Fashion on a post-Christmas budget

14 Jan 2008

Christmas cheer is behind us and the winter season is in full force. Yet while a spot of light shopping is normally enough to brighten even the dreariest of days, with credit cards still smouldering after the festive overload, a new approach to revamping your wardrobe may be needed.

This season, give your wardrobe a new lease of life through a shopping spree with the environment in mind: the rise of the new (and not so new) forms of cheap yet ethical fashion provides the answer.

The new way to ‘shop’ for cheap clothes has been applauded for both its ethicality and that by encouraging us to consider reuse our clothes we are reducing the amount of material we waste each year. Anna Richards from Waste Awareness Wales explained how you don’t have to shop in the January sales to get a real bargain this year:

"Get your post-Christmas shopping fix this year for an absolute bargain – and do your bit to get the year off to an eco-friendly start as well. Vintage clothing or clothes from a charity shop can be an absolute steal – and as well as being great on your wallet, can also help reduce the amount of material we use and bin. Every year we throw out over one million tonnes of textiles across Wales and the UK – and much of this could have been reused, for example by passing on clothes to friends. However in reality only 25 per cent of this is ever reused or recycled, meaning great clothes are heading straight to landfill, wasting the earth’s resources that went into making them and taking up room in our landfill sites."

So here are the three top ways to get a great new wardrobe, guilt-free on a post-Christmas budget.

The style money just can’t buy

The desire for clothes swapping parties shows no sign of abating in the New Year. Whether it’s with hundreds of strangers at an organised event or a night in with friends, swapping your old clothes for your friends’ unwanted items is an instant – and free – way to update your wardrobe. Simply bring along all your unwanted clothes and start swapping for clothes you like – it’s also a great opportunity to get rid of any Christmas fashion disasters!

Best of all, having seen your friends in these clothes you know how good (or otherwise) they look – thus avoiding the age-old problem of ignoring the clothes on the hanger, only to see them looking fabulous when worn.

Fast, free fashion

The latest development for the fashion conscious is much like having a personal shopper free of charge. Websites such as Freecycle may be better known as a way to get rid of things you no longer want, but you can also request items such as clothes.

Simply place a request on your local Freecycle group (www.freecycle.org) for the clothes you are looking for, and sit back and wait for the offers of clothes to roll in from people having a New Year sort out -you’ll be amazed how often people are looking to get rid of the very thing you want.

The bargain hunter’s refuge

Since wearing vintage became chic, charity shops have become fertile hunting ground for the shopper on a budget. Attracting a gentler sort of shopper, unlike discount stores where sharp elbows and thick skin are needed, here you can browse at your leisure for your vintage bargain.

Think carefully about the shop you visit to get the clothes you want – if you like your designer labels find the shops that tend to have these sorts of clothes donated where you can get an absolute bargain, or for shops with a quicker turnover of the most recent trends visit ones in areas with a higher proportion of younger people such as students.

Get to know the staff and find out the days they tend to put out their latest donations so you can get the pick of the latest deliveries - and don’t be afraid to have a good rummage to find what you are looking for.

Getting creative with your clothes

For those with nimble fingers – or access to a sewing machine – last year’s clothes can be altered for a whole new look. Get the must-have tailored look by taking in seams, or sewing bows and ruffles onto shirts. Don’t forget to take up hemlines for an instant update to skirts. If you don’t trust yourself not to ruin your clothes, then think what else you could make with those unwanted garments – start by making cushion covers, bags and purses and you’ll soon be stitching your clothes with ease.