The Ultimate Guide to Sustainable and Ethical Wedding Outfits

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Let’s be honest, it’s hard enough to find the partner of your dreams, but finding the perfect wedding attire? Daunting, to say the least. And that’s before you look for an outfit made with the wellbeing of the planet and its inhabitants in mind. We went on the hunt for the best sustainable and ethical wedding outfits to match your marriage to your morals.

Why choose a more ethical wedding outfit?

Weddings are a celebration of two people’s values aligning, so why not put your ethics about people, the planet, and animals front and centre too?

There’s no doubt that when you’re deep in the planning process for your big day, it can feel overwhelming to consider the many sustainability challenges of weddings, from the persistence of plastic confetti in the environment long after it’s thrown and avoiding single-use cups and cutlery, to the ethical production of the clothes the wedding parties wear.

But if these things are on your mind, or you’ve found yourself wondering where to source a more sustainable bridal dress, suit, or pair of shoes, then you’re in the right place. To help, we’ve scoured the listings from many of the top-rated brands in Good On You’s directory—which have all been independently assessed by our analysts for their transparency and impact—to find you items you’ll love. But first: have you thought about trying secondhand?

Where to find vintage and secondhand wedding attire

The best thing you can do for the environment when choosing a wedding outfit is to find something pre-existing, and vintage gowns and suits can leave a lasting impression since they often have special details or designs that aren’t available on the market. It’s also helpful if you’re on a budget. Shopping in-person at charity, thrift, and vintage boutiques is a great place to start because you’ll be able to handle the fabric yourself, but there are some brilliant online options, too.

Still White: Still White is a huge worldwide marketplace for secondhand wedding dresses with thousands of pre-loved options to choose from. It has a variety of filters including size, price, condition, and style to make your search a little bit easier.
Borrowing Magnolia: Borrowing Magnolia is an expansive bridal marketplace with wedding dresses from renowned labels worldwide.
Vestiaire Collective: The “leading online marketplace to buy and sell authenticated pre-owned luxury fashion” is a great place to look if you’re after a specific fashion brand or designer.
Vinted: With most options at a lower price point than Vestiaire Collective, Vinted is great for finding secondhand wedding dresses, veils, accessories, and suit choices within a budget.
eBay: You never know what you’ll get on eBay and that’s part of the fun. Create a saved search for your criteria and be surprised by the pre-loved wedding outfit options that come up.

If you can’t find what you’re looking for secondhand, or you’d prefer this purchase to be a new item, then we’ve curated some options from more sustainable brands rated highest in our directory. Scroll on to discover more ethical wedding dresses, suits, jewellery, accessories, and shoes from brands independently assessed by our analysts.