Posh Swaps Blog

Nylon and Polyester are amongst the most commonly used synthetic materials for clothing manufacture. They are made from petro chemicals and their production pollutes the environment and adds to the growing problem of global warming. The disposal of synthetic clothing also prevents a significant problem as it does not easily decompose or bio degrade. Nylon takes 30 to 40 years to decompose.

During the production of nylon nitrous oxide is released. This green house gas contributes to global warming and is 310 times stronger than carbon dioxide. Polyester manufacture which uses non renewable petrochemicals is an energy intensive process and releasesemissions including volatile organic compounds, particulate matter, and acid gases such as hydrogen chloride, all of which can cause or aggravate respiratory disease. Polyester manufacturing plants release Volatile monomers, solvents, and other by-products of polyester production in the waste water.

It all sounds pretty bad and the increased use of these synthetic fibers to manufacture cheap, fast fashions has further added to the problem. But synthetic clothing does have some plus sides, it drys quickly and does not usually require as much ironing as synthetic fabrics. Both of these activities use energy and therefore cause carbon dioxide emmission and contribute to the problem of glocal warming. So what is the solution?

Whilst much research is being carried out to find the perfect eco fabric, common sense suggests that one of the best things that you can do for the environment is to recycle clothing, buy less new clothes and throw less clothing away. Clothes swapping is a great way to ensure that your clothes get plenty of wear and are not thrown away before the end of their useful life. Second hand clothes are so much more sustainable than synthetic clothing and fast fashion. All clothing manufacture, eco fashion or not has some level of environmental impact so recycling is the only completely eco friendly option.

You can sell your used and refashioned or recycled clothes on www.posh-swaps.com for free. Refashioning is a great way to create your own line of individual clothes. It is not only fun and good for the environment but it is also a great way to make money. If your old clothes are looking a bit out of date refashioning them is a great way to bring them right up to date. There are so many ways to refashion clothes including dying, embellishing, shortening and deconstructing and reconstructing them into a completely new piece of clothing.

You can also sell second hand, designer, high street and vintage clothes on Posh-swaps.com.

Set up your Posh-swaps.com account today and start listing your items.

Finnish designer Mina Hepburn started her eco fashion label Mina in Dorset after she begain making clothes using Scottish Lace and embellishing using from the beautiful things that she had collected from local antique markets.

Mina uses eco friendly textiles in her clothes where ever possible including organic, fair trade and recycled materials. She also ensures that there is no waste and any remnants are used to embellish garments.

I love how she used recycled things to make very gorgeous and intricately detailed clothes. The latest collection features luxurious lace/wool mixes, cropped wool jackets made with British wool and fitted dresses made from recycled fabrics. Her clothes are all very feminine. Her ranges include women’s and children’s clothes, accessories and jewellery.

picture - Lola dress by Mina

The Wottle, a collaboration between designer Orla Kiely and water filter company Brita is quite simply a reusable water bottle. Nothing revolutionary about but a great idea and looks pretty good two. The constant use and subsequent disposal of plastic water bottles is very damaging to the environment. Not only is there the problem of landfill to consider but also the use of valuable and non renewable resources to keep manufacturer plastic bottles for just one use. The Wottle eliminates both of these problems and can just be reused each day by refilling with tap water or water from a filter jug.

The Wottle is manufactured from recycled plastic further adding to it eco friendly credentials. It is also a lot cheaper option than spending money on bottles of water. I think the Orla Kieley leaf design also makes this  a much more stylish option than a normal bottle of water.

I recently posted about a DIY refashioning project where I used bleach to create patterns on T shirts and turn a boring plain t shirt into something a bit different. I have now tried out the same technique on a pair of old jeans. This a great way of breathing new life into a pair of faded black jeans. The bleach not only creates a great pattern on the jeans but also changes them from faded black to a nice grey colour. You can vary the colour of the jeans, the pattern and the contrast of the pattern depending on how long you leave the bleach for. For my refashioning project, I scrunched the jeans up and rolled in some neat bleach in the bottom of a washing up bowl, left for 2 or three minutes and then filled the bowl up with water before leaving for a further 10 minutes and rinsing well.

For a less striking pattern leave the neat bleach on for less time and for a lighter overall effect leave the jeans to soak in the diluted bleach for longer. There is a bit of trial and error involved. The first time, I didn’t get enough pattern had to try again.

Don’t forget to protect your clothes when using bleach and wear rubber gloves!

We are so excited about our latest announcement. We have been really busy planning the first ever Posh Swaps clothes swap party. Whilst many people love swapping clothes online for it’s choice and simplicity, some also really like the social aspects of swapping and will give any reason for a good party. Clothes swapping parties or swishing have become hugely popular in the UK.

With this in mind, we have teamed up with Total Renewal and Style to Wear for our first ever clothes swap party for 17th September in Chiswick and we are sure that it is going to be a completely enjoyable event, the chance to catch up with friends and to relax and enjoy a bit of pampering. We think it will give you the chance to refresh and update your wardrobe but it is not just a clothes swapping party. The event will include a pamper treatment for each guest, a glass of wine and a fashion and beauty market. Each guest will also recieve a Posh Swaps goody bag.

For further information and tickets go to http://www.posh-swaps.com/blog/posh-swaps-clothes-swap-parties/

We are pleased to present our first Posh Swaps DIY refashion project. We thought that we would start off with something fairly simple. We have refashioned two boring old t shirts/ tops by bleaching them. It can take a little bit of trial and error to get the desired effect, but it is really quite simple. We used some tops/ t shirts that we bought from a second hand shop for a few pounds.

All we did was to bundle the t shirts up and tie them loosely with string. We then covered our clothes with an apron to protect and donned some very attractive rubber gloves. We put a bit of bleach in the bottom of a washing up bowl and rolled the tops in the bleach. We left for about 3 or 3 minutes before topping the bowl up with water and leaving for another 10 minutes. We then cut the string and rinsed the tops really well.

For the eco friendly option, you can use an eco friendly bleach like Ecover.

This black top turned orange when bleached. I love the effect even if it does look a little like the hippy tie dye thing. It is worth experimenting with the amount of bleach coverage for different effects. A bit more bleach and this top would have been even more orange.

This orange t shirt changed yellow when bleached, making it a really colourful summer t shirt.

All Posh Swaps Refashion projects are available to buy on www.posh-swaps.com

Top designer & stylist, Mrs Jones has created a limited edition collection of only 30 reinvented Oxfam pieces that are on sale now in the Camden High Street Oxfam Store and Oxfam online. Each piece is made from second hand clothes so is completely unique and there is certainly nothing last year about these clothes.

Tie Dye Brittania - the all English sundress in trendy denim

Hats off to  monochrome - an incredible bustier dress in black and white

Shipmate Stripes and Shirts - sailors stripes and shirty checks.

Cheeky nautical stowaway - this striped mini declares ‘genius’ across the derriere

Eighties biker revival - embellished black leather bomber with black and white patch print leggings

Even if you don’t buy any of these, there are some great ideas for DIY projects that you could work on yourself. Don’t forget you can also buy and sell refashioned, reworked and restyled second hand clothes on Posh Swaps.

It’s great to see so many of the nominees for the Innovation awards using recycled materials this year. The competition was lauched by the Ethical Fashion Forum this year to support new fashion designers whose work exhibits both outstanding design and sustainability. The winners will have the opportunity to show at Estheica at London Fashion Week in September and will get support from an expert consultancy team.

The sustainable fashion using recycled materials, include:

• MIA - combining second hand clothes purchased from local markets in Malawi with traditional Malawian textiles to create contemporary womenswear.
• Dandi Maestre - handmade jewellery and accessories made from natural and recycled materials including reclaimed wood.
• Henrietta Ludgate - based in a crofting village in the highlands of Scotland and using surplus fabrics from mills including fleece and tweed.
• Hetty Rose - Handmade shoes using mainly reclaimed, recycled and vintage materials with very little waste including Japanese Kimono fabrics and recycled leather.
• Lu Flux - clothing made using upcyled vintage material.

picture - Lux Flux

Just incase you were in any doubt as to how trendy eco fashion is, it had now been confirmed by the launch of a collection made from recycled clothes at Topshop. Topshop is considered the most cutting edge and innovative of the high street fashion store and it’s introduction of a line of recycled clothing proves that being green is red hot. It follows in the footsteps of Oxfam’s recycled DIY collection which has recieved plenty of publicity lately.

The collection is by the Eco brand My Only One, that used second hand and women’s vintage clothing to create beautiful and fresh new designs. The ideas come from a team of innovative and emerging designers.

The collection will launch at the Oxford  Street store of Topshop and will be called Sport Noveau. It will feature stylishly reconstructed sportswear.