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Dress smart, dress vegan …The office dress code offers plenty of sartorial options that are fashionable and ethical.
Womenswear
Whatever your office style, the high street has plenty of choice for women looking for vegan-friendly, ethical fashion. Boden (boden.co.uk), with its ethical practices and drive towards sustainability, is a lifesaver when it comes to workwear that looks the business, but doesn’t break the bank.
Elizabeth Ponte Blazer £98, Hampshire Trousers £65, Boden.
Monsoon (uk.monsoon.co.uk) is another high street store working on being more eco-friendly – their Clothes for Life scheme, where you get money back for returning old, unwanted Monsoon clothes, which are recycled or donated to charity, is something we can definitely get behind. Make Monsoon your go-to for chic midi-dresses in animal-friendly materials. Fair Trade heroes, People Tree (peopletree.co.uk), also stock a fantastic selection of vegan officewear essentials.
Alyssa Shirt Dress, Monsoon, £65.
Best Foot Forward
Guys – you don’t have to compromise on quality or style, when opting for vegan shoes over traditional leather offerings. Dr. Martens’ (drmartens.com/uk) vegan collection includes formal shoes and brogues, with the signature yellow stitching and air-cushioned sole, in black and cherry red, and are available all over the high street.
Signature Brogues in Tan, £79, Will’s Vegan Shoes.
There are also some amazing vegan online boutiques with an impressive range of smart shoes for work – Will’s Vegan Shoes (wills-vegan-shoes.com) is a London-based, sustainable label who have nailed the vegan brogue, while Bourgeois Boheme (bboheme.com) stock exclusive footwear made from Italian vegan leather.
Black Felix Rub Off Shoes, £115, Dr Martens.
Laptop case
Whether you’re after a chic sleeve for your work iPad, or a ‘smart enough for work’ laptop bag, there are plenty of animal-friendly choices out there. Want to make 100% sure no animal-derived glue has been used to make these cases? Head online and shop at independent vegan accessory brands.
Oam Collection Laptop Sleeve KEHL13, £40, Matt & Nat.
Thamon (thamon.co) uses leaf leather and cork leather to create innovative, unisex laptop sleeves under £50, while Paguro (paguroupcycle.com) has a great range of laptop bags and backpacks made from repurposed rubber inner tyre tubes – genius! Cruelty-free stalwarts, Matt & Nat (mattandnat.com) is your go-to for minimalist iPad and laptop sleeves you’ll be proud to show off.
Envelope Clutch in Black Leaf Leather, £43, Thamon.
Office Heels
Smart, hard wearing, comfy and, above all, 100% vegan – it’s fair to say we ask a lot when it comes to office-approp heels we actually want to wear. Thankfully, the high street has got our back and there are some amazing shoes, which tick all of our boxes, out there at the moment.
Stiletto Heel Courts, £19.50, Marks & Spencer.
Zara (zara.com) always delivers with non-leather, on-trend heels (in a wearable height) and the new vegan shoe collection from Marks & Spencer (marksandspencer.com) is packed with chic stilettos and mules that are perfect for spring. If you’re looking to splash out, vegan label Beyond Skin (beyond-skin.com) has a great choice of heels that seriously look the part.
Moira Faux Croc Block Heel, £145, Beyond Skin.
Classic Suits
Just because you don’t want to wear a silk-lined wool suit, there are smart vegan options – promise!
Bamboo Suit in Blue, £980, Beggars Run.
Visit H&M (hm.com) for budget-friendly vegan suits in manmade fabrics, without even a whiff of gameshow host about them. Want to invest in a suit to last a lifetime? Beggars Run (beggarsrun.com) offer made-to-measure in cruelty-free fabrics like cotton, bamboo and linen. If money is no object, US vegan clothes brand, Brave Gentleman (beggarsrun.com) are about
to launch their first-ever luxury bamboo suits.
Bamboo Suits, £1,880 approx, Brave Gentleman.
Sarah Dawson
Sarah Dawson is a freelance writer, living in the Cotswolds. When she’s not wrestling her toddler into a car seat, she likes to grow her own veg, read pretty much anything/everything and create ridiculously long ASOS wish-lists. See more from Sarah at www.wordupwriting.co.uk.
