Thrift It Like It's Hot
Festival style sets the tone for summer, but the real question is whether we can match the aesthetic without compromising the planet.
Two pop icons setting the tone for this summer's styles at Coachella. Photo available via @addisonraee on Instagram. © All rights belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.
Summer and festivals come hand in hand. Warmer weather, less clothes, more music. A scene which globally, could be said to have its opening in early April, Coachella. Falling in early Spring in the US, widely streamed for the public to see, it opens abundant possibilities of inspiration for our summer fits. This initial event is shortly followed by many more popular events across the world. As a British citizen, notable festivals being Boardmasters, Glastonbury and Boomtown. Trending artists bring a desire to attend their live appearances, and a desire to dress on theme, too.
Whether or not you will be attending a festival: maybe you are going to a concert to one of your favourite artists instead (for example Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter world tour or Lana Del Rey this summer), its sure that the festi fashions of the heated seasons will appear onto one of your Pinterest boards, or at least pass you by on your TikTok FYP. Whilst admiring the glitter and the frills from afar is easily enchanting, most of the clothes and outfits you see will be fleeting fabrics sourced from fast-fashion based companies such as Shein, and even TikTok shop itself. They are a quick fix for that insatiable desire to fit into the festival fashions and serve a summertime look. The problem with this is that mostly, the clothes are poorly made and equate to someone in the world receiving unfair pay and treatment. While the importance of fashion sustainability is a topic which plenty of attention is brought to - through the media and public figures who support ethical movements, it is still apparent that a lot of the summer clothes you and your friends wear to events this summer will be unethically made in one way or another, whether we are conscious of it or not. Other popular fast fashion brands which have a viral and normalised presence right now include Edikted and PepperMayo: clothes which, sure, are cute on the models and easily match your sunset aesthetic but - will you wear them again and again, or is this proposed match made in heaven one which will quickly burn out and end on a bad note?
Fashion is currently the top contributor to landfill and pollution. The overconsumption we are facing in society today due to the high demand for items, like clothing, which are consistently set as trends and then discarded once worn a few times, is one we all know the planet cannot withstand for much longer. Remembering this fact can help us stray from how easy it is to bring one's festival Pinterest board to life within a few clicks and the support of some speedy next day shipping, and help us to zoom back into reality and see the crevices of the Earth which are slowly becoming contaminated by unethical consumption and production levels. While the desire to be on point this summer and express the warmth through what we wear is valid, it is important to brainstorm ways in which we can shape our outfits to meet the theme of concerts and festivals in an ethical and less damaging way. Considering we are only human, one or two online orders are to be expected - especially when you are in need of a desperate quick fix, or the thrift shops in your area are running on a dry streak. But for the most part, it matters not how much you do to be sustainable, but just that you are doing something to consciously contribute to slower fashion. Energy flows where intention goes.
So, how can we slow down for a second, but still keep up with evolving festival trends and styles? It does not have to be boring, in fact it is possibly more thoughtful and lasting when you take fashion slower. it feels more memorable, more wholesome. My best, most practical, tried and tested ideas I will introduce to you now.
Think, brightly coloured glitters and sequins. The perfect fit to be worn under the lights and smoke. It just so happens, though, that a retired partygirl may have donated this to your local thrift/charity store as she put away the glitz and glam way back when. Maybe she clocked the amount of sequinned garments, like the 1.7 million in the UK alone, that are discarded after being worn a few times, ultimately ending up in landfills. Instead of buying some plastic online, Searching through preloved clothes may be the answer. Although potentially repetitive, imagine the tireless hours worked in sweatshops that sit behind the cheap labels you are influenced by, you can definitely spare some extra time for searching. The dopamine hit of finding a good piece at the thrift is also unmatched, by the way. This way you are ensuring a garment gets a second life and does not face landfill.
Another honourable method is simply giving your best friend a call. It's likely they will have a piece in their wardrobe you’ve been eyeing up, with the potential to produce a perfect fit for you and your whimsical festival visions. Borrowing from someone close to you is a brilliantly ethical way to structure the perfect outfit for an event such as a festival, without increasing your carbon footprint through ultra-fast shipping and packing services across the globe from fast fashion based brands.
The last place you might want to look before you impulse buy your whole Shein basket, may actually be your closet, Yes, really. Oftentimes we can forget how many clothes we already own, and even though we crave the feeling of a new purchase, a fresh set of eyes is sometimes all we actually need to feel fashionably renewed again. You could have the perfect top sat at the back of your wardrobe, you just haven't seen her for a while. Perhaps you just need to restructure the outfits you have been wearing from a new angle. Try out different outfit combinations you’ve never before, from what you already own. Dig into the back of your fashion collection, and bring in a friend or family member so they can make an inspired outfit for your event, one you may have never even considered as they will have a differing creative approach from yours. Look at your Pinterest board and see what you can do to bring it to life with the clothes you already have: you just might be surprised. By doing this you are intentionally lessening overconsumption rates and saving a lot of energy.
These ideas are only a fraction of the wide variety of methods available in order to practise sustainable festival fashion. If you at least try one of these methods you are positively impacting the planet and reducing the harm of the fast-fashion crisis we face currently. Party in style, party with intention, party with conscience. It feels good to reciprocate slower fashion processes and know that you are making a pact with the earth by doing so. Although the demand to be on trend is high, like Beyonce says in her ‘Levis Jeans’ song, you can ‘give high fashion in a simple white tee’, an effortless fashion which we can expect to see a lot of upon her iconic Cowboy Carter tour this summer. The opportunities are endless, and hey, you might feel cooler when you stand out from the crowd in a vintage and unseen look rather than the generic festival outfits which are on everyone’s Pinterest boards this summer.
