Froctober - Resetting Fashion
This October, we welcomed a new set of events for Froctober - Resetting Fashion! This involved a variety of events including screening Fashion Reimagined, artwork and story boards on exhibition, zero-waste knitwear concept clothing on display, speakers on restyling your current wardrobe, sew and upcycle sessions with Creative Space @ Vinnies, and ending with a clothes swap! All clothes left over were taken to the Uniting Church in Bowral where they will be added to their Street Wardrobe, ensuring they all go to a home.
Learning how to reset our clothing choices can be fun and easy if you allow yourself time to think about your options and choose wisely to reduce your impact on the environment.
Improving your fashion habits is not just good for the planet —it's a fun and rewarding way to refresh your style! Australians are known for their love of fashion, but with 56 new items being added to wardrobes each year, we’re also contributing to a growing environmental problem. Fast fashion trends have led to a decrease in how long we keep our clothes, with a staggering 200,000 tonnes of clothing ending up in landfills each year. The good news? Small changes can make a big impact!
Check out this short video from ABC about Australia's growing Fashion problem:
Fast fashion might dominate the scene, but slowing down and making thoughtful choices can be just as stylish — and a lot more sustainable. Did you know that washing your clothes less frequently not only saves water and energy but also keeps your garments looking fresh longer? For example, washing your jeans every 3 - 10 wears is a perfect example, only wash them if they get something spilt on them, or start to smell. Opting for quality over quantity, choosing timeless pieces, and supporting brands that care about the environment are all easy ways to do your part. Plus, second-hand shopping or upcycling old favourites can be a creative and fun way to stand out.
So, let’s make a difference, one outfit at a time. Who says saving the planet can’t be stylish?
What can you do?
Decrease the demand for quick, cheap, new styles. Just stop buying poor quality clothes! Let's be honest the cheap clothes don't last long due to the terrible quality, brands like Shein, Temu and other fast fashion brands will continue flooding new styles into the marketplace, while also contributing 8-10% of the worlds global C02 emissions if we don't reduce the demand for clothes like this.
Fast Fashion brands, or some might argue, we will/are responsible for the failing of many sustainable and Australian clothing brands as they cannot compete with fast fashion. Not only this, but we're also allowing fast fashion to continue to use unsustainable materials and chemicals that are unsafe for human use, and at the same time getting away with modern slavery practices.
It's not all about our action as a consumer, better legislation is needed to prevent overseas clothing companies selling to Australians at such low prices.
Check out this great recent news clip with Nina Gbor on our fashion fixation.
Some take home's snippets from Froctober
- Look at restyling what you already have at home - accessorize with a belt, scarf or different jewelry to achieve a completely different look with just a few changes
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Go to a clothes swap or run one with your friends, even borrow or rent clothing for a special occasion
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Shop second hand - yes, it has become more expensive due to the secondhand shops increase in overheads (this is thanks to too much poor quality clothing being dropped to the op-shops), but it is still cheaper to find a good quality item that will last longer from an op-shop, rather than buying something poorly made for cheap. See our local op-shop directory below!
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Consider where the materials came from, on average a plain white t-shirt has travelled 6-8 countries before it arrives to you, the consumer, that's more travel than the average Australian.
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Consider the materials used. For example, Cotton needs a lot of pesticides, so choosing organic is much better for you and the environment. Polyester is a plastic product. So not only are the emissions for plastic materials much higher, but also, they continue to lose nano-plastics every time you wash them, releasing them into our waterways. These particles are too small for filtration, so they make their way into our drinking water reserves. Plastic particles have drastic impacts on us causing issues such as some cancers, inflammatory and respiratory responses and can even make their way into our brains. Cheaper items, like those from Shein and Temu have been tested and been found to have PFAS in them, PFAS once in your system stays, and accumulates. PFAS is an endocrine disruptor, meaning, it can cause developmental issues in children and sterility in men.
- Goodonyou.eco is an excellent website where you can look up the brands you wish to buy from and find new brands doing excellent work in the sustainable fashion space. Goodonyou rates brands based on their impact on the planet, people and animals. It is definitely worth checking out this website, you might be surprised with some new eco-friendly brands that you love!
It is really important to be aware of these issues which will help increase demand for good, safe clothing that is better for the environment, but is what we deserve.
Shop local, support our Op Shops
Did you know we have 11 not for profit Op Shops in our Shire? Choosing to shop second hand is one of the easiest ways to reduce your fashion footprint. Our local op-shops were involved with Froctober, proudly displaying an outfit in our exhibition, which were also donated to the clothes swap at the end of October.
Op Shops Directory - Shop local and second hand to reduce your fashion footprint.
References: European Parliament. (2020). The impact of textile production and waste on the environment. (https://www.europarl.europa.eu). Clean Up Australia. (2024). Fast Fashion. (https://www.cleanup.org.au) Gbor, N., & Chollet, O. (2024). Textiles waste in Australia. (https://australiainstitute.org.au/report/textiles-waste-in-australia/). Bonanni, G., et al. (2024). Explainer: What is fast fashion and how can we combat its human rights and environmental impacts? Australian Human Rights Institute. (https://www.unsw.edu.au) Lawson, H. A. (2023). How fast fashion fuels climate change, plastic pollution, and violence. Greenpeace International.How fast fashion fuels climate change, plastic pollution, and violence - Greenpeace International. Fashion Revolution. (2024). What Fuels Fashion? (https://issuu.com/fashionrevolution)