On trimming our fashion carbon footprint and climate change

Preloved outfit. All photos by Pepper Street Photography.

Did you know that clothing in the landfill creates over three times its own weight in CO2 greenhouse gas emissions? It’s not surprising that altogether fashion and textiles account for 10% of climate change. Earlier this year I wrote a lengthy piece detailing fashion’s impact on climate change and how we can all work towards achieving net-zero emissions. Of course our emissions come from other aspects of life beyond just clothing. In taking action to reduce our carbon emissions, it’s essential to look at other areas like food and fossil fuels. A carbon footprint calculator makes it simple for individuals and brands to calculate their carbon footprint in multiple areas so that we know where and how to take the best action.

65% of all new clothing ends up in landfill within the first year of manufacture. Poor design, lack of durability and consumer waste are in part to blame when it comes to fast fashion’s contribution of textile waste to landfill. Its aim has been to manufacture as much as possible, as quick as possible in a conveyor belt style. So its not surprising that the products are intended and made to be disposable. For this reason, fast fashion apparel is mostly non-durable. From cheap, poor-quality synthetic fabrics to poor tailoring to fast-fading colours and buttons falling off, majority of it ends up in landfill quicker than durable garments.

How brands can reduce their carbon footprint

By doubling the life of clothing from just one to two years, we can help reduce emissions from clothing manufacture and disposal by as much as 24%. Fashion brands can support this effort by making little changes in the design and manufacture processes to make clothing far more durable i.e. resistant to damage and wear. Fast fashion brands can also take a stance to produce far less, even if it means reduction in their profits. The benefit to the environment will be enormous and priceless.

How consumers can reduce their carbon footprint

Consumers also have a role to play in this. Extending the life of clothes by just nine extra months of active use would reduce carbon, water and waste footprints by around 20-30% each. Even though some brands safeguard against garment failure, some people dispose of clothing after several years because it is no longer to their taste and because they no longer fit. Here, they can sell or donate them. When buying new garments, opt for slow and ethical fashion labels. Perhaps consider purchasing less fast fashion. It helps garment workers when we insist that fast fashion brands not only produce durable garments but also pay liveable wages to garment workers. To extend the life of clothing, you can choose preloved (secondhand) through clothes swaps, preloved markets and thrift stores.

Consumers can also extend the life of their entire wardrobe through RESTYLING. This is the process of pairing a garment with another item and/or accessories that you wouldn’t typically wear with it. This remixing and re-matching process creates new and different outfit combinations that you can use for multiple types of casual events and special occasions, instead of buying a brand new outfit for each occasion. Restyling allows you to extend your wardrobe far longer than you typically would because you’re re-using what you already have, in a variety of creative ways. Case in point is my red ball gown skirt below which is one that might only get worn to a formal event with an equally formal top and shoes. Wearing it with a casual top and sneakers allows me to use it more frequently.

STYLING

I invite you to try this super easy restyling hack within your wardrobe. You can use a skirt or dress pants. This preloved outfit is a juxtaposition between a super casual top and a formal skirt. This retro, red mid-length skirt is typically one that might sit in the back of your closet until a special occasion rolls round. By pairing it with a super casual t-shirt, it gets more active and regular use.

I took it a little further by interchanging leopard-print stilettos with my Etiko fairtrade vegan sneakers. Each shoe gives a different vibe and makes the outfit appropriate for different locations and events based on the shoe.

Outfit sourced from:

White top – The Greenshed Underground Op Shop

Red Retro Perri Cutten skirt – Second Mode Luxury Preloved Store

Etiko Vegan Sneakers - Etiko

Leopard-print Stilettos – My wardrobe

♥ Nina Gbor

References:

1. https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/122127080/fashion-retailers-should-take-responsibility-for-their-own-clothing-waste-project-proposes

2. http://www.wrap.org.uk/content/extending-life-clothes

How eccentric is your style?

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

Developing your individual style like the legendary style icon and hero, Audrey Hepburn!

Audrey Hepburn in the 1957 classic film, Funny Face, wearing a red dress designed by Givenchy.

This week would have been the 91st birthday of the greatest style icon the world has ever known, Audrey Hepburn. Her elegant, graceful, timeless, captivating style is still revered to this day. Not only was she a screen legend in Hollywood’s Golden Age, she was also a hero. Her empathy, compassion and kindness made her travel the world to help children in the poorest countries get access to food, healthcare, clean water. Audrey Hepburn’s iconic status goes beyond just physical beauty and gorgeous dresses. Her philanthropy changed the lives of many children in the world.

Audrey Hepburn as UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.

She herself had faced starvation and undernourishment as a child in Holland in the 1940s during world war II. So, she knew what it was like. This made her determined to help as many children as possible. She was appointed UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 1988 and awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1993. Audrey Hepburn also received the United States’ Presidential Medal of Freedom in December 1992.

Hollywood and style legacy

What made Audrey a true style icon was her individuality. She disrupted Hollywood in the 1950s, with a unique look, her own sense of style and torrents of gracefulness and kindness. This was at a time when women in Hollywood were mostly being cast as the sexy, blonde bombshell. In 1954 she won an Oscar for Best Actress with the film, Roman Holiday (1953). Many of her most iconic ensembles can be seen in her films like Sabrina (1954), Funny Face (1957) and of course, Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961). I did a photo shoot tribute to Audrey’s style in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Check it out here.

In my opinion, the fictional character, Carrie Bradshaw from the hit TV series Sex & The City (1998 - 2004), is the only relatively modern style icon that comes close to Audrey’s legendary status. Again, I believe this is because Carries’s style was very individualised i.e. styled to suit the character’s personality and lifestyle. Moreover, the show’s costume stylist, Patricia Field mixed vintage and modern pieces to create Carrie’s wardrobe. This is what made Carrie’’s style so timeless, unusual and unforgettable.

Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and The City, wearing a vintage style red dress with black polka dots, with a green underlay. Also wearing a black coat with white cuffs and a floral broach at the neck.

Individual style

In short, individual, person style that transcended trends and fashion eras is what made the style of these women so memorable and inspirational to this day. The key to becoming your own style icon, therefore, is to look within. It’s NOT fashion trends. Style should not be uniform across the board with everyone. There’s no beauty in imitation. When we’re following trends, we’re ignoring our own intuition on what’s best for us as individuals. And by accepting these false, external standards, we’re giving up too much of our freedom and individuality. You can become more grounded, intuitive and powerful from following your own individual style. So, forget what the trends are, forget what anyone is telling you should be wearing this season.

How to craft your individual style

1. Know yourself. Think about who you are, what you stand for and what makes you happy. What’s your purpose and mission in life? Let your style be determined by this formation.

2. Use a personal style formula. This is a formula I came up with a few years ago when I was teaching people how to transition to preloved shopping in markets, vintage stores, thrift stores and clothes swaps. Here’s the formula:

Your colour palette (colours that look good on you)

+

Your body shape (cuts and styles that work for your silhouette)

+

Your lifestyle / personality

=

Your Personal Style Formula!

A combination of these three elements will give your style authenticity, timelessness and individuality. Not to mention, iconic in your own right!

♥ Nina Gbor

The revolution of fashion and the shifting paradigms

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

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!

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:

1. Yellow, floral 1950’s original vintage dress turned into a skirt by wearing my black supergirl t-shirt on it.

2. 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.

3. 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:

1. https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/consumer/2020/04/10/fast-fashion-environment/

2. https://www.makegood.world/fashions-problem-with-waste

3. https://edgexpo.com/fashion-industry-waste-statistics/

4. https://globalfashionagenda.com/commitment/#policyengagement