-
Have Fun at festivals! But do it Sustainably.
June 21st. Warm nights, fairy lights, the end of lockdown is in sight. The excitement for summer is at large, with the current lockdown finally coming to an end (cases permitting)- companies and other brands are opening their store doors once again. When you think of summer what do you think off? Personally I think of beer gardens and friends- but this year the buzz is mainly circulating around festivals. Leeds festival to be specific. All excitement aside, it isn’t a surprise to anyone when they discover that music festivals generate a lot of waste that doesn’t help the environment in any way. It has been discovered that music festivals…
-
Why Is The Disposable Nature of Festival Outfits Problematic?
Festival fashion is the perfect time for us to express ourselves without judgement for seeming too ‘out’ there. This is where fast fashion brands like PrettyLittleThing and Missguided come in handy due to their cheap nature and the fact that these clothes are easily disposable. Often the materials of these clothes are low quality, designed to last only a few wears. There are many issues with festival outfits, from the very production of the outfit to the final outcome of the outfit being put into wasteland. Production of the outfit: Often harsh chemicals are needed in order to make the outfit. This can include using oil in order to make…
-
From Woodstock to Glastonbury: Festival Fashion in the 20th Century
Festivals are the epitome of freedom; they represent escapism and allow you to shake off all responsibilities to become (however temporarily) whoever you want to be while immersed in a thick crowd of people all chanting the same lyrics. It is no wonder that they have become so ingrained in modern-day culture. One of the main outlets of expression at festivals is fashion, and both celebrities and ordinary folk alike spend days deliberating over the perfect outfits for a weekend in a muddy field. But have you ever wondered how the style of festival fashion evolved into what it is today? Let’s travel back in time to the most famous…
-
The Future of our Oceans: Are we getting ‘Hung Up’ on the wrong issue?
After many years, we are finally acknowledging the serious environmental consequences of all the cute £6 tops and £15 jeans we own. The microplastics and dyes released into our oceans during the production of these fast-fashion pieces have a truly devastating impact on our environment. It’s great that we are finally seeing the errors of our fast-fashion ways. However, we still tend to overlook one very obvious problem that exists in every high street shop – plastic clothes hangers. Although they touch almost every item of clothing we buy, they are the environmental polluters that slip past right under our noses. Over the last year, many of us followed the…
-
Just Keep Recycling: How Can We Save Our Oceans From Fashion Pollution?
The Fashion Industry’s Impact on the Environment When talking about environmental impacts, we think about how fossil fuels are damaging our O-Zone layer. We think about how palm oil production is destroying our forests. We think about how plastic production is harming our oceans and wildlife. These are all very important issues that have been faced in the recent years. Yet, the same can’t be said about the impacts the fashion industry is having on our environment. It has been estimated that the fashion industry alone makes 10% of total global emissions. The three main causes being dyeing and finishing, yarn preparation and fibre production; the last having the greatest…
-
Ocean Plastic: Women Who Bear the Brunt, Women Who are at the Front
Did you know that women are disproportionately affected by ocean pollution and climate change? The fashion industry has a lot to answer for as fibres from clothing contribute to an estimated 1.4 million trillion teeny tiny plastic pieces in the ocean each year. This plastic then becomes microplastic, and women suffer the macro-consequences. Thankfully, women in fashion are leading the fight against the microscopic threat. Microplastics cause health problems for women Microplastics are tiny plastic particles. Any plastic particle that has a diameter of less than 5mm is considered to be a microplastic. Thousands of chemicals are used to make any plastic product- but scarily, scientists know very little about…
-
A Sea of Inspiration: The Relationship Between Fashion and Our Oceans
The fashion industry has been heavily influenced by our oceans and its creatures since its inception. When Marcel Rochas introduced the Mermaid Gown in the 1930’s, we saw a domino effect of ocean-inspired silhouettes and high fashion pieces hit the runway, the red carpet and the everyday sidewalk. But as an industry so captivated by our seas, what is being done to protect marine life and our planet? Runway fashion’s love affair with ocean imagery Before considering how the couture industry has affected our oceans, we must first understand the extent to which the industry draws inspiration from it. The runway’s obsession with ocean life goes much further than just mermaid…
-
Why Double Denim Should Be a Thing of the Past
The most beloved item in your wardrobe? Of course, those denim jeans. For many, it is not a surprise that denim is slowly but surely destroying our planet, especially our oceans. Yet, it is impossible to avoid them as the popular fabric is a key staple, and a fashion favourite. In fact, at any given time, about half of the world’s population is wearing denim as one item or another. Well, what is so bad about our trusty old friend denim you may ask? Let’s find out. Enormous water footprint In order to grow enough cotton to create just one pair of denim jeans, it consumes around 1,800 gallons of…
-
Three Negative Effects of Fast Fashion
Fashion has always been a means for people to express themselves. To create and follow popular trends. A mark of popularity and an output for people’s creativity. New technology has produced new ways of shopping which introduces; fast fashion. Manufacturing focused on producing mass quantities of trendy clothes, cheaply made. It has made it easier for people to purchase off the runway dupes for next to nothing prices. With this rising in popularity, what are the negative effects on our ocean and planet? Cheap but not cheerful Everyone loves a bargain and I am guilty of doing a haul on Shein. Shocked at how low the prices are – dresses…
-
5 fashion fixes that could save our oceans
The fashion industry is one of the biggest contributors to global pollution. High levels of water consumption and pollution are having disastrous effects on our beautiful oceans. The time to change our consumer habits is now! So how do we turn our polluted rivers into streams of consciousness? Let’s take a look at some of the main issues and 5 easy ways to help combat them. The main issues Products like synthetic clothing release microfibres when washed. This contributes to about 35% of the primary plastic that’s polluting our oceans. When we wash our clothes, microfibres are released into wastewater which treatment plants can’t filter. These microfibres then attract organic…
