GREEN IS THE NEW BLACK

FASHIONGREEN2010 ISSUE 13

PHOTOS BY JOEL

Kicking fashion in the face

I love fashion. I love it so much I can’t afford to keep up my habit. I learned very early that you can find really great garments at thrift stores if you know what you are looking for. This includes not only clothing to wear but clothing to be used as fabric for handmade designs or accessories and costuming. The green movement has brought on a lot of 'green fashion designers' but what’s really green about them? Are they using recycled fabrics to make their designs? Recycled from what? Thrift stores are the brunt of recycling. They sell goods that can be reused with little energy. And if you are truly a fashion mogul you know fashion repeats itself and it will come easy to re-use those vintage clothes in the new century.

This gimp mask was made with scrap fabrics out of my closet. Joel wanted a black leather one like they wear in the movies but being a non-profit magazine there was no money to purchase one. I custom made this mask to fit his head exactly and added the keyhole and moustache to match his personality. How's that for style?

Brand? Kill the brand...

I have never been about the brand. I admit it’s cool to find a mainstream item at a thrift store just so I can say hey I got your $100 dollar skirt for 50 cents. But I’ve always been interested in making my own designs. Unless you can afford a couture dress from a designer then you can probably find that same blouse at another store just a little bit cheaper. Now, I’m not talking Louis Vuitton or Coach purses, we’ve all heard of swap meet Louis and we all know how to spot a fake. If you are content walking around day in and day out with a filthy $2500 dollar purse because that’s all you wanted for Christmas then I have no argument. But if you really want to make an individual statement then you may want to consider killing the brand fanaticism. There are easy ways to recycle old beat up goods of your own; the ones that are too abused for donation.

Leather skirt (still had the tags attached)
purchased at Thrift Store to use
as fabric for a project. Cost: $2.00

One thing I see a lot of at thrift stores is a deliberate removal of all the buttons on a fancier garment. Buttons on a fancy garment are usually fancy and if you keep old buttons you can spruce up a boring shirt or coat and make it your own.

This name brand jacket was purchased at a thrift store for a few dollars. The buttons had been cut off. I replaced them with clear buttons that were salvaged by a great aunt who collected buttons off of old garments. She left us with a box filled with beautiful vintage buttons.

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