5 years vegan; 5 tips I've learned along the way

If you told me 5 years ago that I would end up a vegan, I would of probably said; “no way, that’s too extreme for me”. I used to think of veganism as a hippy, even ‘weird’ lifestyle that I could not relate to, even though I was a vegetarian from birth! I can only imagine how meat-eaters must view veganism haha! Now 5 years after deciding to become vegan, I’ve been reflecting on my journey and what advice I would offer someone who’s considering making the change to veganism…

My journey with veganism began in 2015 when my boyfriend suggested I should watch Cowspiracy, a documentary about the environmental impact of the meat and dairy industry. He had watched part of it and realised it was something I would be interested in, as I often talked about climate change and wanted to know what else I could be doing to help. I sat down to watch it by myself one night and when I finished, tears streaming down my face, I knew I couldn’t ignore the facts anymore. I knew I had to go vegan.

I woke up the next day full of determination, telling everyone in my family that I was now vegan and that I wanted them all to watch this documentary. I immediately got on Pinterest and started saving vegan recipes and running a list in my head of the foods I could no longer eat. I felt like I was unstoppable and on a mission to save the planet, and the animals!

Reality set in over the next few days when I realised that I still lived at home and so wasn’t in full control of the food we ate and the meals that were cooked. Everything was already vegetarian, but dairy was usually part of every meal, whether it was the cow’s milk in my cereal or the cheese on my jacket potato. I hadn’t realised how hard this was going to be. My family probably all thought this was just a brief phase and that I’d be back on the cheese any day now.

I spent the second half of 2015 trying to become ‘fully vegan’, often making mistakes or giving in to temptation. For anyone who tells you going vegan is easy, they’re lying! Making the choice to go vegan was the easy part, actually implementing all the changes in my life was not so easy. And this was just the food and drink elements of my new vegan lifestyle.

When I was working on my final collection at uni, I had originally picked out some leather, silk and even fur to use in my designs (the fur was secondhand but I still hang my head in shame to think I ever thought it was ok to use this). As I held these materials in my hand I started to connect the dots and see the animals faces behind these skins, I was actually surprised it hadn’t hit me sooner. I scrapped my original designs, gave away all the animal materials to other students and came up with new designs using synthetic or other natural alternatives.

This was my first taste of vegan fashion, and it felt like I had opened a door I could no longer close; wearing animal skins was wrong and I had to make changes to the way I shopped. Looking through my wardrobe I was relieved to find that I had very few pieces of animal materials in the clothes I owned. I had a leather Moschino bag and a Zara top with a calfskin trim (again, so ashamed), so I sold the bag on eBay and gave the top to a friend. I was never really able to afford expensive leather shoes or bags, plus it wasn’t really my style.

As I started to research vegan fashion online, I was dismayed to see the results coming up. Nearly everything I saw was that hippy, natural style that I dreaded – no offence to anyone who’s into that, it just really wasn’t me. I was looking for clean cut, minimalist designs in monochrome colours and quality fabrics, and there just wasn’t anything there. All that I could find was the polyester or jersey fast fashion options from ASOS, River Island and Topshop. I decided that if this was hard for me, a (now) fashion graduate with three years’ experience and several fashion internships, to find good quality vegan clothing, it must be nearly impossible for most people! This was when I came up with the idea of a vegan fashion blog.

Grandermarnier was born in 2017 with the goal of bringing vegan fashion to the masses and educating people on the materials they chose and the impact of their choices. I wanted to show that vegan fashion doesn’t have to mean compromising on style, and that there are brands out there that offer cruelty-free clothes that any fashion-conscious woman would be excited to wear. I spent my time researching different materials and brands that offered a vegan range or were entirely vegan, keeping a list as I went of the brands that stood out to me. (If you want to check out said list, click here to see my A-Z vegan brand list)

Veganism started out with my intentions to lower my impact on the planet and save the animals, and it led me to creating my own blog about vegan fashion with the hope of raising more awareness and justice to the animals behind the cruelty of leather, fur, silk, etc. I’m so grateful to my boyfriend for introducing me to veganism (even though he’s not vegan himself – yet ;) ), I’m not sure how I would have found the path that I’m now if he hadn’t.

Anyway, that’s my vegan journey so far and I just wanted to share my story with you in case it resonates with you in any way and maybe inspires you to give veganism a go. Over the past 5 years I’ve learnt so much about the diet, lifestyle and ethics behind veganism, I thought it might be worth sharing some of my experience with you guys.

If you’re considering going vegan, here a few tips that might help you with your journey:

Find your why

The reason you turn vegan is so important guys! You really need to think about what your ‘why’ is. Actress Tabitha Brown talks about this a lot, that unless you make the change for the right reasons, you’ll end up going back to meat/dairy and won’t achieve what you set out to achieve. We saw this a lot with all these “influencers” leaving the vegan community, it was clear that they just went vegan to jump on a bandwagon and gain more followers, not exactly an authentic decision. The main reasons people go vegan are:

For the animals
For the planet
For your health

But there are also socioeconomic reasons to go vegan, given the amount of food we grow to feed animals and the amount of people who are starving to death around the world. Check out the Vegan Society’s page on why you should go vegan for more information.

Do your research

Documentaries, online resources, books, scientific journals are your friend, Facebook groups, forums and youtubers are not (necessarily). There is a lot of misinformation (b******t) out there on the internet from people who are not medical professionals or educated environmentalists, they should not be giving advice unless they can back it up with scientific evidence. You’ll need to look into what veganism is all about, so you can form a well-rounded understanding of the lifestyle and get answers to all your questions.

Here are some great book recommendations for anyone considering veganism, and here are some great documentaries to get all the information in a perhaps more digestible way.

One size does not fit all

Veganism is not a one-size-fits-all lifestyle. You need to find what works best for you. While there are obvious do’s and don’ts’s to the lifestyle, you’ll need to decide where you draw the line on a few things. You might want to think about whether you’re going to be a passive or active activist (passive can mean you just go about your business and talk to people about veganism when it comes up, active could mean you take part in protests, marches, etc), either way, you are doing your bit for the planet and the animals so there’s no wrong decision. Some vegans eat mostly processed food, while others stick to wholefoods. Some vegans won’t buy from big supermarkets as they fund the meat and dairy industry, or they might not buy from a company if their ‘parent company’ funds the industry. Just take some time, and do your own research, to decide where you stand on these issues, and don’t let anyone make you feel guilty about where that position is!

When in doubt; veganize!

My trick with enjoying my vegan lifestyle is just to acknowledge what I miss or crave from my B.V days (Before Vegan) and just veganize it! I can apply this to food, fashion, beauty and even homeware. Whatever you are missing you’ll be able to find a vegan version of it (99% of the time). I do this a lot with fashion, I’ve become an expert at hunting down a vegan, ethical or secondhand version of any item of clothing, so I never feel like I’m missing out. This is even easier with food now as there are so many recipes out there for all your favourite dishes and loads more products on the shelves to satisfy any cravings!

Find your tribe

When I started looking into vegan fashion, I quickly found there was a small community of girls around my age who were also looking for vegan clothing and beauty. It was great to connect with likeminded people who share my interests and who I could ask questions whenever I needed to. Vegan fashion girls are my jam and it’s been the highlight of my vegan journey to make friends with so many amazing people around the world who feel the same way I do about veganism. There are so many communities like this that can help you feel connected to the wider world and remind you that you are part of something bigger than yourself. Vegan runners, vegan bakers, vegan mums, whatever you’re passionate about, you can find a vegan tribe to connect to. This will also help you keep on track when you’re feeling tempted to give up or if you just want some friendly people to talk to.

I hope some of this was helpful, feel free to message me with any questions! If you’re considering going vegan hopefully you found this useful, and if you’re not, there’s never been a better time to start thinking about it!