Celebrating International Women's Day

It’s no big secret that we think Tradlands women are something pretty darn special. Not only are you all extremely stylish, you’re smart, conscientious thinkers who are doing big things out in the world. We don’t want get too gushy, but damn… you ladies are something else.

This week was International Women’s Day, and we invited the Tradlands community to nominate the women who are really special to them to mark the occasion. We got flooded with amazing stories.

These stories included women single-handedly holding down their families, women building game-changing businesses one day at a time, and women fearlessly exploring the world to advance our understanding of each other. There were big stories and small, complex life-long loves and many simple expressions of gratitude.

Each and every one was beautiful, and a celebration of each other that illustrated perfectly how amazing this community is. We’re delighted to announce that Renee and her nominee, Jen, have both won a $500 Tradlands gift card (Renee is actually gifting both gift cards to her friend!), thanks to this wonderful story:

“I nominate my incredible friend, Jen Nottrott. Jen was diagnosed two years ago with an aggressive form of breast cancer, underwent a double mastectomy, radiation, and chemo, and throughout it all maintained her positive attitude and remarkable approach to life. Jen is mom to four children, one of whom has special needs, and a surrogate mom to a menagerie of critters. She’s an amazing substitute teacher in high demand, which continued all during her treatment, hair or no hair.

Jen has educated herself on the healing properties of alternative medicine, especially the role nutrition plays, and joyfully shares her knowledge with others who are exploring that path. I would love for her to be able to enjoy the wonderfulness that is a Tradlands shirt. If she is chosen, I would ask that she receive both designated $500 gift certificates. She has three fantastic daughters (two in high school, one in college) who helped to sustain her through the tough times and who, with her husband & son, are the center of her universe. It would be SO fun for them to choose shirts together and would be one more memory for them to look back on.”

Held on March 8th every year, International Women’s Day (IWD) “is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity.”

Every year, IWD presents us with a choice. It’s an opportunity to focus on what’s important to all of us, individually and together. It’s a chance to celebrate how far we’ve come, to share gratitude for where we’re at, and to band together to press forward, on to where we’re going.

Seth Godin wrote something recently that really struck me, that seems to sum up exactly where we’re all at:

“We’re not pawns if we choose not to be. This is not the work for someone else. No one else is doing it for us. With us, perhaps, and as an example for what we can do, but we’re not off the hook. History doesn’t bend itself. But we can bend it. It’s taken us 100,000 years to figure out that we are only as well off as the weakest ones in our tribe, and that connection and community and respect lead to a world that benefits everyone.”

More than ever, we’re able to make powerful choices. Choices about how to vote, how to dress, how to eat, how to communicate, how to love, how to work. These choices are, over time, adding up to become truly remarkable shifts in our communities — we are bending history.

For Tradlands, that choice means a commitment to creating clothing that helps, rather than harms. It’s why we use sustainably produced fibers whenever possible, including the materials for our tencel, cotton and linen shirts, which you’ll see a lot of in our upcoming Spring collection.

We also only work with professional clothing makers here in the US — people who have chosen to train professionally to make clothes, who love what they do, and who make a living wage from doing it. It costs more in dollar terms to work this way, but it’s a small price to pay.

Just as you have an important ecological impact when you switch from factory-farmed produce to locally grown, buying local, ethical clothing is one small way you can bend history. You know that every time you choose a piece of clothing that has been produced ethically and sustainably, you send a small ripple out into the pond of fashion production, holding an industry to a higher standard.

All of us have this opportunity — to use our daily choices for change, and we’re thrilled to be on this ride with you. We might not know what’s around the corner, we might not be able to see where our choices will take us, but we know we’re doing something powerful and meaningful together. We’re grateful for you, and can’t wait to share the next selection of these game-changing shirts with you next week. They’re pretty darn special, just like you.