Episode 12

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Published on:

31st May 2024

Why do we keep outsourcing our style to fast fashion instead of focussing on what we already have?

Women, Fashion, and Consumerism: Part 3

In the final episode of our three-part series on women, fashion, and consumerism, the discussion centres around our obsession with fast fashion and the constant pursuit of "newness".

Key topics include habituation and its influence on wardrobe choices, the concept of wardrobe freeze, and the importance of creative ownership in fostering a love for one's clothes, as well as practical steps to curb consumption, cultivate personal style, and embrace sustainable fashion.

Guests:

Mentioned in this episode:

About the show:

This is Reloved Radio: Sustainable Fashion Stories, the fortnightly show that brings you inspiring stories from guests who are making a positive impact in the sustainable fashion space.

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Credits:

Music: 'Old Leather Sneakers' by PineAppleMusic

Transcript
Chryssius:

Welcome back to Reloved Radio.

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This is the final episode

in our three-part series on

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women, fashion and consumerism.

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And today, we're talking about why

we keep outsourcing our personal

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style to fast fashion, instead of

focusing on what we already own.

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We discussed habituation and how

it relates to our wardrobes, the

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constant pursuit of newness and

the importance of taking time to

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find and love our personal style.

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We also touch on the concept

of a wardrobe phrase and how

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creative ownership can lead us to

cherish and wear our clothes more.

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But before we dive into today's episode,

I want to give you a quick heads

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up that we experienced a few audio

issues in some parts of this episode.

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So while the sound quality isn't perfect

at times, we promise that the content

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is exceptional and well-worth a listen.

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This one's a two-part question.

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First of all, why are we so obsessed

with the pursuit of the new.

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And then following on from that, how does

that drive our reliance on fast fashion?

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Charlie: I mean there's a

shame in aging, isn't there?

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We're constantly aging.

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We're a problem that needs to be solved.

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We don't want to have our natural hair

colour because it always looks more dull.

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We don't want our skin to sag because

it means that we're ageing, it means

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that we're no longer the newest thing.

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I mean, even you look at the quarter

life crisis that people have at 25.

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Probably about to hit that one myself,

is that we are no longer the new people.

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We're no longer the fresh 18 year olds

that were, cool and knew what's going

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on and with the trends, I think that

we're constantly being sold the narrative

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in a society, especially as women.

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I mean, obviously it can apply to

all genders and people and everyone

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that at some point we're shiny

and new and there comes a point

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where we stop being shiny and new.

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So we're basically playing catch

up for the rest of our lives.

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And we can find that

in a form of clothing.

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We can find that in a new house, a

new car, a new bag, a new this, new

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that, because we're constantly have

some sort of expiry date on ourselves.

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And I feel like a big commentary on that

is watching how we're seeing younger

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girls, especially start to look older

when they're teenagers and immediately

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start to be told that they need.

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Hardcore skincare at the age of 16.

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And, I mean, we saw the whole

Sephora tweens trend that

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came up earlier in the year.

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Can we talk about the fact that

nine year olds are going into makeup

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stores and buying hardcore skincare

because they are apparently aging?

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They are fresh out the womb!

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They are still They are

like They're children!

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I mean, I still feel like a child myself,

and Like I even see targeted ads towards

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me being like, yes, you are aging.

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I'm like, what do you mean?

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I just became an adult.

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I'm 23 and we're constantly

being sold this narrative

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that we are actually expiring.

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So we need to fill that void with new

clothes and make ourselves look new again

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and give ourselves Botox and fresh hair

and fresh this and fresh that because

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there's this need to be shiny and new.

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Otherwise we're just old and aging.

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Jacinta: We're conditioned that old

is bad, old is used, old is not

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fun, it's not fresh, like it's all

marketing to us, but old is actually

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amazing, getting older is amazing.

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And it is a privilege And I learned that

from a young age because the first few

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funerals I went to in my 20s were for

people who were around the same age as me.

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And so going to a funeral for

someone who has actually lived or

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gotten to live to an older age in

their 80s was like really moving.

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And then, so I've always just been

conscious of like our approach to

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life because our time is limited.

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The way the world works, like we're

conditioned to be distracted, that

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like we aren't enough, we don't have

enough if we just get this thing, like

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we'll feel better and if we have, a

new outfit each week and it's just

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feeds like the dopamine receptors

whereas it's a real skill to sort of

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sit with and not, reaching for external

validation through purchasing things

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or yeah, you're like the environment

that you're in sort of trying to change

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it up and fill it with like new items

that are meant to make you feel better.

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Chryssius: What about habituation?

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How does this concept apply

to our wardrobes and influence

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our consumption habits?

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Hazel: So habituation is the

concept that the more we see

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something, the less it thrills us.

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And this is actually something that

Lauren Bravo talks about in her book,

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"How to Break Up with Fast Fashion".

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And it's really talking to the concept

that the more we see something,

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the less we are thrilled by it,

the less we find there's novelty

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there, the less we're drawn to it.

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And it doesn't matter if we have worn

that piece once, twice, or never.

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It's just the fact that we're seeing

it every day when we go into our

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wardrobes that we're not drawn to

potentially putting it on or wearing it.

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Chryssius: This is super relatable

and I'm definitely guilty of that.

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Hazel: Yeah, I mean, we all are.

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I've got pieces hanging in my

wardrobe even now that I look

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at and I think, nah, boring.

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But it's still a really important

element of an outfit and it's just

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that by seeing it every day, it

just doesn't bring us interest.

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And that's really based on, our

lizard brains, our survival brains

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that need to keep searching for the

new things that kept us alive in the

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dawn of humanity, is the thing that's

almost destroying humanity now, is

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that constant search for the new.

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Vive: The novelty was something that

sprung to mind for me, but it's almost

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as if like things being habitual can

be criticized for being unconscious,

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and the reason that we create habits is

so that we reduce our cognitive load.

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But I wonder if you brought intentionality

to habits, and you built the relationship

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with the pieces of clothing that

you had in your closet, whether that

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would change the boredom and the

desire for the new that happens when

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you're looking at those pieces again.

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Hazel: I absolutely agree.

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that's kind of what I was mentioning.

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It's like, now that I look at my

wardrobe, having only had these items

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in it for however long, I now know

how each piece is able to be worn.

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And so the pieces in my wardrobe don't

bore me and I don't feel annoyed by them

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because I'm like you're a really key

piece and a great tool in this outfit,

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this outfit, this outfit, this outfit.

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Like I know how they work and I know

how they work on my body and the

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work that they do in my wardrobe.

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So, you know, For me,

you're absolutely right.

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I have that relationship with

the pieces and they give me joy.

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Vive: And, they have a

relationship with each other.

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So what I hear you describe is there's

an ecosystem in the wardrobe and

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you can bring the novelty yourself.

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You don't have to go outside of

that wardrobe to find the novelty.

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You bring it through the creativity that

you have with what you're working with

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and your relationship to those things.

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Hazel: Yeah.

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Chryssius: And a lot of it has to do

with personal style because Hazel,

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I know you taking the time to really

cultivate your own personal style.

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We know that it takes time,

but we just don't do that.

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We're not used to taking

the time to do that.

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Hazel: Yeah, absolutely.

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and I think that.

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But it's interesting because I've only

given myself the time to do this because

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of how much I've learned about the impact

impact that fast fashion and kind of

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untethered consumption has, you know, on

the planet, on, on the humans that make

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the clothing and all of those things.

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And so it was those humanitarian and

environmental aspects that really

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drove me to Give myself the time.

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And before then not that I didn't care,

but I didn't even know that I needed the

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time to figure out my own personal style.

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I thought that the things that I was

drawn to buying in the op shops, or

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if it was retail, I was drawn to them

because I knew what my personal style was.

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Turns out I had no idea.

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And I was consuming

things in a really, um.

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even though I was like,

I buy mainly secondhand.

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I only buy retail when I have to.

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This, that, and the other, and giving

myself all of these different excuses

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as to why I was still, um, consuming

in that way even with the knowledge

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of the impact that it had , on us.

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And it wasn't until I just

decided to stop, just stop buying.

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that I had this huge revelation about

my personal style, about the way

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that I was consuming clothing and

fashion and about really the ways,

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the tools that we need to not do that.

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Like I wouldn't have had the gifts of all

of those things without first stopping.

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Chryssius: I know we've touched on it

briefly in the previous two episodes in

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this series, but your wardrobe freeze

- can you explain the concept behind it,

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and how it can help us break free from

that cycle of constant consumption?

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Hazel: Yeah, absolutely.

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So a wardrobe freeze put very simply

is the commitment to yourself to

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not bring any new clothes or well,

There's two different options, right?

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So you can either choose to not

bring any new clothes into your

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wardrobe, or you can choose, which

is what I've done, to bring no new

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or second hand, so new to me clothes.

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The first is really great for your

environmental impact, and is a

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really great option if shopping

is something that you want to do.

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You still want to do, you just

want to do it a bit more mindfully

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and a bit more thoughtfully.

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Vinted have just put out a campaign

where they, , have these videos of

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these people with, it says, imagine

if you could see your consumption.

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And so there's like women walking down

the street with six pairs of sunglasses

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on their heads and like they're on the

treadmill and they've got like a hundred

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pairs of shoes falling off the treadmill.

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Cause they've got so many at home.

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Like I absolutely love that campaign.

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It's so great.

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but, What I think is really, uh,

beneficial about not bringing anything at

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all into your wardrobe is it really gives

you space to examine that consumption

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from a completely different, space.

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like, I have given myself the

space to examine my wardrobe.

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by not bringing anything into

it feels completely different

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Vive: Hazel, it's such a good point.

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And I was thinking about it this morning

that to reorganize a pattern or create

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change, you do need a lot of space.

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And one of the things I made a note

on from my personal experience of

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doing the 33 pieces for three months,

was that my whole system felt more

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relaxed, at having less there, and less

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choices, and

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Hazel: the overwhelm.

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The overwhelm just disappears.

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Like I still have maybe 120 pieces

of clothing that I own but I have no

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overwhelm because like I said before

each and every piece of clothing now

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plays a part and works hard in my

wardrobe and I don't feel guilty.

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about having them because I'm wearing them

and I don't feel ashamed about having them

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because I'm really getting the use that I

need to and that we should all be getting

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out of our clothes out of each garment.

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Vive: There's a deep sort of sense of, and

I made a lot of notes about relationship,

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because it is this idea that when we're

relating with things and people and places

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there's a connection, and a love, and a

desire to care for that thing that grows

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and that there's almost, disconnection,

isolation, anxiety, they're all big

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issues in, in mental health in the world.

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And there's this sense that we are

forgetting to build relationships

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even with things like what we own.

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as a way of feeling that we

are nurturing and caring for

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and

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connected.

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Hazel: definitely.

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I agree And it's like the you

know, the process of say, mending

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something gives you that relationship

with that piece of clothing.

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Vive: And there's a, it exactly,

there's a relating with that.

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It's almost it's an investment.

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And in that investing of time, whether

you're mending a piece of clothing or

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you're planting something in the ground,

there's a reciprocity almost that

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happens and it's incredibly nurturing and

satisfying to have those relationships.

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Chryssius: So what practical steps can we

take to start buying only what we need.

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And truly loving what we already have?

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Charlie: Biggest thing Is figure out

what you like and not, I mean what

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you like is in what you've been told

you're supposed to like or what some

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color analysis person has told you

what colors best go with your skin or

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whether you're a skirts girl or dresses

girl because someone else has told you.

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I mean genuinely what do you like?

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What motivates you?

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What are you stoked about?

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What if you had two minutes left

in your wardrobe would be the

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first things you would grab?

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And why?

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Figure out what that is and

what you want deep down.

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then move accordingly.

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For me, about six months ago, I realized

I didn't like most of the things in

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my wardrobe and that most of it had

just been the idea of it had been

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sold to me in that I'm a teacher.

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I need to wear teacher dresses now.

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Oh I'm young, so I need

to be wearing crop tops.

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I don't like crop tops.

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I don't like them.

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I don't like the way they sit on me.

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I don't feel comfortable.

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So I'm going to donate all of them.

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I moved them out and I went, okay these

dresses that I'm supposed to wear,

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because that's my role as a teacher.

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Now I went, okay, do I actually

like these ones or do I want

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to wear something different?

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And I did a big cull of everything I

didn't actually like and instead went,

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okay, so if I've been sold all of this

and sold all these ideas that I'm supposed

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to like this, I'm supposed to dress

this way because of my age, my job, or

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what colors are supposed to suit me.

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Then, what have I got

left after all of that?

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And I had a few pieces

that I really liked.

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Then I started going, Okay, what do I

already have that's similar to that?

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And I had skirts and things.

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So I went, Okay, well I don't like

the top that goes with this skirt.

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So I'm going to get rid of that top.

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I'm going to keep the skirt.

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And I found within my wardrobe

already, there were so many pieces

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that went together, that, The

future consuming I had was actually

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just things that brought me joy.

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And that's where I started making my

own little Pinterest shopping list

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of things that if I went to the op

shop, if I went to a store and I found

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this and it was actually like, I'm

genuinely wanting to buy, I'm okay

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with purchasing these items because

I'm motivated by what I really like.

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It's not because it's trendy.

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I turned off the trends to

myself and when I just want

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this because I actually like it.

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I really like, I like the way that

this beautiful big full skirt feels.

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And if I happen to see one at a price that

I'm okay with paying, at a place that I

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don't mind supporting, not a fast fashion

house, an ethical brand, or an op shop,

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yes, okay, I will spend my money on that.

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But I'm not just going to go and just

buy things for the sake of it unless

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it fits on that little Pinterest

board of that that menu that I've got.

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I mean, I have, so Pinterest

is the best thing I have.

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I have a menu.

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We talked about this last time.

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I have the of clothes I already

have and ways to style them based

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on what the Pinterest girlies have

done because they are awesome.

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They do half the work for me.

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I have a op shop wishlist.

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I call it.

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Where it's items that if I happen

seen them, they're items that like,

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these are the dream, the holy grails.

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If I happen to see a, like a Fendi

baguette that's all like beaded

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and which is one that I've loved

since watching Sex and the City.

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I happen to see that, that's on my

wishlist and I, that has stayed on the

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wishlist for over six months and I'm

not motivated by Oh, I have to have it.

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It's like, Oh, well if that came up

and for a price that I felt agreeable

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to, I wouldn't mind purchasing.

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And then, yeah, it goes off there.

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So I try and only buy things that are

from that wish list or basic items

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that, you know, if it fits within that

sphere, okay, I don't feel any guilt.

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I don't feel like I'm over consuming.

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I feel like I'm consuming at a

much slower and sustainable rate.

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Jacinta: I think it is getting

comfortable with repeating looks and,

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or like, putting pieces like together

that you like and how you feel in them.

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I always remember on Clueless when

Cher would didn't like mirrors.

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So she'd take Polaroids of outfits,

but you could take photos of outfits

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that you like, just like to jog your

memory and have a little folder in your

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phone of these are the things that I

like to wear that make me feel good.

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I'd say you can swap

clothes with your friends.

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I love

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like going to someone else's wardrobe,

hiding your wardrobe as well as

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really, but going to someone else's

wardrobe is like, is new, air quotes.

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And hiding.

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Things out of sight in your

wardrobe if you put something

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away, you're like, Oh, I forgot

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you don't need everything out at once.

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It's seasonal

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Like you can't wear it all year round.

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Hazel: For me, having frozen my

wardrobe now for almost a year,

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I am completely obsessed with it.

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Like, I have fallen deeply in

love with freezing my wardrobe,

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that I'm going to do it forever.

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Like, Probably I won't do it forever.

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I'll invite a few new things, or new to

me items, into my wardrobe eventually.

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But It's given me such clarity, and

I think that when people are buying

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more and more things, it's because

they're searching for clarity.

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They are searching for the holy

grail of retail item that's going

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to bring them this key that unlocks

everything in their wardrobe and makes

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every single outfit work and makes

getting dressed in the morning easy.

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That's not where the key lies.

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The key lies in understanding What you

like to wear, how you like to wear your

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clothes, the way you want your clothes

to feel on your body, and, you know, then

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all the kind of stylistic things, like

the colours you like to wear, the fabrics,

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all of those items can come into play.

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But without slowing down and actually

giving yourself the time and space to

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figure out answers to those questions,

you know, the concept of, you know,

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Buying what you love and keeping what

you have doesn't mean anything, because

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you keep on buying looking for that

holy grail, that key, which isn't there.

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It's in you.

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Vive: I so agree Hazel, we

know that we're like, Chrissie

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has said, we're being primed.

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We're constantly being primed and

encouraged and spammed to purchase

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and to have not enough time to learn

to mend our clothes or wonder about.

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How clothes make us feel

and we don't have that space.

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So I agree slowing down and

Jacinta said it as well.

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It's just first step.

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It's I always it always comes down

to slowing down and noticing like

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noticing is such a an underrated and

yet powerful tool for everything.

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For me, the steps are to slow down to

notice the body and it's starting to build

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we have emotional language, literacy.

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It's starting to build literacy

with sensation in the body.

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Hazel: So maybe a year ago, I

would have looked at something that

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I wasn't wearing or that didn't

have a in my wardrobe or that, you

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know, was broken or whatever it is.

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And now I see that piece as a resource

and I'm like, how else can I wear this?

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How else can I make this

garment work for me?

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In a way that I need it to because I don't

have the option to get something new.

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So like you're saying about that

relationship the longing for novelty is

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I'm now actually flipping the script on my

wardrobe and I'm like, oh, I I can, I can

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change you to, to fit into what I want.

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Vive: You've got space and you've

also got a wonderful container,

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the frozen wardrobe for creativity.

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So within the limitation of the

container, it's like seeing the container

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differently, not as a limit, but as

this wonderful pot of alchemy where you

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Hazel: Yeah.

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Vive: learn to be

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resourceful with what you have.

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Hazel: And I think I shared this story

on my Instagram a few months ago, but

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when I was 16, I had this pair of heels

that I loved and I wore all the time

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and they were kind of this like painted

like shiny plastic material and I'd wear

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them to the clubs because it meant that

I would get in and in England it was not

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very strict at that time and they'd be

like yeah sure you're 18 fine but I would

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spray paint them every week when we were

going out a different color to kind of

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go with what I was wearing and to go with

the feeling you know my mood for that

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day and Like, I just remembered that with

this kind of, like, jolt of recognition,

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like, oh shit, I can do that now!

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Like, that's still available to me,

that kind of resourcefulness, um, and

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that creativity is so available to me,

and even more so now because I have

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more resources to kind of play with.

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So, Whether it's dyeing, whether it's

getting someone to alter your pieces for

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you, whether it's, you know, I haven't

done any sewing because it makes me

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Come out in hives all over my body,

but you know, I'm thinking about it.

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I'm thinking about the options Just

like when I was 16, I didn't care.

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I was like, yeah, of course,

I'm gonna do this Like I'm not

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buying a new pair of shoes.

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I'm just gonna spray paint them gold

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chryssius_1_05-26-2024_150741: you

don't even need to spray paint them

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these days because they have all

these beautiful paints that are

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:

specifically made for painting leather.

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Hazel: I've just bought some and

they're iridescent and they're beautiful

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Vive: Oh my

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Hazel: amazing boots that I have that

I haven't and I'm going to fix this

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like amazing leather, , purse that

I have that I've literally had in my

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drawer for like six years and it's just

laying there because it's gone all worn.

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But I'm like, no, I'm going

to buy the iridescent paint.

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:

I'm going to paint the shit out of

you and you're going to look amazing.

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chryssius_1_05-26-2024_150741: it.

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:

Vive: Most people including me

feel like they can't, or they don't

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:

have the thought to repurpose.

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And I'm wondering what is the belief,

what is the value that stops us from

381

:

painting our shoes different colours?

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What is the story that we've been telling

ourselves about why we can't do that?

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:

Or not even thinking of it as an option?

384

:

Hazel: I really feel like it goes back to

what you were saying when we recorded last

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time about not feeling like the expert.

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But it's like, you don't have to be an

expert to pick up a can of spray paint.

387

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And I think it's just that just doing

it and seeing, and like you were saying,

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allowing yourself to play, allowing

yourself to make mistakes, because it,

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Vive: hmm.

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Hazel: You know, if it was not going to

be worn, if you weren't going to wear

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it anyway, it doesn't matter if it's

not perfect or the way that you wanted

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it to be or the way that it might look

if, you know, Nike made it or whatever.

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:

Like, If you do it yourself,

then you're learning and you're

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progressing and you're evolving

as well as evolving your wardrobe.

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:

chryssius_1_05-26-2024_150741: that

whole idea around learning about what you

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like and learning to play with things.

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:

I feel like part of the reason that

we don't do it as much as we should

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do it is that we've become conditioned

to just outsourcing everything.

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And I don't know if

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maybe Viv, you could speak to this a

little bit, but even just everything

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on social media is all about.

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buy, buy, buy.

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Get everything outside of yourself rather

than taking the time to, you learn.

404

:

Vive: And I think it's almost

like a double edged sword

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:

because people feel so time poor.

406

:

They don't have the time to learn.

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:

And so that promise of outsourcing and

getting and being highly productive.

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:

And it's this obsession with

productivity that we need to

409

:

be able to do, be, have more

410

:

that stops us from pausing and thinking.

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:

could I try this myself?

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Could I play with this myself?

413

:

Could I experiment with this myself?

414

:

We'd probably go, I just don't have

the time and I really need that.

415

:

So it's almost like everything gets

spun into time scarcity mindset

416

:

and needing to be productive.

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Hazel: And also needing to be perfect.

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Needing to perfect, because we

don't have the time to get it wrong.

419

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Like, I think we have time if we're

going to nail it, but we don't have

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time to get it wrong, but we can't

ever learn if, if we're already

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:

nailing it, like, it doesn't matter.

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:

Like, The

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time to play is the learning.

424

:

Vive: so even when we buy that piece of

clothing or we perhaps we do play and we

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:

try something, we swing back into that.

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:

It's not good enough.

427

:

It's not perfect enough.

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:

Oh, I painted my shoes

and they look like shit.

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We sort of don't.

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:

Where, and I think people are starting

to see this now and wanting to

431

:

learn how to be over in the process.

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:

And I guess that's the other thing is

that it's like we're wishing away time.

433

:

We just want to be at that point.

434

:

We just want to be at that point where

we can perfectly restore our shoes.

435

:

We don't think about how will I enjoy this

process of mending my, sweater or painting

436

:

my shoes and giving myself a bit of space.

437

:

Like we, we really have lost

touch with enjoying process.

438

:

It's all about arriving at the

point that we want to be at.

439

:

And

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that to me

441

:

is also

442

:

that productivity piece too.

443

:

Hazel: It is, and it's also, It also

speaks to when, why people can't slow down

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:

to find their personal style, because.

445

:

They don't give themselves that time to,

like we were saying, enjoy what they're

446

:

wearing and kind of focus on why is they

are enjoying what they're wearing or why

447

:

they aren't enjoying what they're wearing.

448

:

It's like,

449

:

Vive: And be

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:

messy.

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:

And it's this kind of it's the

obsession with the linear, isn't it?

452

:

It's like, okay, so I'm, I'm

going to decide that I'm going

453

:

to find my personal style.

454

:

then we're like, and so that should

be like one, two, three, boom.

455

:

There I am up the line I've

arrived at my personal style.

456

:

But what we know is that.

457

:

Emerging things emerging

is like the squiggly weird

458

:

shape, not the linear

459

:

line.

460

:

And

461

:

we don't know how to, yeah, we don't

know how to exactly the joy of the

462

:

evolution of the emerging of the

experimenting of the play and sort of

463

:

somehow allowing ourselves to have an

outcome that we would like, which is to.

464

:

create a personal style or find our

personal style, but not controlling the

465

:

process and the emergence and strangling

466

:

the personal style in the process.

467

:

Hazel: And I mean, I can really relate

to what you're saying because I feel like

468

:

now sometimes I'm telling myself this

story that I always have to look amazing.

469

:

And that if I go and see my friends

and I'm not looking like 100 percent

470

:

stunning and my outfit isn't like the

best, then I failed in what I'm doing,

471

:

which is absolutely not the case.

472

:

And every time I.

473

:

I noticed that happening.

474

:

I have to bring myself back down to

earth and be like, Hazel, you are human.

475

:

You can wear whatever you want for the

way that you are feeling in this day.

476

:

And it doesn't matter if

you don't look as beautiful.

477

:

like Quote unquote good as you did

last time you saw these people or quote

478

:

unquote good as you did last time you

posted your outfit on instagram it's

479

:

like i'm still just trying to dress

for who i am and who we are changes

480

:

on a daily basis in terms of mood

481

:

Vive: And the other thing that made

me think of Hazel was and it's only

482

:

because a couple of times this week,

my daughter, my eldest daughter,

483

:

I've put something on and my daughter

said, can I have that when I'm older?

484

:

And I've thought to myself, yeah.

485

:

Wow.

486

:

There's really very little that has

been passed down from my mum or my

487

:

grandma to me other than jewellery.

488

:

And it's, I was like, imagine

if we're able to care and relate

489

:

with these heroine pieces.

490

:

And I love that you call them

that, the heroine pieces.

491

:

How story and sense of being

part of that intergenerational.

492

:

Connection and storytelling

and relationship.

493

:

How that could be woven in to

why we take care of our clothes.

494

:

Hazel: Absolutely.

495

:

And it

496

:

used to be, it used to be,

497

:

such a part of

498

:

normal society and it's only in the last

50 or so years that it's become, and

499

:

probably less really, maybe the last 25

years, that it's not so much the norm as

500

:

we have moved away from, , post war era.

501

:

I guess it's different

history, Australia, but from a.

502

:

UK perspective.

503

:

and I still have A dress that

my grandma made for herself.

504

:

And she made it and I

wear it now to my events.

505

:

I wear it to give my workshops

and my talks because it

506

:

illustrates that exact thing.

507

:

It's like, this is a piece of clothing

that was handmade by someone that I love.

508

:

And because of genetics,

it fits me perfectly.

509

:

And I get to stand here

and talk to you about

510

:

how we can reuse our clothes, how we can

get the most out of our wardrobes, how

511

:

we can really become more sustainable

in our fashion choices wearing something

512

:

that has the history of my family and

the history of the clothing that we have

513

:

worn.

514

:

Vive: And so that is that beautiful

reciprocity of the relationship with that

515

:

piece of clothing, it's not only something

that you can wear, but it's something that

516

:

brings the spirit and the soul of these

generations of women that came before you.

517

:

It connects you to your ancestry,

so you're part of that bigger.

518

:

World view that bigger picture

and you're thinking not behind

519

:

just behind you, not just in the

present, but in front of you as well.

520

:

And that's what's needed right for

climate change for taking care of

521

:

the earth and the world and other people.

522

:

Hazel: Yeah, absolutely.

523

:

and I just, and it always gets such a

big reaction from the people that I'm

524

:

speaking to, because they're seeing what

I'm talking about in motion, okay, I get

525

:

it, like, yes, I'm in, kind of thing,

so, um, it's such a powerful piece in

526

:

regards to the, yeah, to the of what

I'm trying to, , help people understand.

527

:

Vive: And it just so speaks to

the longing for that connection

528

:

to something other than ourselves

529

:

to something bigger.

530

:

Hazel: Yeah,

531

:

exactly.

532

:

Imagine if we could flip it from being

like, we want to be a part of something

533

:

bigger and so we all try and dress the

same, we all try and get on these trends.

534

:

But imagine if we can flip that

back to being about relationship,

535

:

being about family, being about

heritage, being about care and love

536

:

for where we come from and where our

future generations are going to go.

537

:

Chryssius: A huge, thank you to

our panelists for their insights

538

:

and expertise around our topic of

women, fashion and consumerism.

539

:

If you'd like to connect with Vive,

Hazel, Jacinta or Charlie, you can

540

:

find their links in the show notes.

541

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I hope their advice has inspired you

to rethink your consumption habits.

542

:

Embrace your unique style and make

more sustainable fashion choices.

543

:

Remember fashion is not just about

what we wear, but how we express

544

:

ourselves, and connect with our values.

545

:

If you've enjoyed this series, leave a

review and share it with your friends.

546

:

Until next time, keep

reloving your wardrobe.

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About the Podcast

Reloved Radio: Sustainable Fashion Stories
Be inspired by the individuals who are not only transforming wardrobes but also paving the way for a planet-friendly fashion revolution. Tune in every second Tuesday to discover how these incredible stories of secondhand style, sustainable fashion, upcycling, rewearing and reselling are reshaping the narrative of our closets... and, in turn, our world.

About your host

Profile picture for Chryssius Dunn

Chryssius Dunn

Wife. Mother. Op-shops. Re-wearing. Anti-fast fashion. Decaf coffee. Cat videos. Train surfing. Nude skydiving. What? Oh, I was just listing words.