Posh Swaps Blog

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.

Spring is on its way and I can’t wait, longer days, warmer weather and a whole new wardrobe. Well actually, just because we are about to move in to a new season, it doesn’t mean that you need to buy a whole wardrobe of new clothes. It is likely that you will already have many items in your wardrobe that fit in with the seasons new trends or some really classic items that never go out of fashion. If you really don’t have anything or are in desperate need of an updated look why not try swapping some of your old clothes or buying some second hand clothes? Not only is it environmentally friendly, but you are likely to get more style for your money and will be able to afford better quality that will last for seasons to come. Here are my tp 5 items to swap or but second hand this spring.

Tailored Jackets - for a really up to date look, try wearing a tailored jacket with jeans or a t shirt and pencil skirt. Tailored jackets are a great secondhand buy as they have usually only had light wear. They are also usually quite flattering. I love this black and white tweed jacket which would look great over a really bright pink t shirt.

Trench Coat - this is one of those pieces of clothing that just keeps coming back into fashion time and time again. In fact, I am not really sure if it ever really goes out of fashion. It is classic, versatile and practical. I love this purple mac, it will work equally well for daytime or evening.

Unusual Jewellery - an unusual piece of jewellery is a great way to update and finish an outfit, add interest and stand out from the crowd. By wearing something unusual, you will not need to worry about following trends, you will be unique. I love these sweet earrings, they would look great with a bright green, pink or blue top or dress.

Leather Handbag - a good leather handbag will become better with age. A designer bag is always a good investment buy whether it is new or secondhand. This brown Mulberry messenger bag is the perfect colour and style to go with almost any casual spring outfit.

Designer Dress - the great thing about a second hand designer dress is that it is a fraction of its price new but is likely to have been well looked after and in good condition. This Notte by Marchesa Gown will really turn heads at parties, weddings and other events over the summer.

I am a firm believer that most trends come back again and again there are very few completely new trends that appear. This means that if you love second hand clothes, no one will ever know that you are wearing second hand clothes. In teh long term look at the vintage trend, clothes from the forties, fifties, sixties, seventies and eighties regularly come into fashion. In the shorter term, the same trends come back year after year.

There really is no need to buy brand new clothes each season to keep up with fashions. Just take for example the key trends for this autumn and winter of black and white tweed.

Alexander McQueen AW09

Pringle AW09

Alexander Wang AW09

pictures from www.style.com

You need look no further than Posh-swaps.com for a great second hand version.

Black and white tweed jacket

Silk Missoni Dress

Do you love wearing designer clothes? Most of us would love to be able to fill our wardrobes with lovely designer clothes each season, but in reality there are only a few who actually have enough money to do so. With the recession hitting many of us and our clothes spend, don’t despair, you can still have a great designer clothes filled wardrobe without filling for bankruptcy.

Investing in second hand designer clothes or swapping your old designer clothes is a much better way to look stylish on a budget than resorting to fast fashion clothes that are not good for the environment and are sometimes produced unethically. They are often poorly made in inferior fabrics and it will show when you wear them.

Firstly you should sort through any designer clothes that you no longer wear. These can then be listed on a clothes swapping website like Posh-swaps.com. All that you need is a photograph of the item and as much information as possible about it including the size, designer, fabric and details of the condition. It can also be useful to take a photograph of the label to show that the item is genuine.

Then comes the fun part. Browse for some lovely clothes that you would like and propose a swap or to buy.

I hope that you had a very lovely wedding day and have lots of lovely wedding photos to remember it by. Many people decide to keep their wedding dress for sentimental reasons but if you are not that sentimental about a piece of clothing or you don’t have space to store it, then selling a second hand wedding dress is a great way to ensure that someone else gets as much benefit from it as you have done. You also will get some money back and I am sure that most newly weds could do with that.

If you leave your wedding dress boxed up in your loft, there is a chance that it will get moth eaten or ruined. Are you ever going to use it again? I am thinking probably and hopefully not (not as a wedding dress anyway). So why not sell your wedding dress. It is very simple, first of all take three picture of the dress including one full length, plus two more of either the back view or close ups of the detail. Then set up and an account with www.posh-swaps.com and list the dress. Give as much information about the dress as you can.

You will also need to decide on a price . This will depend on how much  it cost new as well as it’s condition. As a general rule, if it is in excellent condition, it would be reasonable to charge about 50% of it’s new price, but it is really up to you.

Don’t forget to link to your listing from any blogs, social networks or forums to give it maximum exposure on the search engines.

Everyone is refashioning at the moment, obviously the word is getting out that you can get some really amazing clothes using second hand and vintage items. Oxfam has just opened a DIY store in its Camden shop with unique creations made from second hand. Top designer and styling Mrs Jones has revamped the store into retro heaven which has become an oasis of style for trendsetters and vintage enthusiasts.

Mrs Jones who is a stylist to the celebrities including The Killers, Kylie, Scissor Sisters and Goldfrapp has created a limited edition collection of only 30 reinvented Oxfam pieces that will be on sale in the shop and online soon. The shop opened on Saturday with a series of DIY workshops run by the stylist herself.

If you can’t get along to the store, you can always have a go at refashioning some second hand clothes yourself with their DIY tutorial on how to turn jeans into a skirt. You can also get some ideas from their sidewalk to catwalk gallery.

I really enjoyed watching Mary Queen of Shops last night, when Mary had the unenviable task of sprucing up a charity shop in Orpington Kent. Not only was I interested to see the challenges that Mary faced trying  to apply her vast skills and experience of high end retail to charity retail with a team of dedicated volunteers to manage through the change process, but I was also really pleased to see that second hand clothes were being valued and not labelled as just a load of old rubbish. Mary has helped to change the perception of many people to buying second hand clothes in charity shops. The thought of getting a Jimmy Choo handbag at a fraction of it’s original price is bound to see fashionistas flocking to their local charity shops.

I loved the way that she change the look of the charity to shop to give the feeling of a vibrant market place and made sure that the clothes were sold at their real value. Even the fact that charity shops were chosen as a subject for the programme shows the growing interest in second hand and vintage clothes in the fashion world. When Mary said that charity shops had untapped potential she is only saying what many second hand and vintage enthusiasts have been thinking for years. Buy jazzing up charity shops (and I hope many more will follow suit), she may be pushing up the prices of second hand clothes but more importantly, she is opeing up charity shop shopping to a whole new group of shoppers, who are not serious rummagers but like their clothes to be arranged neatly in size order.

picture from bbc.co.uk

We have already established that clothes swapping is a great idea because it is environmentally friendly, frugal and fun, we have also discussed how to arrange a clothes swap. If you have already had a go at clothes swapping and enjoyed it, here are some ideas for clothes swaps with a difference.

1. A children/ baby clothes swap - this is a great way to recycle childrens clothes as they grow out of them. As baby clothes are only worn for a short amount of time they are often in really good condition. If you arrange a ticket system where everyone brings a bag of clothes and gets a number of tickets in return, it will allow people to swap clothes for the right size for their children.

2. A clothes swap and customising competition - not only can you get some new clothes but you could also get a completely unique and individual outfit that no one else has. You can ask frinds to bring along a sewing kit and any old buttons, trims, beads etc that they have. Once you have swapped, you can then spend the evening embellishing your clothes over a glass of wine or two. At the end, you can show off the clothes in a fashion show and award a small prize to the best creation.

3. Vintage clothes swap - If you and your friends love vintage clothes, why not arrange a vintage clothes swapping party. This is a great way to refresh your wardrobes.

4. Themed Clothes Swaps - for a bit of fun why not arrange a themed clothes swap. Perhaps try a flowers theme or  choose a particular colour which everyone should bring clothes in. In the run up to christmas, you could arrange a sparkly clothes swap with sparkly or evening clothes.

5. Accessories swap - you could arrange an accesories swap for accessories in general or for one particular type of accessories such as shoes, hand bags or jewellery.

Let us know your fun ideas for clothes swapping.

We were lucky enough to interview Sarah Korsiak Cellier of  Rice and Beans Vintage to find out a bit more about women’s vintage clothing and how it fits into her own unique style. Rice and Beans Vintage offers handpicked vintage and designer clothing to clients around the world. 

Rice and Beans is an interesting name for a vintage store, is there a story behind it?  

The name Rice and Beans Vintage comes out of a nickname that my now husband gave me a while back.  He used to call me Ms. Rice and Beans & according to him it is because of my sassyness (in a good way of course)!

How did you get started with vintage clothes? 

I have been wearing vintage clothing since I was around 10 years old.  I have always mixed vintage with modern clothing to create my own unique look.  I began dealing in vintage clothing about 7 years ago when I lived in San Diego and was studying to become an Acupuncturist!  I ended up choosing vintage & designer clothing over Acupuncture and I couldn’t be happier with my choice.

What is it about vintage clothing that you like?

I love that vintage clothing has a story to tell, it has history, roots.  The great thing about wearing vintage is that you can pretty much bet that you won’t run into anyone else that day who is wearing the same thing as you!  I also really admire for the most part the quality of vintage clothing, from the cut of the pieces to the fabric. 

Do you have a particular period of vintage clothing that you love?

I can honestly say that there is something from every period of fashion that I have at one time or another fallin in love with.

What is you favourite vintage piece?

I own a Vintage 60’s bright abstract print brocade coat with rhinestone buttons that I had shortened to right below the knee.  I love it because it has a bright almost neon pink lining and looks fantastic with denim.

How old does a piece of clothing have to be to be described as vintage? 

I consider a piece to be “vintage” if it is Pre-90’s. 

How can you be sure that an item of clothing is vintage?

I am not a vintage expert, I would have to clock a few more years before I would consider myself “schooled” in vintage.  However, I do a lot of research and try to be as thorough as possible when dating and describing each vintage and designer piece at Rice and Beans Vintage.  You can tell a lot from a label about the age of a piece as well as the styling.

Vintage clothing is become increasingly popular, why do you think this is?

I think vintage clothing has become more and more popular for several reasons.  Firstly people are recognizing the environmental impact of the clothing industry and purchasing vintage and pre-loved designer clothing is a great way to help minimize the demand for more and more new pieces to be made.  Secondly I think there is an economic component to the whole vintage craze.  Let’s face it purchasing a Vintage Chanel bag can be much less costly than buying a brand new piece and again it’s got history.  I also know that people love vintage because it does set your look apart from everyone else and gives you the freedom to be creative with your look.  Isn’t that what fashion is all about?

picture - vintage floral cotton maxi dress from Rice and Beans Vintage

First of all I would like to say, car boot sales are uber fun. Not just because you can find amazing one off items for next to nothing, but because if you’re like me on a Sunday morning (usually feeling lazy, hung-over and nursing a sore head) then there really is no better reason to drag yourself out of bed than to nose around other peoples junk.

So last Sunday the 26^th of April the Sun was shining and the people of Carshalton were out in droves. After driving around the boot sale for 45 minutes (trying to park inside was like trying to get into fort knox) we finally found a parking spot and scuttled towards the boot fair. As we hurriedly walked towards the humongous school grounds of St Philomena’s catholic school the first thing I noticed was two women engaged in fisticuffs. Seriously. And it was over a dress it seemed, finger nails and hair tearing galore. This was when I realised this boot sale was going to be special, as the last time I saw this much passion for fashion was at the opening of the Selfridges spring summer sale 08.

 So I stepped over the bloodied boxers and inhaled a huge gulp of air whilst gazing across the fields and fields of bargain buys. Much to my Jaw dropping excitement, it was HUGGGE, like really huge. There were 3 fields of car bootie action. And it really was amazing, with unusual buys going for ludicrously cheap, confirming my theory. Boot fairs ARE every recessionistas dream.

After I had calmed myself down from all the excitement I headed towards the first stand I could focus on and noticed a vintage looking brown jacket. After examining the piece, I realised ok it wasn’t vintage but it was cute, like really cute. So after asking for a price on the jacket I was told “that would be a fiver love”. This was when it got tricky. The bargaining phase. Never one to be put off a touch of haggling (I conquered Pat Pong market in Bangkok don’t you know) I sniggered and put my bargain head on before quipping back “I’ll give you a couple of quid if ya luckie mate” (it’s good to put on an old east end accent at these car boots, gives the impression you’re a bit of a wheeler bargain dealer).

Anyway after much dispute over the value of the blazer we got involved on the finer details and finally agreed on a price of Two English pounds and fifty pennies. Luuuuuverly. So I left with a gem which cost less than my early morning hot dog. This purchased piece was the first of many that day, but it was by far the most expensive. Which taught me a lesson. Start ludicrously low when bargaining, because at these types of events it really does seem fifty pence is a reasonable price for a dress.

 At the end of the day I worked out I had spent £5.50, and I had purchased 2 dresses, 3 jackets and a jumper. Weighing in at roughly 50p per item, it was apparent boot fairs really are the ultimate bargain fest. This particular boot sale was in St Philomena’s in Carshalton, and it takes place once a month. If you fancy a spot of vintage chic on the cheap you can find the monthly dates on the following site.

http://www.stphils.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=84&Itemid=90

But remember is just one of many on the London circuit of boot sales, the beauty of these events being clueless souls selling grandmas vintage brooches for 50p a pop. Fabulous.

If searching for a bit of car bootie action then do check out the nationwide listings on www.carbootjunction.com but be warned it is not always 100% accurate. I have often gone searching for car booties which don’t exist (I once drove all the way to Esher to be told the car boot wasn’t on that week) so if you’re looking for a more reliable source of information check out http://www.carbootcalendar.com/. This site is generally very reliable and has an annual subscription magazine costing just £14.00 (a year) which lists all the latest car boot sales across the country monthly. Worth every penny. So next Sunday when you’re feeling lazy get yourself down to your local car boot sale, for the sake of your wallet and your wardrobe.

Finally, for those of you thinking you don’t fancy getting your manolo’s grubby, I would just like to say I once found a vintage Chanel handbag for 5 pounds in a boot sale in Battersea. Yes really. Oh you’re suddenly considering it? So I’ll see you next Sunday?

This post was written by our guest writer

Alice Kelleher is a 24 year old freelance writer often known to be distracted by shiny pretty things. Fresh off the block after just returning from a five month travelling trip around south east Asia, Alice is slightly obsessed with Noodles, and totally obsessed by boys in bands and the latest greatest fads and trends. Currently she is working in a Deli part time (she loves cheese), until she finds a stable job in fashion Journalism/fashion PR.

pictures by Ross Matthews