Fashion workshop offers style tips for the environmentally conscious

Hand Me Down - Style Me Up workshops will run Saturdays 29th April ,6th May and 20th May from 11am - 12.30pm.

They will include a clothing exchange, discussions of personal style and beauty, op-shopping, hand me downs, and other ways to stay stylish, while reducing your impact on the environment, and your bank account.

Fashion has become synonymous with fast moving consumer culture. Many popular fashion retailers sell stylish, cheaply made clothing that keeps customers returning for new clothing, as their old clothing either breaks down, or falls out of vogue.

This comes at a cost. Many of these clothes are made partly, or wholly using synthetic fibres derived from oil, and contribute to the large and growing plastic waste problem in Australia.

Fashionista and self confessed op-shop enthusiast Aunty Cheryl Penrith has run these workshops for a number of years in Wagga and other Riverina towns. She said people need to rethink the relationship between fashion, and style.

"How you dress really tells people who you are," Aunty Cheryl said.

"It's all about how you feel ... for our young women to see you don't need to wear really revealing clothes to be beautiful.

"Styling up could just be adding a bit of colour where you haven't before."

Modelling op-shop finds from head to toe, Aunty Cheryl said there are alternatives to buying new clothes, from trading clothes with friends, to repairing and modifying old clothes or trying an old piece in a new context. She said Wagga's op-shops were so plentiful and well stocked, people can have expansive and stylish wardrobes without regularly buying new clothes.

"How fantastic would it be to see everyone downtown just looking really fantastic?" she said.

"We could be up there with Rome and Paris.

"It only takes a few people to have a think about putting on a bit of colour."

IN OTHER NEWS:

Hand Me Down - Style Me Up is part of Wagga Wagga Art Gallery's 2023 GREEN Environmental program, which focuses on promoting environmental sustainability.

Dr Lee-Anne Hall said the workshop would help people understand the environmental impact their fashion choices were having, and how they might reduce them.

"The gallery sees itself as leading conversation in this area ... we're very solution focused," Dr Hall said.

"Clothes are made from natural fibres, but they're also made from fossil fuels. Dig deep, and you'll find it's oil that's fuelling most of our fashion today, and we are throwing it away.

"We really do need to think very seriously about clothes."

Hand Me Down - Style Me Up is a free event, but bookings are essential. Participants must attend all three workshops. Tickets and more information are available at: https://waggaartgallery.com.au/whats-on

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: