REWORKING ITEMS IN YOUR CLOSET
Second hand fashion and hand-me-down clothing from friends and family has long been a staple in my wardrobe. Many of my favourite pieces are hand-me-downs which I wear and treasure year on year.
Now more than ever it is the time to reach to the back of your closet and dig out those items which haven’t been worn for a while or maybe you have just fallen out of love with?
People do not wear at least 50% of their wardrobe which signals that now more than ever so much of what we already own could be reused or reimagined into something new.
Slowly more and more of the larger fashion houses are using second-hand clothes in their new seasons collections, with Vogue even noting ‘upcycling’ as the biggest trend in 2021.
Why not go to your wardrobe and have a root around to see which pieces you love and maybe which pieces you don’t love as much? And see which items could do with a little reimagination? By reinventing the clothes you already own, they will be special and unique to you and have a story that goes beyond their label.
With this in mind, the fashion industry is welcoming a growing number of services that will take your existing pieces and upcycle them into new additions to your closet. Check out how I updated my ring below.
Here are some of my favourite companies who will take your existing pieces and upcycle, restore or rework them into something special for you.
The OG of restoration, The Restory are an ingenious on demand service offering aftercare for luxury fashion pieces. Their mission is to make their customers swoon over their pieces all over again. From conditioning, cleaning to repainting - they will find a way to give your item the tlc it deserves. You name it, the Restory does it.
The ring pictured above was a gift from my partner Nick more than 10 years ago. While I still loved the look of the ring I had stopped wearing it as I felt my hands didn’t really do it justice! Something about the shape was putting me off and it suddenly felt a bit dull, the diamond settings that I had previously admired felt like they were absorbing the sparkle. When I found out about Kimai’s redesign service, I immediately thought about this ring and how exciting it would be to take it to its next chapter in life. Kimai was the one stop shop for giving much loved jewellery a new lease of life and one scroll through the Kimai feed had me stop on the Simone engagement ring which felt exactly like what I was looking for. They offer unique redesign services and alterations to your old and sentimental pieces. The redesigning process couldn’t have been easier too - I sent my ideas and pics of my ring by Whatsapp and then I met them in person, the whole process was faster than I had scheduled in for and just as fulfilling! They totally got my vision and when the design sketch came through - I signed it off straight away. From beginning to end the service they offered was seamless. Have you got a piece of much-loved jewellery that you no longer wear? Why not have a go reworking it into something new and into a piece that you will re-wear for many years to come?
Must Had is the destination for all things recycled fashion. Their pieces are handcrafted using 100% scraps and are turned into something new and special. I have always found that the pieces that I have had adapted or reworked mean even more to me because they have such a rich history and story behind them.
Makenu focuses on sustainability and style as the pillars to your existing pre-loved pieces. Founders Daisy and Laura wanted to address the crisis of overconsumption by getting people to look at their existing pieces and adding the excitement and buzz to their old pieces. What I love about Makenu is that they use local darners, embroiderers and repair specialists to repair your much loved items.
The Sojo app is reimagining how we access alterations and repairs. I often find that I need alterations last minute and so Sojo is the perfect app for this. The app connects you to local seamstresses and uses a bicycle service to pick up and drop off your items once fixed. Their aim is to get us to love, use and rewear our pieces every season and rotation.
Re_considered was born in the pandemic when founder Tabby turned to reworking fast-fashion pieces in her wardrobe. This caused a turning point for Tabby and the story behind many fast-fashion pieces, and their physical cost to our planet. She started by reworking clothes for others and the Re_considered service was born. By filling out a simple form and a quick online consultation, you can select how you would like your piece to be reimagined and only made from what you already own.