Bright Yellow Winter

My wardrobe is full of vibrant colours to keep my style fun and playful. Recently the days have gotten shorter and the weather colder for many of us in the southern hemisphere. To help me mentally cope with the colder, darker days, I up the ante with BRIGHT, BOLD COLOURS!

Exhibit A: this super bright yellow early 1980s hand-me-down I got from my friend’s mother, Maryanne. Maryanne is my good friend Kylie’s mother and she has had this gorgeous yellow number since the early ‘80s before she had Kylie and her sisters! Fortunately for me, none of them wanted the dress so I got it. I rocked it with a pair of light brown studded falcon ankle boots I found in a preloved boutique. 

Have you ever noticed that most Winter attire in retail are usually dark and neutral colours, while summer clothes are often bright, cheerful and colourful? I think it should totally be the other way around. We should have bright clothes in winter to raise the energy and ambience of the cold, dark days with cheery, vibrant colours. And then in summer, when we already have longer, brighter days, more sunshine and generally lighter moods as a result, we can opt for darker colours and/or just maintain the colour vibrancy. 

 I do my best to extend my summer wardrobe through to winter by wearing thermals underneath clothes and jumpers when needed. This means I get more use from my clothes, buy less clothing for winter and therefore waste less clothing. And quite significantly, I get those bright, energetic, colour boosts in winter. It also has a positive effect on anyone who sees me on a winter day because they get hit with an uncommon dose of ebullience. 

So, this dress is a metaphoric toast to those of us with winter days ahead of us for the next few months. Stay warm and keep it colourful! 

Outfit sourced from:

1980s yellow dress: Hand-me-down from Maryanne’s wardrobe.

Light brown studded falcon boots: U-Turn Preloved, Vintage, Designer Fashion Boutique

Photos by Brunela Fenalte Photography. 

♥ Nina Gbor

Secret Sisterhood social enterprise for women

Nina Gbor on the left hand side. Jacquie Love on the right hand side.

I’m all for social enterprises that empower, uplift and inspire women. I spotted the lovely Jacquie Love outside of the International Women’s Day event, held by the UN Women National Committee Australia in Canberra last month. 

Jacquie was raising funds for UN Women’s gender inequality initiatives by selling beautiful jewellery she designs for the label she founded, Secret Sisterhood. It’s a mission/purpose driven social enterprise that employs women in India to make the jewellery and then gives 100% of profits to charities aimed at ending gender inequality. 

Secret Sisterhood is also a movement, a growing community of women and girls with the collective goal of ending gender equality. They are a global community connecting through events, services and of course jewellery.  One of the things that caught my eye at the UN Women event were the compliment cards from Secret Sisterhood. Inscribed with phrases like “You are really strong” or “You should be so proud”, this is the perfect thing to completely shift someone’s day into a happy one. I might even keep a few in my wallet as my self-love affirmations.

I also loved their Intentional Words jewellery line each with words like Love, Gratitude, Kindness and Peace. These are pieces I would wear with nearly any style of outfit. It feels good having a positive word or symbol with me all day long. 

Needless to say, I’m now officially a fan of Secret Sisterhood. It’s one of the exemplary enterprises, showing how a business can be run in a way that uplifts, supports everyone involved.  

*Photos from Nina Gbor and supplied by Secret Sisterhood

♥ Nina Gbor

Fashion and the environment

Fashion is one of the most polluting industries in the world. Majority of fashion’s environmental impact occurs during production. Whether the fabric is plant-based, animal-based or from crude oil, processes for conversion to fabric are environmentally intensive. Fashion consumption and disposal are also big contributors to environmental pollution.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

The apparel and footwear industries are responsible for 8-10% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. And the climate effect of the fashion industry by the year 2030 is forecast to reach a near equivalent level with that of US’ current total annual greenhouse gas emissions (currently 4.9 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide).

The production, manufacture, transportation of millions of pieces of garments each year contributes to these high emission levels. In addition, countries powered by fossil fuels like Bangladesh, China and India are the biggest producers of apparel. To make matters worse, majority of modern clothing are made from petrochemical derivatives (polyester, nylon, acrylic) and require more energy-intensive processing that natural fibres (organic cotton, silk, wool, linen, cashmere, mohair).

Water Usage

When it comes to making textiles, a huge amount of water is used, For instance, it takes 2,700 litres to make one t-shirt! 20,000 litres of water is used to produce just 1 litre of cotton! The amount of water needed for growing cotton can lead to the risk of drought in some countries. An example is the Aral Sea which was once home to over 40,000 fishermen. Due to over-irrigation for cotton farming, the Aral Sea has become desert-like.

Water Pollution

Waste water containing toxic chemicals like lead, arsenic and mercury are pumped into the rivers and seas of the developing countries where they are produced from the factories. This is hazardous to the millions of people living in those areas as well as aquatic life.  From the seas, this toxicity eventually spreads round the world.

Toxic Chemical Pollution

Dyes, bleaches and other toxic chemicals are used in the production of clothing. These chemicals containing toxins, carcinogens and hormone disruptors remain on the clothing that we are sold in retail stores. Our skin is the largest organ of the body and the chemicals on our clothes can be absorbed through the skin, making this a real health hazard causing illness and potentially infertility. It’s advisable to wash all new clothes before wearing them.

The widespread use of chemicals, fertilisers and pesticides for cotton farming has been causing diseases and the early death of thousands of people for years in communities where they are used. In addition to soil degradation, massive freshwater bodies and the oceans have been polluted by these chemicals.

Microfibre (Plastic) Pollution

Synthetic fabrics (mostly plastic) are the most commonly used fabric in contemporary fashion. When washed, a polyester garment will shed 1,900 non-biodegradable microfibres that wash into the waters and eventually into the oceans. Microfibres constitute 85% of plastic pollution along shorelines. In addition to increasing oceanic plastic pollution, it’s a threat to aquatic life. Plastic absorbs chemicals. Small aquatic creatures eat the microfibres which eventually make their way up the food chain and onto our food plates, laced with carcinogenic chemicals. It’s best to opt for natural fabrics.

Soil Degradation

This is a huge environmental issue as it has an impact on both global food security and global warming. Healthy soil absorbs CO2 and it’s crucial for the ecosystem. Through the plentiful use of chemicals, deforestation and overgrazing of pastures from sheep and goats raised for wool production, the fashion industry has increased soil degradation.

Landfill Pollution

Currently we consume about 400% more clothing every year than we did 20 years ago with 80 billion new pieces every year, globally. In Australia, 85% of our new textiles end up in landfill every year and we throw out 6,000 kilos of fashion waste every 10 minutes.  This waste epidemic is because of fast fashion. Profit-driven fashion retailers use clever marketing for massive brainwashing so that in spite of having full wardrobes, shoppers feel they need to always have the latest trends. We can’t keep up with the cycle of trends, and nor can we consume at the rate at which we’re buying so we throw out many of our clothes. My solution; we need to GET OFF THE FASHION TRENDMILL and ignore the trend altogether.

Solutions

We’re beyond the point of needing positive change in this area. Whether or not you’re a follower of the latest trends, much of the stock in conventional retail stores are based on short fashion trends with synthetic fabrics that will be replaced by the next cycle in a small period of time.

Each garment has a story and a journey and it’s wonderful when you cherish it and look after your clothes for the long term. As a stylist, I recommend buying clothes that fit your colouring, body shape, personality and lifestyle instead of trends so that you love them for much longer. In all cases, natural fabrics are the best option. Three basic things you can do to build a sustainable wardrobe are

1. Before you buy, ask yourself if you really need it and how often you will use the garment. If it’s for one occasion, short term or just to feel good in the moment, consider, hiring or borrowing instead.  

2. Buy new from Ethical Labels. These are the brands that go far as they can to ensure everyone in the supply chain is paid a fair wage and minimal damage is done to the environment in manufacture and if possible, disposal. Use apps like Good on You to identify ethical brands.

3. Buy Preloved. Shop at op shops, markets, clothes swaps, garage sales, hand-me-downs, eBay, Carousell and other online second-hand platforms.

The Story behind the White Dress

As a girl that grew up adoring the style icons of Hollywood’s golden era (Sophia Loren, Rita Hayworth, Audrey Hepburn, etc), it’s obvious where my style influences come from. The 1950s is my favourite vintage fashion era. The dresses of that time embody beauty, elegance, femininity, romanticism.

This is probably why it was love at first sight when I spotted this beautiful white, vintage, handmade, 1950s number at a market. It’s got white embroidered floral pieces sewn onto the front, length is just at the knee with a full skirt. So far, I’ve worn it to a fundraiser event at an art gallery, on a dinner date and once to the office.

What I wonder, is the story behind this white dress? Considering that it’s handmade, perhaps it was made for a special occasion? A formal? A christening? Or judging by the style of matrimonial gowns in that era, could it have been someone’s wedding dress?

Buying vintage (clothes circa late 1930s to 1960s) is recycling, and therefore a big part of curating a sustainable wardrobe. It’s a wonderful way to save these beautiful, classic treasures from ending up in landfill. Many of them are handmade, well-tailored and of course unique. Moreover, the further back you go in time with vintage, the less likely you are to find synthetic fabrics like polyester. Most vintage pieces last many decades, unlike many of the clothes manufactured today. For this reason, I cherish my vintage pieces above my contemporary ones. They deserve the respect. A great vintage find like this white dress, is one that I’ll someday pass on to someone who would love it just as much. When this happens, I’ll also pass on my own story of the dress and then they too will begin their journey and make their own story.

STYLING

The Look: I wore this dress with a blue petticoat for a cheeky effect and paired it with my leopard print stilettos and vintage handbag (circa 1960s).

Styling tip: For a casual look, I would suggest wearing this dress without a petticoat, every day handbag and flats of some kind. It’ll still look beautiful, just a little more understated.

Sourced from:

White vintage dress: Rozelle Collectors Market

1960s vintage handbag: PDSA Charity Shop, UK

Photography by Angela Elgiva.

♥ Nina Gbor

The Ethical Fashion Label

In this ethical fashion feature, I’m wearing a casual and a corporate outfit by my favourite sustainable fashion label, Pure Pod. As one of the pioneer brands on the scene long before ethical fashion was considered a thing, Pure Pod has been making beautiful designs with a passion for people and planet. Ethical fashion brands are in my opinion, the labels that should be mainstream, where we buy our new clothes from. They are slow fashion brands committed to Fairtrade, organic clothing, organic certifications, sustainable production, fair wages, decent work conditions, natural textiles, animal welfare and environmental consciousness.

With fashion being one of the most environmentally-damaging industries, it’s remarkable that the UN Sustainable Fashion Charter for climate action was launched in December 2018 at the COP24 climate conference. Initiated by the UN climate change secretariat, the climate for fashion charter was backed by Stella McCartney. It has 16 commitments for brands and organisations to adhere to for low-carbon production methods and for the elimination of fashion waste. So far, forty fashion brands have adhered to the charter.

With cheap fashion threatening the planet, the creation of the charter was an absolute necessity to reform the havoc that has been reeked by the industry. Some of it includes:

• water pollution

• soil contamination through agricultural pesticides

• landfill waste, toxic chemical and dyes during manufacture

• soil degradation

• deforestation

• drought from over irrigation.

More than twelve years before the arrival of the charter, Pure Pod has been striving to create a cleaner fashion industry and promote creative designs that have a story and strong identity behind them. Their clothes are made of natural, Certified organic fabrics, natural or low impact dyes and deadstock material.

They only work with businesses and companies who are tracing and checking their supply chains to make sure people and the environment are protected and looked after.

The environment is a huge factor throughout their sourcing, production and distribution processes. Disposal and waste management are even woven into their design process.

When you factor in all of these elements, it becomes clear that ethical clothing is not cheap. Even though we might be paying a lot more for an ethically-made item than a fast fashion item, we can rest assured that ethically-made items will outlast their fast fashion counterparts by many years. On that account, in the long run we’re getting a lot more value than what we paid for the garment. We won’t run the risk of buying something that will fade or disintegrate after the first wash.

The BMWi Blue dress

This beautiful BMWi Blue dress is made from bamboo velvet, in a shade of blue that I love.

The look: Lounging by the water, I chose to go barefoot with this one.

Style tip: If you own a dress like this, try wearing flat sandals or ballet flats for a casual look. For a night out, I’d opt for open-toe sandal heels.

Autumn/Winter: Certain styles of knee-high boots might work with this dress in colder seasons.

The Denim Banded Bee Dress

This denim Blue Banded Bee Dress is Australian made from Certified organic cotton denim indigo.  It has handmade crochet trims on the bodice to symbolise bees and an open back.

I paired the dress with Pure Pod’s pink and white 40’s inspired Vintage top. It’s vegetable- dyed, hand block printed and made from Certified organic cotton voile.

The Look: To give it a corporate look, I wore patent black court stilettos and a black handbag.

Styling tip: Wear the denim banded bee dress on its own, with a casual top or top with a unique pattern for versatility.

Outfits sourced from:

BMWi Blue dress: Pure Pod

Denim Banded Bee Dress: Pure Pod

40s inspired Vintage top: Pure Pod

Michael Kors patent black stilettos: The Green Shed Op Shop

Black handbag: Borrowed from a friend.

♥ Nina Gbor