Eco fashion, and generally anything that can be labelled “green” or “sustainable”, has been considered hot-selling items in the clothing industry for over ten years. Consumers are aware of the impact their consumption has on the environment and mindful buying can go a long way when it comes to making a difference in the world.
Besides buying paper bags (instead of plastic), re-using other consumables at home and recycling glass and plastic, there are also many things one can do to minimalise your impact on the earth when buying clothing items.
Here are some of the things you can do to reduce waste during your next shopping spree:
Vintage shopping
According to Alex Davis, a Hollywood eco-stylist, eco fashion represents many different things. The easiest way to green your wardrobe without paying Hollywood boulevard prices is by going back to basics. “Hit the flea markets, hit the vintage stores, charity shops and resell shops. Remake, remove, recycle, repurpose, reuse and reattach,” Davis told journalist Tracy Helper in a recent interview.
Women generally only use 30% of their wardrobe. Here are some stores where you can swop, sell or buy second hand and vintage clothing at affordable prices:
- Style Exchange Network (Sandton): This store gives shoppers the opportunity to recycle all the unused items in their wardrobe for less (and grab a few unique bargains). The store has specific “Intake Days” listed on the Next Events page of their website when you can hand over all your unused clothes and on “Shop Open” or “Networking nights” you can go and buy some clothes. Style Exchange Network keeps a 40% commission fee on any items sold. The shop is on 6 Hendon Lane, Gallo Manor, Johannesburg.
- Second Time Around (Cape Town): Second Time Around is one of the Cape Town’s oldest vintage stores. The store focuses on second hand, retro clothes from the 30s to the 80s and it also has a wide collection of summer dresses, wedding dresses, old leather boots, hats and trousers. Second Time Around is situated on the corner from Cape to Cuba on Long Street.
- Pandora’s Box (Cape Town): Pandora’s Box is an eclectic vintage shop that has seen celebrities such as Richard Gere and Leonardo DiCaprio browse through their second hand goods. Pandora’s Box is situated on 79 Loop Street.
- Bell Bottoms (Pretoria): Bell Bottoms is a neat antique shop in Waverly, Pretoria. The store sells a wide range of antique goods along with old gloves, unique second hand dresses and vintages suites. Bell Bottoms is situated in Pierneef Street, Waverly in Pretoria.
- Car boot and fleamarket sales (Durban): Durbanites can make their way to the car boot and second hand clothing flea market sales on Sundays. This flurry of second hand steals happens on Sundays behind the Greyville Racecourse and opposite the Standard Bank.
- Charity shops and hospices: There are charity hospices in all the major cities of South Africa. Buying clothes and donating clothes to these stores may not always reward you with the most fashionable items, but the money from sales gets donated to extremely good causes. To find a hospice in your area, visit the Hospice Palliative Care Association of South Africa and click on the “Find A Hospice” page or call the Hospice Association of Southern Africa on Tel: 021 531 2094.
Re-design
Many times, we throw out clothes that could easily be re-designed and worn again. Hiring a seamstress is your area to take in a jacket a few inches, shorten a knee-length skirt or modify a pair of ill-fitting jeans into a hot pair of daisy duke’s can save you time and add value to your closet. A quick search on Gumtree or Hotfrog will give you a list of dressmakers in your area.
The liveeco team
