Monday, December 13, 2021

Recycling Your Old Clothes - who takes them? Is this new? Who benefits?



The latest new idea I saw was hiring clothes. We all know about hiring clothes for weddings. That makes sense. Oddly, the groom and ushers often hire clothes, but brides and bridesmaids usually buy new clothes, even if they are only to be worn once. Then along came disposable underwear for travelling. Panty liners. Your luggage gets lost, so you buy in a hurry. Tee-shirts, in the olden days Baby Boomers thought tee- shirts and jeans were only for working, unseen. When you went out you wore formal clothes. 

American fashions hit the world. Jeans for everybody. Fashion jeans. Jeans not just for work but for leisure. Tee-shirt with gold patterns. Tee shirts with sequins. Jeans with embroidery. Fast fashion. We discovered that Imelda Marcus had hundreds of pairs of shoes. That our own shoes fell apart and could no longer be repaired. That leather was wicked because it hurt animals, so plastic was better. Now plastic is polluting everywhere.  Back to recycle and repair.

We travelled in real life and discovered sarongs which you tie on. Other countries have different systems for producing goods. Repairing goods. Adapting goods. Recycling goods. Disposing of goods.

Now we can see that the clothes we wear cost time, money, resources, pollution, when growing cotton, making the goods in factories. provide employment in factories overseas, but discourage local cottage industries, employ workers in poor conditions, and require transport of goods back to us. So much to think about!

Is boycotting a big company benefitting the world, or putting people out of work? Are we merely hoarding clutter, when producing fast fashion continues to deplete the planet? 

The first step is to read around and find out what was done in the past, what is being done elsewhere, and what are our options now.

Then we all started travelling in real life and later online. We can see that the Japanese dress up as soon as they leave their home. What benefits, the world, and you and me in the long run, and what can we do and benefit from now.

At least I can start by learning which companies sell where, then later, where they buy from, and how long my clothes will last and whether I should keep them, repair them, or return them. In Dress of the Day Angela I show you how I am wearing my vintage clothes, and changing trousers (pants) to skirts, turning sarees into dresses, and recycling old items. 

First, news, H & M worldwide offers to take in your old clothes. H & M is in more countries than you might have realised.

See my post on sister site, dress of the day Angela. 

Useful Websites

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/static/conscious-fashion-more-sustainable-clothing-hm/

https://dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com/2021/12/recycle-your-old-clothes-at-h-m-uk.html

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