christmas – Emma Smith

Happy Beetwixmas!

You may be all partied out & enjoying your elasticated waistbands & slippers or you may be keeping your festive dressing going by wearing sequins or a sparkly knit from morning to night & everyday to NYE.

I have done my second Christmas of mostly buying preloved, so even if it’s gifts from my family, I will ask for vintage or preloved first. Some of the gorgeous things that I received this year are a vintage Laura Ashley velvet dress, a boho style preloved Monsoon top, a preloved pink cashmere jumper & a vintage St Michael tank top.

If you are not fully convinced about buying preloved & you have a huge NYE party to go to & you want to shop high street, then there are some amazing partywear pieces out there from lace to fringe to sequins! A serious note about sequins though, here are the not so shiny facts about sequins…

Sequins are not biodegradable, they are made of plastic, they take thousands of years to break down, they are not good for the workers that make them, they produce lots of waste & they are often discarded after wearing them & end up in landfill & in our waterways, which marine life will ingest. High street stores do not need to make any more sequins, we have enough in circulation already, so firstly, it is always better to buy vintage or preloved sequins & secondly if you do buy new sequins, really think about your purchase. Ask yourself these questions…

Is it such a statement piece you fall in love & will wear it year after year? Or something that you could pass on?

Is it a classic piece, which you could style differently, so you get lots of wear out of it? For example, a sequin vest could be worn in winter or summer, just add a faux fur or a velvet jacket for winter or pair with palazzo linen pants & sandals for summer.

So if you are looking for party outfits or NYE inspiration, read on…

Pic 1 Silver Dress M&S X SIENNA MILLER £60, John Lewis Shoes Silver £85.00, Tights John Lewis, Silver Bag HUSH £105. Pic 2 White Shirt Nobodys Child, Shoes Mint Velvet. Pic 3 Dress M&S X SIENNA MILLER £90, Tights M&S, Sandals Dune £90.00. Pic 4 Dress Mint Velvet, Tights John Lewis, Shoes (as above) Bag (as above) Pic 5, Top Fat Face Ebb & Flow, Jeans Nobodys Child £79, Cardigan French Connection £75, Shoes M&S (was £39.50) Pic 6 Top Mint Velvet, Jeans The Wide Leg Jean M&S £35.00, Bag (as before) Silver boots John Lewis. Pic 7 Top Mint Velvet, Jeans The Wide Leg Jean M&S £35.00, Shoes Dune Choices Snaffle Slingback £35. Pic 8 And Or Dress £109, (Boots & Bag as before)

Happy New Year!

There is no doubt that fast fashion is having a huge impact on the world & fashion is high up on the list for one of the biggest polluters for producing greenhouse gas emissions. Last week, just before Christmas jumper day, Oxfam shared the news that…

‘ A quarter (26%) of consumers plan to buy novelty clothing for Christmas this year that they will barely wear. The OnePoll study, which surveyed 3,000 shoppers who celebrate Christmas, found that 72% of those planning to buy festive fashion expect to wear their purchases less than five times while 15% said they will only wear them once. This means more than 12.7 million items could be cast aside after just a few wears, Oxfam warned.’

‘The charity calculated that if all UK adults planning to buy festive fashion items this Christmas bought them second hand, it could prevent 66 million kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions from entering the atmosphere – equivalent to a plane flying from London to the North Pole 822 times’

I find this absolutely shocking & fashion brands need to do much more, but what can we do as consumers? The first thing we can do is extend the life of our clothes by wearing more of what is in our wardrobe & if things don’t fit, we can swap pieces with our friends & family, or sell them on sites like Depop, Vinted or Facebook market place. We can donate our clothes to charities like Oxfam, or use The Salvation Army recycling bins. We can shop on preloved sites like Vinted & Depop, you can find most high street brands on there & you will get great quality for a better deal too. We can also shop in charity shops like Oxfam, if you are on holiday in the UK, check out the charity shops wherever you are staying. If vintage is your thing, head to vintage fairs like Frock Me Vintage.

When we buy new, we can buy from more sustainable shops like Nobody’s Child, Omnes & Ninety Percent or from small independent brands who manufacture their clothes in the UK. We can change our shopping habits & can be more mindful when shopping, always think about whether you can still see yourself wearing your purchase in five years time. I will first look for preloved when shopping these days, but if I can’t find what I am looking for, I still buy from high street stores, but I am much more careful with my purchases, I buy staples that I know I will always wear, I try to buy natural fabrics, & natural recycled fabrics, that wash well & will last. If I see a statement dress or classic coat, again I am thinking of the long term.

So if you are after a knit for the festive season, why not try a preloved knit with a gentle nod to Christmas, rather than the full on Rudolf novelty jumper, that you may only wear once… Here is my selection of ‘preloved’ knits.