With the rise of micro trends, dupes of what were once exclusive designs are now seen everywhere, with brands releasing new items every week or even every day. Once the hype is gone, most of these clothes end up in landfills — statistics say that over 50 per cent of fast fashion items are disposed of within a year, and synthetic materials thrown in the landfills can take up to 200 years to decompose.
Amid all this craze of trying to hop on every fashion trend, everyone has started looking the same. Every new and innovative piece gets duped and pushed out by multiple brands within a few days of its virality.
Upcycling your old clothes and thrift flipping offers individuality. It gives you free reign to express your creativity and personal expression through your clothing, all the while being sustainably and economically savvy about it. You end up owning unique and exclusive items that are unlike anyone else’s. The stigma of re-wearing clothes is also reduced due to trends on Instagram and TikTok like “Styling my (the clothing item) in 10 different ways”. People show different ways you can manipulate items you own by tucking or folding them in certain ways and turning them into different outfits, like wearing a dress as a top, skirt or shawl.
Desi households are no strangers to upcycling and repurposing clothes either. Younger siblings have been wearing hand-me-downs for ages now, sarees get repurposed into curtains or tv covers, unsalvageable clothes become rags, and once a going-out shirt gets worn out, it becomes house clothes.
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Upcycling is an art
There are endless ways to upcycle clothes. I myself have dabbled quite a bit in the art of upcycling: my old jeans have been cut and sewn into shorts and skirts of all lengths and styles. Old T-shirts have been dyed; the sleeves and neck have been cut to give it a cute off-the-shoulder moment and the sides and back have been cut up with the strings being stretched and tied all sorts of ways to cinch me in and make cool designs and cutouts all over.
My old baby clothes have been patched together to make a blanket of memorabilia. I’ve turned fabric scraps into hair accessories like scrunchies and also have also made plushie keychains. Old scarves and dupattas have been turned into tops. I’ve taken old table cloths and blankets and made cute little bags out of them. I’m constantly embroidering, ironing custom prints, and adding beading to all my tops and jeans the second I get bored of them. My bland, old tank top now looks super cool after I added lots of different charms all over it. Vivienne Westwood Anglomania tops are astronomically expensive, so I made one using an old button-up shirt. Upcycling clothes really isn’t difficult at all and is a fun and inexpensive way to spice up your wardrobe and showcase your ideas. And if you don’t have any, the cool Pinterest girls are always ready to help with their countless tutorials and ideas.
At the Met Gala this year, public figures brought upcycled outfits to the red carpet. While singer SZA wore a custom dress made entirely from 100 yards of upcycled vintage fabric, Gauravi Kumari wore a gorgeous pink chiffon saree that once belonged to her grandmother, Maharani Gayatri Devi, proving that upcycling and sustainability can be high fashion too.
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(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)