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R E F A S H I O N the Future

A digital platform for all things fashion, people and planet.

17/12/2023

✨I love sequins and glitter as much as the next person - but that doesn’t negate the not so sparkly effect they have on the environment.

According to (2019), 1.7m sequined items are thrown out after the festive season, but won’t ever biodegrade.

On top of that is the issue with our waters. We all know about how synthetic materials shed microplastics when washed, right? Well, it’s even worse with sequins + glitter.

That’s not even mentioning the fact that sequins = oil. Yep, BIG oil.

Sequins are a party staple, and perhaps always will be, but there are ways we can limit their effect on the environment.

- Repeat your sparkly outfits
- Rent or buy secondhand/vintage sequinned pieces
- Only wash sequinned pieces when absolutely necessary.
- Swap/borrow with loved ones.

13/09/2023

WTF IS WASTE COLONIALISM?!

The first recorded use of the term “waste colonialism” came in 1989 at the United Nations Environmental Programme Basel Convention, when African nations expressed concern regarding the ways in which countries in the Global North were dumping waste into states in the Global South. (Liboiron, The Or Foundation)

In other words, the Global North was treating African nations as sinks for waste.

Waste colonialism, therefore, is the movement of waste from areas of privilege and affluence to areas of lower economic status and influence - following historical (& modern day) colonial trade routes.

This forms ‘part of the domination of one group in their homeland by another group’ and generally manifests in ‘the assumed entitlement to use Land as a sink’ for waste and pollution.

So, WTF does this have to do with fashion?!

In Ghana, Kantamanto Market brims with bales upon bales of secondhand clothing sent from the Global North with often life-threatening consequences for those living and working in the market. Weighing around 120lbs each, bales have fatally crushed the limbs and bodies of babies, children, and adult workers alike.

Meanwhile a dump of secondhand clothing sent from the Global North clothes the landscape of Chile’s Atacama Desert. The garments are mostly made of synthetic textiles which slowly release chemical pollutants into the air, earth, and underground water channels.
 Fashion is perpetuating waste colonialism. Sign the petition in my bio to stop it.

01/09/2023

Its the first day of a new month, I’m back online AND it’s !

This month (and every other month, tbh) I’m celebrating the pre-loved pieces in my wardrobe. Secondhand is by no means second best; in fact, many of my most high quality and staple pieces have long had lives before me.

Making your clothes last longer is a great step towards taking a stance against climate change:
🚙👖 Did you know that around 16.2kg of CO2 is emitted to make one pair of jeans? That’s the equivalent of driving over 58 miles in a car 🤯
aaand that’s not even mentioning the huge textile waste crisis in fashion (which I wrote a whole 12,000 word dissertation on - more on that soon!)

Hwoever, by caring for clothes a little longer - be that through mending items or buying secondhand - we can reduce their footprint by as much as 30%.

Garment makers can’t be left out of this conversation either: by rewearing our clothes, be they secondhand or new, we are honouring the craftsmanship of those who made them.

Swipe for some of my most recent secondhand looks - and let me know in the comments if you’re going to be joining in Secondhand September this year 🤗

30/07/2023

went to a wedding with my oldest friends last weekend and it was dreamy. happy international friendship day 🫶🏼
[gifted]

10/07/2023

Wore my mum’s clothes on holiday and it was the BEST THING I’VE EVER DONE. Maybe an exaggeration, but nevertheless it was truly lovely.

Little me would be so gassed to see her older self wearing clothes I used to l o v e seeing my mum in.

Both this blouse and the trousers are over 10 years old but are still in fab condition 💥 I’ve said it a gazillion times before, but LOVED CLOTHES LAST! ♥️

Before leaving for my holiday, mum let me rummage through her boxes of holiday clothes and I picked out some pieces.

It reminded me of how much pleasure there is to be taken in handling clothes we’ve had for a long time and letting all their memories surface.

I remembered things from when I was 7, 12, and 14 whilst browsing - making it all the more special that I was going to be the person wearing them this time.

Rewearing is caring - and also extremely nostalgia-inducing (which, if you know me at all, is an addiction at this point).

Last photo is of mum wearing the shirt today 🫶🏼

09/04/2023

Recently, there’s been a distinct lack of anger about me - I think it’s been quelled by the monotony of exam revision, countless job rejections, and feeling a bit lost about what is next for me life-wise. For the first time in my life I don’t have a plan. At all.

That said, there is always a bit of a rumble of anger in me about fashion and people and the Earth,
So it’s probs unsurprising that my dissertation is feeling like a compass for life at the moment - I’m writing about fashion and colonialism and waste and art and Latin America, probably my most favourite topics. Yes, it has been an absolute pain in the 🍑 and I’ve sworn and cried over it and hated it, but I kind of also don’t want to stop writing it, ever. It has reaffirmed the idea that maybe I should write for a career, whatever that may look like. Anyway, some anger has been reignited by this intense period of writing and I just LOVE this quote from - go and see Brain Forest Quipu at Modern before it leaves. If you do or if you don’t, I’m gonna write about it at some point soon,
in more depth than a caption allows.

Brain dump over and out from a very inconsistent IG user ###xx

22/01/2023

Happy 2023! Better late than never 🤪
Hope you’ve all entered 2023 in the most peaceful and kind of ways - and if not, know i’m thinking of you. It’s been a weird month and I know it’s only going to be getting crazier - but snuggling up in knitwear (sometimes multiple pieces) really is getting me through.
: a summer dress slipped under the most gorgeous retro knit from (pr gifted) - check them out for a really wonderful selection of vintage and secondhand pieces curated by Alexia ♥️

22/12/2022

Reflecting on this year croissant 🥐 in hand, à la . The curveballs came in from left, right and centre - but hey, c’est la vie. I’m excited for more in 2023 though 👀

#2022

14/12/2022

With every change of the seasons I feel at a loss with how to get dressed. I got so used to just slipping on a cotton dress with trainers. Somehow this is has no longer been cutting it whilst walking to and from lectures in the almost arctic climes of autumnal Durham.

With this change in season often comes a tirade of brands calling for us to buy new pieces for the shifting weather, preying upon the confusion I - and I’m sure many others - feel when the weather changes so dramatically. “Winter essentials” that we “must” buy fill up our Instagram feeds, whilst adverts are all about the new, new, new. It feels all too easy to fall into the trap when you’re at a loss with how to get dressed each icy morning - I have been on the brink of clicking on the “order now” button too many times.

A simple remedy? Remember the wonder of tights and layering and favourite knitted scarves and long wool coats. They’ll last forever.

my mum’s old hat, a scarf I bought when travelling in 2019, old tights, and a vintage wool coat.

25/11/2022

Why are we still seeing brands discount so heavily each ?

The long and short of it? Brands use Black Friday and to get rid of the excess stock they overproduced by encouraging frenzied overconsumption. In doing so, they refuse to take responsibility for the waste they have generated.

According to an estimated 100 billion pieces of clothing are made each year - far, far more than we need - most of which ends up in landfill.

A final thought from Vandana Shiva: ‘When we engage in production or consumption patterns which take more than we need, we are engaging in violence.’

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