Website of the week

Thanks Georgie for sending this link, which conveniently is now my Website of the Week!

Great project where a woman undertook to wear the same brown dress every day for a year as a statement against the high-consumption, high-expense, highly-superficial, highly dislocated from the people who actually make it, world of fashion in the modern consumer capitalism.

She is now commmittingto only wear things that she has made from recycled fabrics, for a whole year, which I think is excellent and reminds me of this website that Angel posted on Making Groovy Things a while back.

I like the idea of making a committment for a period of time to not buy any new clothes - partly for the actual impact of reduced resource consumption but mostly just to 'question the unquestionable' (as Alex of Little Brown Dress fame described it). Anything that people say 'oh but how could you possibly???' tends to sound like a challenge to me. 'How could you possibly go without nice juicy steaks when they're to tasty?' 'How could you possibly go without a mobile phone / tv / partner / life plan?' Erm, quite easily. I guess the attraction for me is to explore that line between habit/convention and choice, and where possible to feel like the things I choose I am actually choosing, not just doing because 'you're meant to'. Just for my own satisfaction and interest.

As for the practicalities of not buying new for a year (/2 months/4 months / 6 months), it might require me to finally get my shit together and learn to sew (or at least alter things). I would need a better button collection than I have right now, and I would possibly cheat and buy a bundle of stockings, knickers and bras at the start of the year. I could see some fun paint your own Tshirt arvos (Mr Micool has been doing some funky shirts recently).

One idea I've had for a while which I thought could be fun is an outfit (or accessory) swap party. A bit like the tuppaware model but without any actual selling. Could be good at the start of a season, you could each bring 4 things along that you're well and truly sick of and never care if you see again - swapperoo - bob's your uncle, you are the owner of some new funky garments. Sizing could be tricky, if you were all quite different siezes each person would have less to choose from. That's one of the reasons that I was thinking that an acccessory swap could be better. Both options could also be linked to some 'refashioning' - beads and thread and paint and stencils and some people who can actuallly alter things.... And cake, it would have to involve cake and tea. Anyway, just an idea. You could bring money too and donate it to some actually needy cause- reinvesting wisely the dosh that you might otherwise spend on an impulse purchase. Anyone keen?