The fifth Fashion Revolution Week is happening this April, from the 23rd to the 29th. Originally set up to call for change after the Rana Plaza factory collapse in 2013, in which 1138 garment workers lost their lives and many more were injured, Fashion Revolution has grown into a movement to promote transparency and sustainable working practices across the fashion industry.
The simplest way to participate is to take to social media to ask brands “Who Made My Clothes?” Increased transparency in the industry’s global supply chains means that exploitation of workers is less likely to go unchallenged, and helps us all to remember that our clothes are made by people, not machines.
Fashion Revolution also challenges us to form a different relationship with our clothes: to resist seeing them as disposable, to choose clothes we love and look after them properly, and to see their potential as possessions that can change with us.
I’ve made a “haulternative” video for Fashion Revolution Week: instead of showing off a heap of fast fashion purchases in a “haul” video, I’m showing off three maxi dresses that aren’t earning their place in my wardrobe, and discussing the alterations I’m planning to make.
The first dress might look familiar to people who have been following my blog for a while; I acquired two of these dresses from sample sales via someone who worked as a buyer because I loved the fabric, but the skirts aren’t full enough for me to walk normally while wearing them! I refashioned the first one into a jumpsuit, and I’m going to shorten this one to knee-length and use the leftover fabric to make a little sleeveless jacket, to create a late 50s/early 60s-style two-piece “costume”.
This grey maxi was a hand-me-down from my sister. I love grey, but this much grey doesn’t do wonders for my skintone (I’ve had to crop my feet out of this picture because they looked distinctly corpse-like) so I’m going to split the dress into two pieces along its waist seam, and flip the top around so I end up with a maxi skirt and wraparound top.
I’m going to keep this red dress (found on the bargain basement rail of a vintage shop) as a maxi dress, but I need to make a few alterations before I can wear it. The cowl neckline is a bit deeper than I’d want for a wearable day dress, and the lining situation is rather strange. The top has no lining at all, and the skirt has a lining that is only sewn in at a few strategic points as it doesn’t stretch as much as the dress does. I’m going to detach this lining and make it into a slip, so I can preserve my modesty and feel more comfortable wearing the dress.
You can follow my progress as I work on my alterations over on my Instagram, and I’m also doing an Instagram stories takeover for The Up Effect on Sunday 8th April so give them a follow and see what I’m up to. I’ll be revealing my refashioned dresses in all their glory during Fashion Revolution Week, hopefully in another video, so stay tuned!
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