Sustainable and Affordable Lingerie – ELB Lingerie

Neve Godfrey-Clark reviews ‘ELB Lingerie’, a sustainable slow fashion alternative to high street lingerie. Neve reviews some of her favourite pieces and explores how the lingerie industry can be sustainable too.

Much like many 20 year old women, I am a sucker for a good lingerie set. There’s just something about wearing a cute matching set of underwear that makes me feel empowered, even if literally nobody else sees it. I’ve also been trying more to make a conscious effort to avoid fast fashion purchases and support smaller businesses instead, especially during lockdown since they have been more negatively affected economically. The only downfall of my lingerie addiction is that it can be pretty expensive when living on a student budget, however ELB Handmade solves this problem by providing sustainable and relatively affordable lingerie (which is also beautiful).   

ELB Handmade was created 6 years ago and is based in Cambridgeshire. The business is run entirely by Emma, who does everything from designing the lingerie, to hand making them, and then posting them! Prices range depending on the materials and detail etc, a bra alone is around £10-£20, with lingerie sets ranging from £15-£30, plus Emma often releases discount codes for her website to save some money! 

Sustainability is a key part of Emma’s work as she explains on the ELB Handmade website “We strongly believe in being as ethical and sustainable as possible, because your undies really don’t need to be hurting the planet”. When making her lovely lingerie, Emma has several measures in place to make the process as ethical as she can, such as using no single use plastics and recycling all fabric scraps. The materials used are also locally sourced (in the UK) when possible, and if this can’t be done then it will be sourced from “reputable suppliers with good working conditions”. All lingerie orders are also taken to the post office by bicycle and are sent in recyclable packaging too!

I already own a few things from ELB handmade so I thought i’d showcase them in case you’re wondering just what type of underwear is available from this lovely shop!

The Starlight Set

This set is made from a super soft and stretchy jersey-type material making it extremely comfortable to wear! The star print is so fun as well and the style means the bra can easily be worn by itself or under a mesh top, not just as underwear! Unfortunately this set isn’t available anymore but there are still tonnes to choose from.

Soft Stripe Bralet

This bra is again very soft and comfortable and is made from a ribbed cotton jersey material. There’s a few different colour options for this bra, and it can also be bought as a set!

This bralet still available on the ELB handmade website for £12!

Winter Long Lace Set 

Last but not definitely not least, this set is made from the most beautiful purple coloured lace. The bralet has lining over the boob area meaning again it is very versatile and can be worn as a top! The pants can also be bought in either a thong, brazilian or brief style depending on your favourite. 

This set is £24 on the ELB handmade website!

I hope this article will open peoples eyes to the advantages of shopping sustainably for items such as underwear, and shown how sustainable clothes can still be affordable and fashionable! If you’re interested in the lingerie made by Emma then you can take a look at here website here. 

About the author: Neve is a social media assistant for WILD magazine and is going into her third year studying sociology. She is also the social media coordinator for Free The Flow York.