Our Philosophy - who we are & what we're about
Our Mission:
To provide the most gorgeous, completely eco-friendly green wedding dresses and eco chic bridal attire using only the most sustainable and socially responsible methods. And to offer them at a fair and affordable price. Ethical practice is our priority. We believe that we can be successful in our business without up-pricing and while giving truly exceptional service.
(And the People approve! We're proud and tickled to have been awarded inclusion by Green America and have achieved an environmental award for our work.)
Unlike many eco-designers, we can account for every link in our (very short) supply chain. Conscious Elegance gowns are made in the USA; we don't farm out to overseas workers and our creations are not mass-produced.
Hemp, silk, organic cotton and nutshells make a truly Green wedding dress
We use only 100% certified organic cottons, 100% bamboo, pesticide-free hempsilk blends, and reclaimed materials in our dressmaking. To be kindest to our fellow fauna, we offer fabrics with the highest percentage of plant fiber that we can find. We even use certified organic cotton thread in all of our garments (very rare, even in eco-dressmaking!). Our private label is sewn on certified organic cotton and our buttons are carved from sustainable tagua nutshells, the sale of which supports rain forest preservation. Our suppliers are also pledged to responsible practice: no sweatshop conditions or underage children are employed by any of our sources.
We support the careful stewardship of resources: our creator started this business on a re-conditioned Singer Model 99K that was freecycled to her by an elderly post-war bride. All of our creations are sewn using individual machines and handiwork only, in a smoke-free and pet dander-free environment.
Our belief in sustainable and responsible business practice
At Conscious Elegance we own our equipment and inventory completely; we are debt-free and beholden to no one. This means that we are at liberty to craft each gown without worrying about margins, bottom lines or mass-production.
Whenever possible, we support working mothers in independent and family-run small businesses for our supplies and notions. Some of our resulting prices are higher than those discount, synthetic, mass-produced gowns, but you will know that your dress was not made in an overseas sweatshop by underpaid laborers.
Our administrative methods reflect our philosophy:
- We sew in home workshops and local studios to conserve resources, save on transportation costs and to be available to our families and communities.
- We utilize every scrap of our eco fabric and minimize waste in our day-to-day activities. What we no longer need, we donate to local schools for their art projects.
- We use only ethically-produced, fair-traded and recycled materials and protect wooded resources by using 100% post-consumer recycled paper for all of our paper needs, including our business cards.
- We re-use packaging materials and choose fully biodegradable whenever possible. For further details, please see Our Policies page.
Giving exceptional customer service
We impose no huge mark-up to inflate profits despite the typical 300%-700% wedding industry standard (sadly, that's not an exaggeration). We give you a clear and honest price up front, not some evasive 'range' that allows middlemen to pile on their share of profit without contribution. And we provide full security for your payment details; see Our Policies page for more information.
Making you feel happy as well as beautiful is of primary importance to all of us here. We've provided a helpful list of Frequently Asked Questions and are available phone during our business hours or by email anytime. If you have a question, just ask us. We want our clients to love their entire wedding dress experience. If there is ever a problem, we will do our best to make it right.
Our ethical charity and contribution policy
Conscious Elegance is committed to supporting our world family. As part of that commitment, we pledge to donate 5% of our annual gross income (or the equivalent in donated goods) towards charities of environmental and humanitarian focus. That's gross income, so even if we do not make a profit, we will still give to our charities.
Caveat
We are faced with a dilemma regarding our friends who reside outside of the US: can we offer eco wedding dresses to clients overseas, knowing that it would take extra fossil-fuels to deliver them?
This bothers us greatly and we can only suggest that overseas brides seek local sources for an ethical wedding dress before opting to order from abroad. That said, we know that there might be limited options open to an ethically-minded bride and that the majority of conventional dresses bought in local shops are themselves the result of overseas shipping. Should you wish to purchase a gown from us, we would be proud to be a part of your celebrations and we offer the option of UPS carbon-neutral shipping to send our garments cross-country or overseas. Please contact us for overseas shipping options and pricing.
Our gowns are made with a joyful purpose and a great love for what we do. We at Conscious Elegance want to create a more beautiful, more ethical world and invite you to join us.
Namaste.
"Be the change that you wish to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi
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