Oasis and the 90s fashion trend   When I was invited last month to be interviewed for the radio about the resurgence of 90s fashion in the wake of the Oasis reunion, I had to roll with it!   I spent a fun afternoon a couple of weeks ago, browsing the rails in the charity shops of Newland Avenue, Hull, to find a 90s look for BBC Radio Humberside reporter, Sally Fairfax. The search for retro fashion means the 'fashion forward' are now looking back (hopefully not in anger), enco

What is a Clothes Swap?   A clothes swap put quite simply is any event where clothes are swapped. Although these events run in a variety of different ways and locations, they will generally work around the premise that those attending bring up to a set number of items of clothing and / or accessories in return for the right to take home up to the same number of items from those available.   Clothes Swaps often raise money for charity, either through charging for admission or

Back to school doesn’t have to mean back to the shops   The impact of fast fashion Wearing my brother’s hand-me-down trousers in the 1970s, little did I think that 50 years later I’d not only willingly be wearing second-hand clothing but advocating to a wider audience the benefits and joy of ‘preloved’ styling.   The fashion industry’s impact on the environment is well-documented. Greenpeace, for example, warns that as things currently stand, the fashion industry will account

Struggling to find ethical undies? That’s pants! You may be one of an increasing number of consumers concerned about the impact of so-called fast fashion with its damage to the environment, its throw-away business model and dubious ethics. Instead, you choose vintage, buying second-hand from your local charity shops or perhaps you’re hooked on the Vinted app. You love that in contrast to fast fashion, this slower fashion model allows you to develop your own individual style,

Happy(?) International Women's Day “Whenever you start doubting yourself,” she told the audience, “whenever you feel afraid, just remember. Courage is the root of change - and change is what we’re chemically designed to do. So when you wake up tomorrow, make this pledge. No more holding yourself back. No more subscribing to others’ opinions of what you can and cannot achieve. And no more allowing anyone to pigeonhole you into useless categories of sex, race, economic status a

Leather: friend or faux? When I was growing up, I’d associate leather with jackets and with the Clark’s shoes I wore to primary school. I certainly didn’t think that I’d be wearing faux leather shorts in my fifties. I wouldn’t have known what vegan meant either, let alone that you could make ‘leather’ from apples. Since then there has certainly been a proliferation of leather, faux leather, PVC, ‘pleather’ and vegan leather, designed into jackets, coats, skirts, shorts, dres

Seeing red - this season's hot colour Polish tennis player Iga Świątek made recent headlines as the only one of the eight finalists at the WTA end-of-season finals dressed in red. It looked as if the world number 2 - and former world number 1 - hadn’t got the memo about the expected dress code. On the contrary, the WTA had almost immediately overturned the all-white expectation, and indeed a number of the doubles finalists were also dressed more colourfully. Iga’s beautiful r

‘Fall’ in love with your autumn wardrobe ‘You like potato and I like potahto’. I say autumn and you say ... fall. Sources suggest 'autumn' has been in use since the 14th century. What you might not know (I didn’t) is that fall, along with autumn, was used in England until around the end of the 17th century. Again, whilst both terms have been used, fall has become more popular in the States. What image does the word autumn (or fall) conjure up for you? Is it the ‘season of mis

The Power of Preloved – Celebrating Second Hand September I’ve long been an advocate of second-hand fashion. In this blogpost, I delve into the world of so-called thrifted fashion, inspired by Oxfam’s Second Hand September. Each year since 2019, Oxfam runs its Second Hand September campaign. With its own online shop and high street charity shops across the country, Oxfam urges people to buy second hand ‘to reduce waste, take a stance against climate change, and help create a

A fun-packed holiday! Well actually I don’t know whether it will be fun packed as we haven’t been yet! It’s been fun packing though… and packing for my holiday is the topic for today’s blog. This will be our first trip abroad since before the start of the Covid pandemic. As a family, we’ve been risk-averse and have erred on the side of caution and, as the self-proclaimed Hand Sanitiser Queen, tubes of hand sanitiser cream have been packed – the gels had dried out my hands to

Creating transformEd styling is the culmination of my own transformational journey. But what's my story? Born in Hertfordshire, I lived there until moving to university in Wales - not to study Welsh but Swedish! Rural West Wales became my home for another 9 years – interspersed with a couple of study years in Sweden. Becoming a lecturer in Scandinavian Studies brought me to Hull. Almost 25 years later, I'm still in East Yorkshire where I live with my husband, my younger so