Hello and happy Earth Day (for yesterday), and happy fashion revolution week!
Fast fashion is a hot topic. If you’ve followed me for a while, you may have read my posts on fast fashion, why fast fashion is bad, and some tips I wrote about on how to shop sustainably. In case it isn’t obvious, sustainability is super important to me.
It all started when I watched Stacey Dooley’s Fashion’s Dirty Secrets. I decided it was time to cut out shopping from PLT, Missguided, and other fast fashion brands. In fact, I cut out most clothes shops. I discovered a love for Depop, vintage sales, and second-hand clothes shops. When I couldn’t buy items second-hand, I researched into sustainable companies, finding amazing new brands (i.e. Batoko who make swimwear from recycled plastic?!).
It sounds a lot of work on my part: digging through the deep depths of old charity shops, as opposed to a quick fix from the internet. In fact, it was really easy, and has made my life a lot cheaper, soooo I wanted to show you some of the things I’ve found and loved from Depop; vintage sales etc. and maybe inspire you to do the same!
Festival Clothes
Whatever festival it is, it’s important for many of us to have a good set of outfits. Last summer, my fav looks were the ones above. In the first pic, I was actually going on a bar crawl with a ‘bright colours’ theme but was v summery and festivaly. I was determined to look my best whilst not selling my soul to the fast fashion devils, so I did that from toe to scrunchie, starting with aforementioned, scrunchie. This was bought from a cute little Depop shop & homemade by Charlotte Piears.
Next up is the rainbow print crop top, borrowed from a friend. Borrowing clothes is a great way to be sustainable! You have a new look without having to buy new items that will be worn once or twice, and end up in landfill. Plus borrowing clothes is also good for the bank balance… On top of that, the cycling jacket was also borrowed… from MY DAD. He didn’t know I borrowed it and I may or may not have lost it (I’m v sorry dad).
Finally we get to my flares… I BLOODY LOVE THESE. I bought these from a vintage shop in Brighton called Waiste Vintage, which sells lots of funky bits, as well as plants. I actually happened to purchase a small leafy thing there which fell underneath the sofa quite some time ago. For an environmentalist, I’m not a great plant parent.
In the right hand picture, you will see that I am (again) wearing some particularly funky flares. These were a Depop steal, and came with a matching top. Unfortunately I cannot seem to locate any pics of the full outfit, but let me tell you: it’s funky.
We will swiftly gloss over my pose in that first pic, and onto the lovely glasses I am wearing. These pink glasses came from another cool second-hand shop in Brighton: Snooper’s Paradise. This place is amazing with rooms full of vintage, retro, treasures, from lamps to plates… from watches to sunglasses. You can spend a day snooping around the little stalls. The name says it all.
The jacket on the right came from a kilo sale. Now, if you haven’t heard of kilo sales and you like vintage things, my god you are in for a treat. They consist of a big room full of vintage clothes, where you go round picking out the bits you want, and are charged on the weight of your bits… It tends to be somewhere between £10-£20 per kilo, and I have found some grrrrrreat pieces from these sales. If you’re in the East Sussex area, the Dirty Harry kilo sales in Shoreham are bloody amazing; if you’re in Kent, there are some great ones in Margate.
Jeans
Both pairs of jeans in the above pictures are from kilo sales. One tip for kilo sales, is to have an idea of what you want to find, or you can get a little overwhelmed. I went to the Dirty Harry Kilo Sale looking for a pair of white corduroy trousers that I could dye purple. I was told by my friend, “that is so specific, there is no way you’ll find white corduroys in your size. Well look who’s laughing now? I dyed then with a simple clothing dye.
The jeans in the righthand pic are also from a kilo sale in Brighton. Again, I went in with the plan to find some ‘mom jeans’ and found these beauties, i.e. my favourite jeans.
Going out Clothes
I had a whole section about nice going out clothes, however I look far too obscenely drunk in all the pictures I have. Instead I’ll post the seller’s pics as they are much nicer. I purchased both items below from Mini’s World on Depop. This is such a great Depop account if you’re looking for cute tops, dresses, jeans, shorts…. Okay, anything really.
I have many many many more secondhand clothes that I have bought over the past year, which I absolutely adore, including some amazing jackets, jumpers, work shirts, cute skirts… You name it.
Hopefully I have inspired you to check out Depop, your local vintage stores or kilo sale (not amidst a pandemic, I will add).
If you would like to learn more, I cannot recommend Stacey Dooley’s documentary enough! I have also written a few blog posts, which I will link below, And I know there are some great books out there too, such as, Lauren Bravo’s book: How to Break up With Fast Fashion.
Thanks for reading!
xoxoxoxoxoxo
Amber's Diary 
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