How eccentric is your style? / May 30, 2020 by Nina Gbor

Eco Styles Nina Gbor Sustainable fashion Ethical fashion 1

How eccentric is your style? The fear of being clowned for wearing something most people wouldn't wear stops many from reaching their potential.

I grew up moving around a lot and never really fitting in anywhere (and still don't). But it's great because it forced me to figure out how I could shape the world around me so that I could feel comfortable to navigate through life as myself. As opposed to say, receding into a false projection of someone most people would find more acceptable (whatever that looks like).

This quest taught me to be super comfortable with all my weirdness and to sit comfortably in my own skin and in my awkwardness. I'll let you in on a little secret of how I grew the courage to wear eccentric, unusual styles. And to be different in ways that make people accept you for who you are: with every new person, job or community, etc, start off with expressing that different version of yourself. They'll likely accept your uniqueness straight away and leave it at that. But it must be authentically you and not a false portrayal.

As humans, we're all multi-dimensional. None of us is just one thing. When we begin to evolve or express different parts of ourselves, sometimes people within our communities judge us because we've stepped outside of their comfort zone. That's why they clown us. It takes a lot of courage to stay the new course. You have to decide if you want the freedom to express yourself and henceforth live life on your own terms OR if you're going to cower into a life of suppression. To me, the latter choice doesn't feel like a life at all. But this is a decision of true strength that, at some point(s) in our lives, each one of us must make.

P.S. In addition to style, you can apply this concept to other areas of your life too. "Nothing bold or magnificent is built from fear." (Quote from BBC series, 'The Collection').

STYLING

This skirt is definitely the feature piece of this outfit. I found this late 1960s vintage skirt on a sunny September afternoon in 2017 at an outdoor preloved market. Wearing pink with yellow, red, green and blue is true to block colour styling. In the spirit of eccentricity, it’s feel free to style yourself in the ways that make you happy.

Outfit sourced from:

Pink top - Vinnies Op Shop

Multicolour Vintage Skirt - Suitcase Rummage Preloved Market

Leopard-print Stilettos - Staple from my wardrobe

♥ Nina Gbor

Instagram: @eco.styles

The revolution of fashion and the shifting paradigms / April 20, 2020 by Nina Gbor

Rana dress made by ethical label, Pure Pod. Australian-made with organic cotton and linen.

Now more than ever is the moment we can create a paradigm shift by putting our (collective) weight behind brands that have always operated with unwavering determination to treat workers with dignity and respect. Brands that operate with absolute consideration for how their manufacturing processes and lifecycle of their products impact the environment. This is not an easy feat, especially for small businesses. For these reasons, they deserve our utmost respect and patronage. To systemise ethical and sustainable businesses so that the standard for how we produce, consume and dispose clothing and textiles becomes the new normal, the mainstream.

Rana Plaza disaster in Dhaka District, Bangladesh on April 24, 2013. Stock image.

Fashion Revolution

April 20th – April 26th, 2020 marks this year’s Fashion Revolution week. On April 24th, 2013, Rana Plaza, a building in Bangladesh with a clothing manufacture factory collapsed and killed 1134 people and injured 2,500 people. This was the disaster that ignited the global Fashion Revolution movement. Its mission is to protect people and planet by taking a stance against social injustice and environmental damage done in the name of fashion. One of their most popular campaign hashtags on social media is #WhoMadeMyClothes. The aim is to incite apparel users all over the world to ask the brands who make their clothes for full transparency of their entire manufacture supply chain. This will ensure traceability and therefore influence liveable fair wages, healthier work conditions and better practices for the environment.

Time for change

This week in 2020 can be the year we fully revolutionise our global fashion culture. Here are some thoughts that will inspire you to join the movement towards making ethical and sustainable fashion the new normal:

1. Too expensive – there’s a myth that ethically-made clothes are too expensive. This is false. They often cost exactly what clothes are meant to cost. Fast fashion has given us the wrong idea that clothes can be cheap and disposable. The next time you want to purchase a t-shirt for $10, or a dress for $20, you best believe that the people that made that garment were paid next to nothing for their hard work. Paying a decent amount to an ethical brand means the people who make the garments are paid liveable wages. This is how we can help to flatten the global poverty curve.

2. Driving down costs – When enough people and policies support ethical manufacturing, it will drive down production costs in a way that still upholds the values of environment, liveable wages and good work conditions because it will become the norm, not the exception.

3. Variety, inclusion & diversity – The more we use our dollars to stand behind ethical brands, the easier it will become for labels to have size variety, more inclusion and diversity in the fashion industry.

How to Take Action

These organisations exist to change the status quo with actions that anyone can take to make this happen sooner and more efficiently.

• Fashion Revolution advocates for a global fashion industry that conserves and restores the environment and values people over growth and profit. Join the revolution here.

• Ethical Clothing Australia is an accreditation body that works with Australian businesses to ensure their Australian supply chains are legally compliant. Their list of ethical brands can be found here.

• Oxfam’s What She Makes campaign demands big clothing brands pay the women who make our clothes a living wage. They have several activities that you can do to ensure this happens on their site here.

Where to Shop

In addition to Pure Pod, some other ethical brands to check out are KitX, Remuse, Etiko, Humiform, Allora Capes and Stella McCartney. Here are links to specific categories:

Office / Workwear

Activewear

Underwear and lingerie

Shoes

More affordable fashion brands

STYLING

In this article I’m wearing a dress by the ethical label, Pure Pod. It is made in Australia using organic cotton and linen. I was going for an old Hollywood, vintage, glamorous look so I styled the dress with a black, wide brim hat. To enhance the Hollywood glamour look, I paired it with gold, sparkly stilettos.

Outfit sourced from:

Rana Dress – Pure Pod

Gold Stilettos – Canberra (preloved) Fashion Market

♥ Nina Gbor

Photography by Bryant Evans

How to restyle your wardrobe to help reduce climate change / April 14, 2020 by Nina Gbor

Nina Gbor vintage fashion dress sustainable fashion.jpg

Who would have ever thunk that looking stylish on your own terms could be linked with reducing climate change? The fashion and textile industry produce over 92 million tonnes of waste and consumes 1.5 trillion tonnes of waste water per year. And the Global South bears the biggest brunt when it comes to fashion’s social injustices around the exploitation of garment workers and human rights abuses. With over 100 billion new garments being produced each year, 85% ends up in landfill or incinerated. About 95% of the textiles sent to landfill each year can be recycled. We will need systems in place to do this efficiently and holistically. However, there are things we can each do right now in our wardrobes to minimise waste, reduce the impact on climate change and honour the hard work of garment workers: restyle your wardrobe!

Capsule wardrobe Nina Gbor supergirl restyle.jpg

This simple and fun process of mixing and matching different pieces and jewellery to create new outfit combinations that you typically would not put together is called RESTYLING. The process of layering and accessorising to create new and different looks for multiple types of occasions can reduce the amount of clothing that you buy because you’re likely to re-use your clothes for longer periods of time. This ultimately reduces the amount of clothes you buy, which reduces the amount of clothes that goes to landfill and furthermore reduces fashion’s impact on climate change. (The Global Fashion Agenda has predicted that the level of apparel consumption will rise by 63% to 102 million tonnes by 2030 if the current trends continue).

Here are some preloved pieces that I’ve restyled as examples of how you can layer and accessorise to either create a capsule wardrobe or get longer use of your clothing (regardless of your size, age or lifestyle). The important thing is to do in the way that suits your personality and lifestyle without following fashion trends.

RESTYLING

In the photos above and below, I’ve simply used a dress on it’s own and then as a top and also as a skirt:

Yellow, floral 1950’s original vintage dress turned into a skirt by wearing my black supergirl t-shirt on it.
Turquoise and gold geometric-pattern 1980s retro dress restlyed as a top with my plaid tafeta maxi skirt and a black belt. The restyled again as a skirt using my gold sequinned top and a black belt.
Red, floral preloved drop-waist dress restyled as a top using a fun red, mixed pattern, handmade skirt and tan belt with a metal buckle.

These are some of the most basic restyling techniques that I’ve been using for years because it works for me. It has reduced the amount of tops I needed to buy to go with my skirts and vice versa! You can restyle your own clothes using different hats, shoes, scarves, jewellery and various garments in ways that are practical for you and your daily life.

Outfits sourced from:

Yellow, floral 1950’s vintage dress: Lifeline op shop.

Black supergirl t-shirt: Red Cross op shop.

Turquoise & gold geometric-pattern 1980’s retro dress: Bowerbird Vintage store.

Plaid, taffeta maxi skirt: Salvos op shop.

Gold, sequinned top: Savers op shop.

Red, floral drop-waist dress: South Melbourne Community Chest op shop.

Red, mixed pattern, handmade vintage skirt: Red Cross op shop.

♥ Nina Gbor

References:

Fashion's impact on climate change; government, industry and consumer suggestions for net zero / March 9, 2020 by Nina Gbor

As part of the National Sustainable Living Festival this year, I gave a talk about how fashion impacts climate change with suggestions for how we can make changes to achieve net zero emissions. The event, Fashion Apocalypse, was organised, by the Coalition of Everyone. It was designed as a mock Citizens’ Assembly to engage participants from all walks to contribute and build empowering solutions to a would-be fashion climate emergency. I’ve combined the findings from my research and talk into this article. I’ll first explain why fashion is detrimental to the environment before I go into how it impacts the climate, and then delve into policy recommendations for consumers, industry and government to work together towards a common goal of net zero emissions.

One of the working groups at Coalition of Everyone’s Mock Assembly event. Photo: Grace O’Hara.

THE PROBLEM

Scientists are saying we only have about 10 years to take significant measures to keep global temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels. And on that note, avoid the irreversible environmental destruction that can threaten all of humanity. This is the goal of the Paris Agreement. For this to happen, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions will need to be on track to decrease by about 45 percent by 2030. The greenhouse gases from the fashion and apparel industry contributes to about 10% of climate change. Therefore, it has an urgent role to play in climate action.

The 2019 Fashion Revolution Report indicated that only a little over 100 of fashion’s top brands publish their annual carbon footprint on their websites. More than half of the industry’s emissions occur in the supply chain and only 19.5% disclose their emissions in this area.

The fashion and apparel industry is worth approximately $1.8 trillion dollars. Fast fashion’s trend and throwaway culture is based on a lucrative business model where retail stores produce clothing very cheaply and intended for short-term use. Primarily made of synthetic textiles, the manufacture, consumption and disposal operations are laden with processes that damage the environment in major ways. The concept of following fashion trends is the fuel that drives the fast fashion dilemma. The business model enables fast fashion companies to skyrocket profits by selling clothes based on daily / weekly rapidly turning fashion trends. Shortly after manufacture, fast fashion apparel is quickly disposed of in favour of the next set of trends, then the new trends are soon after disposed of as well. And so, the linear cycle continues, earning the industry the title of being one of the most polluting industries in the world.

We’re buying more clothes than ever before, wearing them fewer times, repairing them less, and throwing them away sooner. Approximately, 150 billion brand new garments are being manufactured every year which is 400% more than we were consuming more than two decades ago. 85% of textiles and apparel purchased end up in landfill within a year. And less than 1 % of used clothing is recycled into new garments. The average consumer bought 60% more clothes in 2014 than in the year 2000 but kept each garment for half as long. If demographic and lifestyle patterns continue as they are now, global consumption of apparel will rise from 62 million metric tonnes (as per 2019) to 102 million tonnes by 2030.

HOW FASHION IMPACTS CLIMATE CHANGE

These are several leading ways that fashion impacts climate change:

Greenhouse gases
Water usage
Chemicals & pesticides
Textile waste
Synthetic textiles
Landfill and emissions
Energy
Deforestation

Greenhouse Gases

The fashion and textiles industry is creating 92 million tonnes of textile waste and 1.7 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions which is more than that of all international flights and marine shipping combined. At the current rate, the fashion industry's greenhouse gas emissions will spike more than 50% by 2030. And by 2050, use up a quarter of the world’s carbon budget needed to keep the planet below 2 degrees of warming. The fashion industry’s emissions are estimated to be close to that of Russia’s.

Water Usage

Every year the fashion industry uses 93 billion cubic meters of water — enough to meet the consumption needs of five million people. According to figures from the United Nations Environment Programme, it takes 3,781 litres of water to make a pair of jeans. And 2,700 litres of water to make just one cotton t-shirt. That’s equivalent to 3 years’ worth of drinking water for one person. If you were to multiply the number of t-shirts in your wardrobe by 2,700 litres, that’s just a fraction of the amount of water in one wardrobe!

Cotton is in 40% of our garments. It’s the single largest water consumption factor in fashion and textiles. 93 billion cubic metres of water is used in cotton production per year, with 10,000 – 20,000 litres of water needed to make just 1kg of clothing. This puts an incredible amount of stress on water supply in Central Asia, India and China. Regions in these countries are already contending with water scarcity linked to climate change. The Aral Sea in Uzbekistan is a prime example. Once the fourth largest fresh lake in the world and home to over 40,000 fishermen, it has become an arid desert, due to over-irrigation from cotton farming.

Abandoned ships at landscape that was formerly the Aral Sea. Photo: Lochner.

Chemicals & Pesticides

Chemicals:

Water pollution - A quarter of the chemicals produced in the world are used in textiles. With the textile industry being one of the most chemically intensive industries on earth, it has turned out to be the second biggest polluter of freshwater resources on the planet. A United Nations study stated that the fashion industry is responsible for 20% of all waste water which mainly comes from fabric dyeing and treatment. Chemicals are used during other manufacturing processes, such as fibre production, bleaching, printing, washing and finishing. In countries where garment manufacture occurs, untreated toxic waste and fabric dyes from local factories are dumped into the rivers and water bodies. This impacts the communities where this happens by destroying their access to clean, potable water. The chemicals cause high levels of cancer and other illnesses for the people who live in these areas. The contamination is also hazardous to aquatic wildlife. It streams into the seas and then infiltrates waterways around the world.

Considering only 2.5% of the Earth’s water is freshwater and only 0.3% of that is accessible to humans, the urgency for the industry to take drastic action is high.

Pesticides

Cotton makes up almost half of the total fibre used to make clothing. It’s the world’s single largest pesticide-consuming crop. Cotton fields globally account for 2.4% of cultivated land, but consume 18% of all pesticide use and 25% of total insecticide use.

Textile Waste

85% of apparel purchased end up in landfill. The average consumer bought 60% more clothes in 2014 than in the year 2000 but kept each garment for half as long.

Due to fashion oversupply, one garbage truck of clothes is sent to landfill or burned every second, according to the World Resources Institute. Burberry for instance, incinerated $150 million worth of stock within a 5-year period. Burning textiles exacerbates global warming by emitting greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Synthetic Textiles

Microfibres - Synthetic textiles make up 72% of clothing and are one of the main sources of microplastic pollution and account for 35% of all microplastics. The most common materials used in clothing manufacture are polyester (55%), followed by nylon (5%) and acrylic (2%). Nylon produces nitrous oxide which is a greenhouse gas 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

Not only are synthetics non-biodegradable, they all rely on the petrochemical industries for their raw material, meaning because it’s a staple, the fashion industry is dependent on fossil fuel extraction. Synthetics made from this source are a form of plastic. Approximately 70 million barrels of oil are used to make polyester fabric each year, which has become the most commonly used fabric in our clothing.

Every year, half a million tons of plastic microfibers (equivalent of 50 billion plastic bottles) end up in the ocean when we wash our synthetic garments. Microfibers cannot be extracted from the water. This threatens marine wildlife. It also ends up in our food supply when the water or seafood is consumed. This can impact our physical health.

Landfill and Emissions

Synthetic textiles, which is what a big portion of clothing is made of, can take more than 200 years to decompose in landfill. In this condition, they release the toxic gas, methane, which being 21 times more potent that carbon dioxide, is incredibly hazardous to the environment and contributes towards climate change.

Materials like leather are also responsible for huge methane outputs. Extinction Rebellion states that one billion animals are killed for leather every year.

Energy

The emissions footprint of a garment happens throughout its life cycle. Past the initial raw materials process, energy is consumed in crop and fibre production, manufacturing, transporting, packaging, warehousing and selling the garment.

Manufacturing takes up an estimated 80% of energy used in textile manufacture. Factories consume much energy and, in that regard, emit a high level of greenhouse gases. A significant proportion of clothing is manufactured in countries like India and China, where there is major reliance on coal-fuelled power plants. This increases the footprint of each garment.

The supply chain requires 10 times more energy to produce a ton of textiles than it does to produce a ton of glass. Electricity is a huge element in the textile supply chain and one of the most used forms of energy. 75% – 80% of energy consumption happens after a garment is purchased because of laundry activities.

Deforestation

Fashion’s impact on deforestation comes from textile manufacture. The process of converting wood to fabric is chemically-intensive and wastes 70% of the tree. The common textiles in this method are rayon, lyocell, viscose and modal. According to Canopy, 150 million trees are cut each year and processed down to a pulp which is later spun into fabrics.

With cotton being the biggest agricultural plant used for clothing manufacture, land clearing for cotton farming is a major issue where deforestation is concerned. Forests are crucial for maintaining harmony of the earth’s complex ecosystems. They balance the gases in the atmosphere, clean the air and produce the oxygen that we breathe. Around a third of the CO2 emitted (approximately 2.6 billion tonnes) from burning fossil fuels is absorbed by forests every year. In the period of climate change, we sincerely need forests.

Coalition of Everyone event. Photo: Grace O’Hara.

POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

If we’re aiming to reach net-zero emissions, drastic changes need to happen immediately. However, we can all play a part in helping these shifts take place, as individuals (consumers), industry or government. Here are some recommendations:

1. INDIVIDUALS

Change the fashion throwaway culture

Overproduction, overconsumption and waste are responsible for fashion’s emission levels. The trend culture needs to end. The fast fashion industry thrives on convincing people to purchase weekly trends of new fast fashion apparel. This super-fast turnover is at the very core of fashion’s environmental degradation. We need to rethink and change the disposable fast fashion culture by ‘getting off the fashion trendmill’. This requires a 180-degree shift in mindset and approach to clothing consumption.

Brand new apparel

Individuals can disrupt the industry by demanding and monitoring fashion brands consistently until it becomes standard practice that all clothing is manufactured with environmental best practice
All new garments purchased should be from ethical brands who take all necessary measures to ensure minimal emission levels
Apparel purchased should be made of natural textiles such as organic linen, mohair and wool
Only buy what you need and have a plan for sustainable disposal e.g. upcycling, donation.

Nurture the circular economy

Essentially, this is recycling in different contexts. It keeps clothes out of landfill by reusing the surplus garments already in existence. If the number of times a garment is worn is doubled on average, the GHG emissions would be 44 % lower. The ultimate goal here is to phase out fast fashion.

Hire / rent clothing from clothing libraries and wardrobe subscription platforms
Repair, attend, use and host clothes swaps and repair cafes
Buy second-hand apparel and textiles
Individuals are encouraged to remake and redesign existing garments so we can minimise or end the use of raw materials
Wash your clothing less often and air dry instead of machine dry. Use the machine wash on cold setting.

2. INDUSTRY

With the backing of UN Climate Change, fashion stakeholders in 2018 created the Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action as a holistic commitment to climate action. In keeping with the target of the Paris Agreement, the charter contains a directive to analyse and set a decarbonization pathway for the fashion industry. The charter also includes a target of 30% GHG emission reductions by 2030.

Manufacture

All brand-new garments should be made using natural textiles such as organic cotton, organic bamboo, organic hemp, organic linen, mohair, wool, cashmere, etc
Production of textiles should be entirely without chemical pesticides, fertilisers and toxic dyes with preference given to crops that require less water in their creation
Garments can be produced on a need basis to prevent oversupply. This will end landfill waste. Put a stop to the incineration of clothing stock oversupply to protect brand image.

Circular economy (making fashion circular)

Brands can offer free repair services for their products where possible. This will encourage brands to produce better quality, more durable, lasting products
Standardise and systemise circular economy channels like wardrobe exchange and clothing subscription services
Education - Designers can be trained in zero-waste and eco designing. Purchasing managers can learn about environmental auditing standards and production managers can be educated on chemicals that cause environmental damage
Industry can standardise the harvesting of existing fabrics (like vintage, deadstock and preloved) to remake and redesign ‘new’ fabrics and garments. This will minimise or end the use of precious raw materials and preserve life sources like water.
* Sustainable synthetics (Patagonia) - switching from conventional to organic cotton can cut harmful emissions by 46%, as the nitrogen waste from fertilisers is eliminated. A switch from virgin polyester to recycled material – made by mechanically or chemically breaking down plastic drinks bottles – can reduce the carbon footprint of polyester by 40%.

Internal measures

Reduce and save energy along the value chain of brands beyond the materials stage e.g. energy use in their warehouses, stores, offices, logistical operations like transportation
The reporting of emissions can be made public.

ASOS cut its electricity use in one warehouse by 76% by switching to energy-efficient light bulbs. Sensors that turn lights off in empty rooms can help too.

Finding efficiencies at the transport and logistics stages can help businesses’ environmental practices. When Hugo Boss analysed the carbon footprint of their transport operations, they realised switching from air to rail freight could cut emissions by 95%.

3. GOVERNMENT

“What is needed are commitments – bold target setting – [from the] fashion industry; at the moment [we’re] not going fast enough… Government regulations can help increase the pace; if there were a tax on carbon or on water, [that could] move big sections of the industry.”
- Eva Kruse, President and CEO of the Global Fashion Agenda

Legislation

Quotas on manufacture and import levels to curb oversupply and waste. Only what is absolutely needed is manufactured
Increased amount of reforestation programs
Incineration of clothing by brands should be made illegal
Fashion brands to have emissions and water usage taxes levied.

Renewable energy (from Fashion Industry’s Charter for Climate Action)

Governments can assist industry in the following ways:

Supportive, transparent and predictable planning contexts for renewable energy investment such as ensuring clear communication of government energy roadmaps.
Agility in responding to rapid scale-up of grid-connected renewable energy sources. And the assurance of a just and sustainable transition in the rapid phase-out of the highest-emitting fossil-fuel-based sources of energy
Through the provision of feed-in tariffs to manufacturers and suppliers, for instance, government can make provisions for incentives for quick transition to renewable energy that generates electricity from renewable sources. Ideally it will feed their excess electricity into the public electricity grid
Ensuring the availability of credible and legal renewable electricity tariffs and power purchase agreements for fashion brands and manufacturers to purchase as part of their efforts in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions
Through research and incentives for alternative biomass sources, government can develop a conducive atmosphere to enable swift phase out of non-renewable energy sources for all high-heat or non-grid processes.

Transition and availability of resources

Working with the Fashion Industry to understand and address potential barriers to sector transformation, uptake of energy efficiency and renewable energy technology with a focus on understanding the key role of tariffs, subsidies or legal barriers at the state and national levels.
Provision of easily accessible resources for fashion climate initiatives to prosper and thrive in the following areas:

§ Funding

§ Research & support

§ Circular economy systems

§ New innovative and sustainable textiles e.g. Pinatex, Activated Silk and Mycellium

§ New innovative tech e.g. Microplastic-proof washing machines and Cora Ball

§ Knowledge share

§ Education

§ Collaborations

Working Groups

Active and consistent Working Groups will be required to identify and amplify best practices, strengthen existing efforts, identify and address gaps, facilitate and strengthen collaboration among relevant stakeholders. They can facilitate the joining of resources and sharing of tools to enable the sector to achieve and maintain its climate targets.

Working groups can be made of professionals, experts, consumers, influencers and initiatives in the fashion and broader textile sector. They can include political leaders of countries that have major fashion production and consumer markets. Working collaboratively to deliver on the recommendations above and the principles enshrined in the charter, will likely sustain the commitment to achieve and retain net zero emissions by 2030.

♥ Nina Gbor

Instagram: @eco.styles

References:

Why secondhand fashion (thrifting) is not about being cheap / March 2, 2020 by Nina Gbor

perri cutten nina gbor sustainable fashion 1

Like most of my outfits, this ensemble is preloved. The top is from an op shop and the skirt is from a luxury/designer second-hand store. I’ve been op shopping and eco styling since the age of fifteen. Even though I’ve forged a purpose-driven career of fashion sustainability and climate activism from it, I realise that many still hold the view that preloved apparel is something taboo, shameful or only for those with low incomes.

With the plight of fast fashion where 80 to 150 billion new garments are manufactured every year, we’re consuming approximately 400% more than we did over 20 years ago. We’re buying more, wearing less and sending nearly three-fifths of likely reusable (and sometimes still new) garments to landfill or incineration each year. The fashion and textile over-consumption and waste problem are a major dilemma in climate change. This is why choosing preloved clothing can no longer be seen as just a money-saving endeavour. It is a planet-saving one.

retro skirt pattern skirt nina gbor slow fashion

For years I’ve shared images of preloved outfits from op shops, thrift stores, clothes swaps, vintage stores and markets. The intention is not only to share what I enjoy, but mainly to shift the negative stereotypes around second-hand clothing. If I’m able to fascinate with a glorious masterpiece sourced from op shopping, then I always hope it will inspire the start of people’s slow fashion journeys. Op shops and preloved sources have the unique ability to bless you with the magical experience of finding that rare piece that lights up your world when you wear it.

However, I never mention the price of the pieces I wear because I believe it might not be best to focus solely on the affordability factor. Preloved clothing is for everyone, of every income level and background. Therefore, price should not be the only reason to op shop. It’s a given that preloved clothing is cheaper. And it’s perfectly okay that some can only afford to shop at thrift stores. However, for those who still think it’s only good for when you’re on a shoestring budget, here are some reasons to go preloved:

Buying one used item reduces its carbon footprint by 82%.
Op shops are charities that use their funds to help disadvantaged, marginalised and vulnerable groups like children, the homeless and victims of domestic violence.
The eclectic range of preloved clothing in stores and online lets you sample and mix clothing of multiple styles, genres and eras. It lets you see yourself in a different light, as a suggestion that anything is possible for you. With that, it becomes empowering and makes your style unique and iconic.

designer skirt nina gbor ethical fashion 1

STYLING

This retro pattern skirt is the centre piece in this look. In being simplistic, I chose a blue top that has chemistry with the blue lines in the skirt. This light blue shade of the top complements or works well with any of the other colours of the skirt: purple, pink, black or royal blue.

Styling tip:

I wore this elegant piece to play in the sand but by all means, try wearing a pair of dress shoes, button down shirt or silk blouse with a skirt like this. It converts it to a look to wear to the office, an art exhibition or other occasion. If you’re bold enough, dare to pattern clash this skirt by wearing it with a floral, polka dot or patterned top with corresponding colours.