Save Money, and Our Planet In Aid of The NI Hospice
‘Out with the old and in with the new’… or the nearly new. Selling our second hand clothes is nothing new, in fact, car boot sales date back to the 1970’s. However, something that is new is the Pop-Up-Depop initiative by Rachel Jones.
How many of you have clothes hanging in your wardrobe that you will never wear, or never wear again? I know for my friends and I that is something we are all guilty of.
In today’s social-media-age image is everything, and apps such as Instagram and Facebook provide us with the platform to interact and share images with friends and followers. However, social media platforms also open us up to scrutiny and pressure to look our best all of the time. For a lot of us fashion plays a key role in this. Current social media pressures see wearing the same outfit multiple times as a major fashion faux pas, which has led to the rise of fast fashion trends. God forbid we wear the same outfit twice… we are all #Queens after all! This greed for fashion in excess is aided by the rise of social media ‘influencers’. The lines between celebrity and general public have been blurred to the extent that anybody can gain social celebrity status as ‘influencers’ and as such, the expectations, previously reserved for a small group of ‘elites’ have seeped into every day culture, and now weighs upon general social media users. Therefore this begs the question… what is an ‘influencer’?
When ‘outfit of the day’ (… or should I say #OOTD?) means a new outfit every single day, what happens to yesterday’s outfit? Why was that outfit perfect for yesterday, but not for tomorrow? Because you got that fab pouty, espresso-cocktail-in-hand, perched-on-a-bar-stool ‘candid’, and hit a whopping 250 ‘likes’ with 12 fire-emoji and ‘omg can I pls be you??’ comments?
According to wrap.org the UK value of unused clothing in wardrobes has been estimated at around £30 billion. It is also estimated £140 million worth of clothing goes into landfill each year. Coupled with the excessive use of packaging, fossil fuels and energy used in the production and transportation of clothing across the world, the effect on the environment is catastrophic.
The Pop-Up-Depop enterprise has been created by Rachel Jones to target this issue, upon recognising a common problem among many of her peers… so many clothes but nothing to wear! Inspired by the popular app ‘Depop’ – used to buy and sell second hand clothing and accessories – the Pop-Up-Depop will bring us back to the market stall and trading face-to-face, promoting a sense of community rather than a solely transactional interaction. Taking place in the beautiful Millbrook Lodge,Ballynahinch on 3rd November, Pop-Up-Depop will be used to benefit those less fortunate, as a donation to the NI Hospice will be made by each seller and buyers will also be invited to donate on the day. Furthermore, the event will lend itself to a ‘swap-shop’ among sellers, for those admiring others’ garments. Pop-Up-Depop has the potential to become a regular affair, in venues across Northern Ireland, changing attitudes, reducing waste, and helping local charities.
We may not be be able to stop big companies – and we do not necessarily want to entirely, as we like many of their products – but we as a society can do what we can about the issue, and work to change our wasteful attitude towards fashion, whilst also benefiting those less fortunate!
Sasha Boyle is a final year Bsc Communication Management and Public Relations student at Ulster University. She can be found at: LinkedIn – https://uk.linkedin.com/in/sasha-boyle-8a5431167 and Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/sashaboyle22/