Posh Swaps Blog

My name is Laricea Ioana Roman and I am a student at Kingston University, London. I am doing a Master in Marketing, Advertising and Communications and at the moment I am writing my Dissertation. My topic is related to ethical clothing, more specifically, I am investigating how personal values influence customers’ decision to buy ethical clothing. In order to come up with some answers for my topic, I need some opinions from people who actually bought ethical clothes. Thus, I am kindly ask you to complete my survey, which will take you no more than 10 minutes and It could give you the chance to win £30 vouchers at The Body Shop and three eco-fashion books.

You can complete the survey here

For those blushing brides who want to look their absolute best on their big day without worrying about what impact their dress has on the environment, they will be pleased to hear that a new website has been launched which features wedding dresses that are produced in India and Nepal, under strict fair-trade conditions using eco and sustainable fibres and fabrics. Tamman Wedding Collection, who also offer a bespoke service as well as their internet service, were inspired to create these stunning dresses from details of Indian and Tibetan traditional dress style, mixed with futuristic ideas from creative art.

With prices starting from £450, there may be brides out there who still want to have their perfect wedding dress, do their bit for the environment, whilst keeping to a budget- and what better place to start looking than Posh-Swaps.com! Posh-Swaps is the website to swap, buy and sell unwanted clothing and accessories- so you could find yourself with a beautiful wedding dress that has only been worn the once- for FREE! And at the same time, perhaps swap it for that something in your wardrobe that you don’t wear anymore!

However, if you are a bride who has already had her perfect day, then another great way to help save the environment is to recycle your wedding dress by either swapping or selling it online. You may find that you are happy to swap it, and if your dress is worth a few hundred pounds, you may be able to negotiate a swap for a few more items of clothing- perhaps a pair of shoes, jeans, and a new top, or anything else which you have perhaps been thinking about having to update your wardrobe!

Picture taken from www.daisygreenmagazine.co.uk

Posh Swaps has just had its first birthday and in celebration, we are holding a great prize draw during the month of May. Anyone who lists clothes to swap on Posh-swaps.com during May 2010 will be automatically entered into the draw. For each item listed you will get one entry into the draw so the more items that you list, the more chance you will have of winning. The winners will be drawn at the beginning of June and notified by email, all prizes should be claimed within 2 weeks or there will be a redraw to determine a new winner. So here is what you can win:

First Prize - £100 of shoe vouchers for Spartoo.co.uk (this prize is only available to those resident in the UK) - take your pick of some of the latest styles of shoes and handbags including some great designer brands.

Second Prize - a new Initial wallet by Lollipops Paris - a large and well organised purse with large coin pocket and sections for notes and cards, this is the perfect balance of style and practicality.

Third Prizes - three lucky winners can take their pick of one item from our own Posh Swaps swapping account. With a selection of second hand accessories and clothes in a variety of sizes (and a few vintage pieces).

Runners Up - ten runners up will each recieve one of our stylish reusuable Posh Swaps cotton bags.

ThePrizeFinder - UK Competitions

Posh-Swaps.com have announced that we are celebrating our first birthday at the end of April 2010! Our website, which is fast becoming a popular place to swap, buy and sell clothes, will celebrate the occasion with a fantastic prize-draw for anyone that registers and lists clothes to swap during the month of May 2010, with prizes to be won including £100 of shoe vouchers! The website was launched almost a year ago for people to do clothes swapping for free.

There are other clothes swapping websites which have introduced fees everytime someone swaps, buys or sells, but we have no plans to do so ourselves. The aim of the free service is to encourage everyone to swap clothes without the need to throw them away, and so recycling them to do our bit for the environment.

This first year has certainly been a busy one for us at Posh-Swaps, with plenty of successful online swaps and two swapping parties (known as swishing) held in Chiswick and in Bath. Clothes swapping is becoming increasingly popular lately, as it is a great way to refresh your wardrobe- gaining new clothes and discarding others which you never wear, and thanks to Posh-Swaps, all for FREE! You also get a great sense of having done a really good thing for the environment, by reducing what goes to the landfill sites and reducing the environmental impacts associated with the manufacturing of new clothes.

Our website constantly keeps you up to date with the latest fashion and eco-fashion news with plenty of different blog posts published each week, plus a fantastic newsletter that gets sent out every fortnight to let ypu know of the latest items available for swapping.

Picture taken from www.ask.com

A new online boutique company called Sequel London has arrived on our scenes- one of the latest boutiques to launch that are eco-friendly. Sequel London offers a range of leather handbags, which have been made from recycled leather jackets, discarded silk ties and curtains that are no longer wanted. The company has been created by cousins Claire Baigent and Laura Queening, both of whom want to reduce waste and to encourage sustainability in fashion by choosing unwanted clothes and accessories from Oxfam’s Wastesaver Warehouses, and using the materials to create their stunning new range.

The collection features bags made from leather including leather buttons, a removable silk tie decoration to add colour and style to the bags, and recycled curtains which are cut so to provide the lining of the bag. The ties on each bag will vary by design and will depend on the amount donated to Oxfam, so no two pieces will be the same. All of the Sequel London products are made in London itself, and the company is aiming to use recycled materials wherever possible- from the leather and the curtains, to the packaging and the stationary which will be made from recycled paper. All of the products have been designed by co-owner Laura Queening, who graduated from the London College of Fashion in 2007. “We decided to launch Sequel London as a way of encouraging sustainability in fashion by using those cast-offs that most of us have in the backs of our wardrobes, to produce classic, beautiful pieces that can be worn with pride time and again,” comments Laura. “We only choose the best quality material, even if the clothing itself has passed its fashion sell-by date.” Claire Baigent graduated from Newcastle University in 2006, and holds a CIPR Advanced Certificate in Public Relations.

The Spring/Summer collection, which is only available to buy online at sequellondon.co.uk, consists of six designs which are priced from £39 to £79, and offer beautiful and durable designs to last a life-time at high street prices.

Pictures and Quotes from www.sequellondon.co.uk

The two latest trends around in the fashion world at the moment is Clothes Swapping- clothes swapping parties and clothes swapping websites. The idea of clothes swapping is for us ladies to be able to update our wardrobes, on a budget and by doing so, helping the environment as you are recycling rather than throwing away clothes and buying new ones. But which one is the better one to do?

With a clothes swap party, you can make it in to such a fun time, allowing you to socialise with people. You can invite your best friends, your work colleagues, and even your neighbours and ask them to bring a friend with an armful of clothes, so that you have even more choice and the chance to make new friends as well. You will have the opportunity to see clothes up close, and if there is a designated changing area, then you also get the chance to try items on. However, no matter how many people do come to your house/party, the choice will be almost nothing compared to what you will find on a website. Your friends/neighbours/colleagues may also have different sizes to you, so what you do like may not fit you. The items are there for you to take home right away, but there could be arguments over certain popular items.

On a clothes swap website, you will have an endless choice of items from all over the world, so that this way you have more control over which items you receive in the swap. It may take a while to negotiate the swap as you may have to wait for the other-end person to come online, and if you are swapping from abroad, you may get caught up in each others’ time differences. Normally with clothes swapping, not a penny gets exchanged whereas online you may have to pay postage and packaging. However, the price of a parcel may just be worth it for that gorgeous dress that’s only available in America!

Some more very green and very stylish posts from our Green Chic friends this week - enjoy!

Factio Magazine goes green this spring with eco chic footwear! Naya shoes are made with style and comfort in mind while still being gentle on the environment.
Fashion Tribes Check out Dita Von Teese in eco-chic, plastic fantastic shoes by Jean Paul Gaultier for Melissa -
Guiltless & Glamorous reviews a hot new cruelty-free skincare line made in Vancouver!
My Beauty Bunny tells us about the new USPS shelter animal stamps that help save animals’ lives!
Posh Swaps has some great tips on organising a clothes swap party or swishing
Runway To Retail checks out the spring/summer 2010 collection of AGGA B.that is sure to intrigue you.

picture from Runway to Retail

For those of us looking to update our wardrobes, there is a new craze sweeping around which could be the answer to all our shopping dilemmas- Swishing Parties. Swishing Parties are great as they don’t cost anything, you get to clear out unwanted items from your wardrobe and gain new pieces simply by swapping what you no longer need for something that you really want but what your fellow swisher doesn’t want. You can do swapping online as there are more websites appearing that are dedicated to swishing, or you can organise one in the comfort of your own home. All you will need is a few friends/neighbours/colleagues with an armful of clothes that they are each willing to trade! And because you’re not throwing away your clothes or spending money, swishing parties are environmentally friendly- even more perfect!

How to organise your swishing party:

. First round up as many friends as possible, telling them to completely empty their wardrobes and decide on what they no longer need. This can be clothing, shoes, accessories, jewellery, and bags.                           

. Next, decide on a date and venue for your party, sending out invitations/emails if necessary.

. Encourage your friends to bring along other friends so that you have a wider variety.

.You will need to think about how to organise everyone’s clothes for show, perhaps by size or by type, and use whatever space you’ve got- doors, chairs, tables etc.

Once you have organised everything, you will need to lay down a few rules so that everyone knows where they stand and that it works out fair for everyone.

. First things first- No money should ever be exchanged- all clothes are free!

. Second- Everyone must bring at least one item but can leave with as many as they like!

. Third- If two people are arguing over the same item, then toss a coin to make it fair.

. Forth- No one can claim items before the opening of the swish- it’s first come, first served!

. And finally- Whatever people take is theirs, but make sure that you are happy to give things away (although you don’t have to). To prevent people from walking out with armfuls of clothes they may never use, encourage them to try things on- perhaps create a dressing area in a room with the curtains closed and where no one can accidentally walk in!

If your party is a success, then maybe next time you could make it even bigger. Find a suitable venue such as a cafe and create posters to advertise it.

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There has been a lot of talk lately about sustainable clothes and eco fashion. Every day a new brand emerges that is in some better for the environment than conventional clothing and usually more ethically produced. But with fast fashion and the culture of buying cheaply (and often unethically) made high fashion clothing still highly popular and ‘environmental green washing’ becoming the new in phrase, what really can be done to make clothing more sustainable?

At Posh Swaps we believe that there is no right or wrong way to become more sustainable, anything that we can do, no matter how small is a positive step in the right direction. But there are some things that we can do that are likely to have a more positive effect than others.

1. Buy less clothes - it is quite simple really, the less clothes that we buy, the less environmental damage is caused in their manufacture and the less waste we make. Clothes swapping is a great alternative to buying clothes. It allows you to update your wardrobe without having an impact (or a very minimal impact on the environment)

2. Buy second hand clothes- this is the most eco friendly way to buy clothes. There is no additional carbon footprint (except for transport) associated with buying new clothes. But we understand that you cannot always find exactly what you want second hand and will sometimes need to buy new.

3. Buy quality clothes that will last, where possible in Eco friendly fabrics- fabrics made from recycled materials, probably have the smallest footprint as they do not have to be made from scratch. There is also the benefit of having saved materials that may have otherwise ended up in landfill. Other eco friendly fabrics including organic bamboo, cotton and hemp are all better than their conventional alternatives but still have a carbon footprint associated with their growth and manufacture and contribute to the problem of waste so should always be bought to last.

Finally, in order to ensure that your clothing is really sustainable, you should consider its whole life  cycle:

• Buy clothes to last
• Wash and dry (or clean) in as eco friendly manner as possible
• When you no longer need them recycle by selling or donating to charity.