mesh. Thread the string through the hole, securing with a knot, then bring string through neck of bottle, so the mesh sits in place.
5 Plant up herbs into the top part and put water in the bottom. With your string dangling in the liquid, it’ll bring the water up to the herbs.
* Buy glass-cutting kits at craft stores – there are tutorials online, or if you know people with the right tools and skills, they can help you.

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Roominations

What’s your favourite room in the house? On page 34 of September's The Simple Things team meditate on the indoor spaces that they love best – and ask you to share yours

Kitchen by Iona Bower

Too often described as ‘the heart of the home’, I’ve always thought of a kitchen as ‘the engine room’. Nowhere do I feel more capable than here, at the helm, Gardener’s Question Time chattering, kettle bubbling, and something lovely on the stove.

There’s something about a buzzing kitchen, for sure. I once considered too many gadgets naff, but these days I get a warm glow from my breadmaker, coffee machine and juicer chugging happily. I recently reached peak smug when I purchased another freezer so I could whip out a pork ragu or a crumble at a moment’s notice for unexpected guests. (I may or may not drop this into conversation à la Hyacinth Bouquet: “I was just passing my second freezer, when...”)

I’ve had teeny bijou kitchens before, lovely in their own way (mainly for being able to shout “No room for two” (while flapping at intruders with a tea towel). But

now that I have a big kitchen, I love it.
Half is ‘kitchen proper’, where the burning and swearing happens (and the second freezer lives –

did I mention my second freezer?). The other half is ‘dining and lounging’: a teak table, stained with memories: spilt glasses of red, children’s careless paintings and a deep scratch from that time the cat evacuated it too quickly. There’s also a sofa, because a good friend told me every ‘proper’ kitchen should have a sofa to accommodate poorly children, off school.

And in one corner, I have an office; despite having a study, I’ve finally admitted I just want to hang out in my kitchen. It’s where I naturally retreated in labour to moo loudly; where I take friends-in-crisis for medicinal G&Ts; where I’ve feasted, feted and felt a bit green the following morning. Something pulls me to my kitchen and it’s not just the biscuit tin.

READER SURVEY

Tell us which is your favourite room and why and – if you wouldn’t mind – answer a few questions about The Simple Things, too. There’s £200 of John Lewis vouchers to be won! thesimplethings.com/blog/roomsurvey.

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Six medicinal herbs worth growing

The brains behind medicinal plant nursery Barefoot Botanicals are the growers behind August's My Plot. Marina and Ross explain how they turned a rough patch of land into a field of flowers - the ingredients for their nursery and herbal clinic - on page 114 of August's The Simple Things. 
 
Here, they share six medicinal herbs worth growing:

Lady’s mantle (Alchemilla vulgaris) 

Traditionally used: for menstrual disorders and diarrhoea.

Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) 

Traditionally used: to relieve stress and anxiety, insomnia, digestive complaints and flu.

Catnip (Nepeta cataria)

Traditionally used: to relieve stress and anxiety, colic, IBS and insomnia.

Evening primrose (Oenothera biennis)

Traditionally used: as a sedative; to ease whooping cough and to relieve eczema.

Cowslip (Primula veris)

Traditionally used: to relieve coughs, rheumatism, asthma; or as a sedative.

Thyme (Thymus vulgaris) 

Traditionally used: to relieve sore throats and respiratorytract infections.

All plants available from barerootbotanicals.ie

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The Comfort of Things | A guide to home fragrance

There are many different ways to perfume your home. Try these, for starters

CANDLES

Buy cheap and your olfactory system will pay. Invest in a candle, made from premium wax and perfume-grade fragrance, though, and hours of transportative scent will be yours.

Reine de la Nuit by Miller Harris is heady with the scent of tuberose; £45, millerharris.com.

REED DIFFUSERS

Best for continual fragrance, as long as you remember to invert the reeds every couple of weeks. If you don’t like the container the liquid came in, pour into one of your own, or learn how to make your own.

Bergamot Reed Diffuser, 200ml, £35, geodesis.com/en

ROOM SPRAYS

Great for spritzing around the home prior to guests arriving (or post, come to think of it). Look for ones that disperse fine droplets: you want a mist not a downpour.

58 Balancing Room Mist, is free from chemicals, and smells fresh and delicious; £23, 58lifestyle.com.

AROMA MISTERS

These eject a fragrant, thin, dry mist. Select an essential oil (lavender is great beside the bed to help you slumber), add a few drops to the water inside, plug in and inhale. Soothing and spa-like. Also has a dimmable light for extra ambience.

Aroma diffuser, £59.95; muji.eu.

Turn to page 119 of August's The Simple Things for more ideas for a fragrant home.

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The tiny house movement

Originating in the US, the Tiny House Movement is about the freedom that comes from living with less. Once you understand what you really need and get rid of the rest, life simplifies and opens up. Resisting the urge to buy a bigger house, with all its attendant requirements – maintenance, heating, cleaning, furniture, bigger mortgage – and living in a modest home instead, benefits your budget, your soul and the environment.

Architects and designers have responded to this new way of living by creating a variety of tiny houses that measure no more than 46 sq m. Coming in all shapes and sizes, some with wheels, the focus is on efficient and eco-friendly design. The downside is that you have to be supremely tidy to live in one and get on extremely well with the other occupants. Which is why
many Tiny Houses are used as weekend getaways (see issue 70, on tinyhomesholidays.com) or an extra room in the garden.

Turn to page 104 of August's The Simple Things for a look inside a beautiful tiny house in Johannesburg.

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Listen | Songs of the streets

Do you want to go where the streets have no name? Us neither.

Listen to our songs of the streets playlist now.

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Recipe | Borlotti Beans, fermented tomato, basil & chickpeas

Fermentation is a great way to deal with a glut of veg or fruit and is actually very simple; it just takes a little planning. If you start this recipe four days ahead, you’ll get the maximum flavour from the fermented tomatoes.

Borlotti Beans, fermented tomato, basil & chickpeas

Serves 4

Vegan

250g podded fresh borlotti beans
1 carrot, peeled and cut into 4
1 celery stick, top removed, cut into 4
1 bay leaf
¼ bunch of thyme
1 tsp smoked paprika
100g non-dairy cream cheese
2 tbsp tomato purée
1 bunch of basil, leaves picked and stalks retained200g cooked chickpeas, roughly chopped
½ quantity of hummus* (½ tub shop-bought)
2 tbsp olive oil
Extra virgin olive oil, to garnish

* For homemade hummus:
240g tinned chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
60g tahini
1 garlic clove
Zest and juice of ½ lemon
25ml olive oil
½ tsp agave syrup
½ tsp table salt
Freshly milled black pepper

For the fermented tomatoes:
1 tsp table salt
50ml rice wine vinegar
50ml balsamic vinegar
1 tsp agave syrup
1 tbsp tomato purée
6 seasonal ripe tomatoes

1 Start by fermenting the tomatoes. Mix all ingredients together, apart from the tomatoes, and add the basil stalks. Add 100ml of cold water.

2 Prick the tomatoes all over with a skewer, then place in a container or jar and cover with the liquid. Loosely cover and leave in a slightly warm, dark place for a minimum of 4 days.

3 Place the beans, carrot, celery, bay leaf and thyme into a medium saucepan. Cover with water, then place on a high heat. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 25–40 mins until soft (cooking time may vary depending on freshness).

4 Strain off the liquid from the pan, removing the carrot, celery and herbs.

5 Place the smoked paprika, cream cheese and tomato purée into a bowl. Whisk well. Place in a pan with the cooked borlotti beans and heat through.

6 To make the hummus, blitz all the ingredients in a food processor until a smooth paste, adding 20–30ml water if needed. (Remember, you’ll only need to use half of this quantity for the finished dish.)

7 To assemble, chop the basil leaves, reserving a few for garnish, and mix with the chickpeas, hummus and olive oil, seasoning well. Place the hummus around the edge of the serving plate, then place the beans on top. Peel the skin from the tomatoes (it will come off very easily after the fermentation) and slice each in half. Arrange on top, drizzling over a little of the fermenting liquor. Garnish with the reserved basil leaves and olive oil, then serve.

Recipe from Planted by Chantelle Nicholson (Kyle Books).

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The Simple Things survey 2018

It’s been a while since we’ve asked you about The Simple Things. We’ve published the magazine for four years now and we’d love to know what you like (or don’t like) about it. Which covers and features you preferred and whether you buy every issue, or just now and again. We also want to know a little more about you, too, so we can make sure we’re publishing what you like to read. We’d also love to know which is your favourite room and why.

By taking part, you’ll be entered into a prize draw to win £200 of John Lewis vouchers. Just go to bit.ly/TSTSurvey18

Thanks for your support

From all at The Simple Things

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House in a tree

Whether treehouse, cabin, hut or lodge, there's something we love about a single-room dwelling.

Treetops treehouse, Chumleigh, Devon

If it weren’t for the elevated view from the windows and natural wood décor, you wouldn’t even think you were in a treehouse. But this expansive retreat, sleeping four, is designed around a massive 250-year-old oak, with a deck overlooking North Devon Biosphere Reserve. foxandhoundshotel.co.uk

Turn to page 76 of August's The Simple Things for more of these clever buildings that bring us closer to nature, maybe even closer to ourselves.

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Life Skills | Flower arranging

A day spent learning a new skill is mindful and mind full (in a good way) living. This month, Rebecca Frank learns flower arranging.

As somebody who loves flowers but knows little about picking or assembling them, I signed up for a summer vase workshop to learn more about the types of flowers and gain confidence in my artistic ability. India, the young, passionate founder of Vervain Flowers, is based on the farm and nursery in Worcestershire, where she grew up and now grows the majority of flowers for her wedding business and workshops.

We start with a garden tour while India explains her informal and intuitive style of floristry, love of garden roses and irises (“I know they only flower for a few days, but when they do, it gives me the best feeling so I grow them anyway!”). Our classroom is a large barn filled with buckets of the prettiest summer blooms in unusual varieties and shades, from deep purples to apricot, all freshly cut and ready for us to play with. After India has demonstrated, we set to work – a ceramic bowl from a local potter has been provided in which to create our own display.

I fiddle around for ages creating a shape with my foliage before moving on to the fun and slightly nerve-wracking bit of choosing and adding my flowers. The beauty of the plants and the focus required soon distract me from what everybody else is doing and I become completely absorbed. After a Mediterranean-style lunch in the garden, we head back to tweak and photograph our displays and to admire each other’s work.

I come away keen to grow more of the flowers that I love, both for my house and garden, and with the liberating attitude that – whether I really know what I’m doing or not – I can always just give it a go.

Seasonal vase classes cost £185 and are suitable for any level of experience. One-to-one classes are also available; vervainflowers.co.uk.

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Recipe | Sweetcorn relish

With a shorter cooking time than chutney, sweetcorn relish keeps its crunch

This lovely chunky relish is particularly excellent on burgers and hotdogs – just the thing for a barbecue. Because of their short cooking time, the veg in relishes have a lovely crisp texture, but this does mean that they won’t store as long as other preserves such as chutney. Keep this in the fridge and eat within two weeks.

Sweetcorn relish

Makes 3 jars
1 onion, finely diced
Raw kernels from 3 sweetcorn cobs
1⁄2 red pepper, finely diced
1⁄2 green pepper, finely diced
1⁄2 orange pepper, finely diced
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely diced
300ml cider vinegar
125g granulated sugar

you will need:
3 sterilised jars, vinegar-resistant lids, and labels

Put all of the ingredients into a large saucepan and heat gently, stirring. When the sugar has dissolved, simmer for 15 mins, stirring every now and then to prevent it sticking and burning. When the liquid has thickened and coated the vegetables, spoon them into the sterilised jars and top each with a little of the cooking liquid. Seal and leave to cool.
 

Turn to page 38 of August's The Simple Things for more of our staple foods feature on sweetcorn from Lia Leendertz.

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