New and exclusive customisation service

Have an old piece of clothing that needs revamping? The Stellar Boutique is offering an exclusive customisation service, designed to the uniqueness of customers to let them strut their stuff on a daily basis.

Whether this is an unloved sweatshirt or tee. A favourite jacket or anything customers think requires a little bit of creative ‘TLC’. The Stellar Boutique offers a new lease of life to customers loved or unloved garments.

This service is quick and easy.

All it takes is to pick the garment they have decided to revive, followed by a design from The Stellar Boutiques pre-made jacket and tee selection. Or, if none of these suits their style they are welcome to share their own ideas, whether this is a name, message, slogan or lyric that fits them perfectly.

Once both sides have had a chat and everything has been finalised, all there’s left to do is send over the chosen garment and The Stellar Boutique puts their creative skills to work.

Prices for the customisation service will begin from £10 depending on production time, this can vary between from 1-2 weeks, and costs of the materials.

Once everyone is happy payments can be made via PayPal. With a service completed in such little steps it would be crazy to not take part, so start rummaging and selecting a garment to customise.

If customers have any questions, do not hesitate to ask at info@thestellarboutique.com or contact via WhatsApp at 07495 58575

Stellar New Year challenge

Setting new years resolutions is always a love / hate relationship. If you’re anything like me it generally goes a little like this… December 31st, reflect on the year gone by, feel motivated, inspired and full of promise for the year ahead, set unrealistic resolutions, and by mid January all recollection of those so-called goals have disappeared into oblivion and it’s back to the old routine! If this isn’t the case and you stick to your resolutions like glue then I applaud you! Carry on as you were (and please let me in on the secret of your success!)

But for the rest of us, following on from our previous post on sustainable fashion, set yourself a challenge to make this year count and (if you’re not already doing so) make a pledge to take steps towards a greener, kinder and more sustainable fashion future.

 Because let’s face it, you love the world of fashion (hence you’re here now reading this) that’s not gonna change and neither should it have to! But there are plenty of wardrobe changes (even if small) that we can make without going cold turkey on our fashion addiction. So let’s set ourselves an achievable New Years fashion resolution and stick to it. There’s so many simple but effective improvements to our shopping habits we can incorporate, whether it’s deciding to purchase quality over quantity and avoiding fast fashion, only purchasing from ethical brands, buying less but choosing well, recycling clothes by buying second hand items and thrift store shopping, keeping it circular (and interesting) by sticking to vintage fashion, making a point of wearing more of your ‘old’ clothes that you once loved but that no longer get a look in, upcycle, customise and rework tired old pieces, set up a swap shop with your friends to swap and share clothes so you always feel like you’ve got something new and keep your wardrobe fresh, do that big clear out you’ve promised yourself (you know, the one you promised yourself last January too) and take your unwanted clothes to recycle bins or donate them to a local charity. Whatever you decide, little by little, we can all make a big difference.

We’d love to know how you get on so tell us what you decide and keep us updated by sharing your progress using #stellarnewyear

We can all do our bit to stay more fashion conscious , keep fashion circular and kind.

So have fun with it and use the challenge as a catalyst to get even more creative with your wardrobe choices, upcycle, recycle, rework and rethink.

The possibilities are endless xx

 

The curse of fashion and its cure

Guest post by Hafsa Hussain

On every item we own from our phones to the sheets on our beds, in small writing on the label it states, ‘Made in __’. This is most likely to originate from China or developing countries. But what is the story behind where our items are from, most importantly the clothes which we wear? Founder of Fashion Tech Lab, Miroslava Duma told the August 2017 Marie Claire, the first ever sustainable issue: “The fashion industry is all about storytelling and craftsmanship. Sustainability adds value because it makes that backstory even more impactful”. In recent years, consumers have been demanding more social and environmental information about the origin of the clothes they buy. This shows that more than ever, we are interested in our clothing, as the truth about the origin has been exploited in tabloids and documentaries, changing consumer attitudes.

Did you know that the fashion industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world after oil? With approximately 80 billion garments produced worldwide per year (Green Peace, 2016). This is due to the demand for new trends and styles increasing in recent years. According to the documentary, True Cost, rather than four seasons of collections per year, fast fashion has fabricated fifty-two seasons, creating new styles every week. Keeping in mind the lack of consideration for social and environmental consequences. Can the industry succeed by continuing with fast fashion and being ethical simultaneously?

Factory workers in Bangladesh  (Photo: Sustainable Clothing Production)

In the fashion industry momentarily, fast fashion has been speeding up trends and shortening seasons, whilst becoming old, dated and out of style. The average turnover period of designer brands from the catwalk to consumers is six months and has now been compressed from only a few weeks by companies such as Zara and H&M, whose profits are exceedingly high. Swift cycles make these fast fashion companies succeed: having fast designs, effective transportation and items prepared on hangers with price tags attached ready for the shop floor. As fast fashion replaces the luxury, authenticity and exclusivity with planned impulse, lasting for a limited time due to the poor-quality fabrics, manufacturers have gone out of fashion.

(Photo: Remake)

H&M, a mass fast fashion company, has focused on their ethical profiles for sales growth in the long-term. According to Corporate Knights magazine, H&M ranked 57th amongst the world’s most sustainable companies with an overall score of 65.10%; Whilst Kering ranked ten places above with a score of 66.80%. H&M launched a garment collecting service at their stores, recycling textiles to “give their garments a new life and helping to close the loop on fashion”, stating they have gathered more fabric in comparison to 250 million t-shirts. However, according to the Huffington Post, H&M continues to produce 600 million garments per year which is more than double the garments recycled and reused. As consumers, if we began re-using and recycling our items, rather than constantly buying new pieces and throwing others away, producers would have no choice but to change their strategies, and companies would consider evolving to a slow fashion movement

H&M’s garment collecting initiative. (Photo: H&M)
(Photo: Yelp)

SOLUTIONS!

It’s time to change! There needs to be inventive strategies implemented to move from fast fashion to slow fashion, for the mass market sector, including the extension the product’s life cycle due to designs of clothes which are not molecular. For example, a coat which contains zips, buttons and trim can be recycled efficiently leaving just the fabric to be shredded back to its thread level, this new thread can become a new fabric and finally a new item of clothing. To achieve this, the jacket would need to have a mainframe hidden and attached in the coat’s fabric to hold the zips, button and trim altogether, and when the coat is at the end of its life cycle, the wireframe can be removed easily from the bone. Additionally, materials could be labelled with expected lifetimes including repair kits and services, provided by retailers, if the design development of the garments can be easily updated for the look or size.

Vintage clothing is commonly classified as clothing that is 20 years or older and if the garment survives more than 50 years it can be proudly called an antique. Vintage clothes are not only used pieces of garments, but it’s also part of history and adventure of thoughts of who wore them and their story to tell. Vintage clothing is a simple way to reduce, reuse and recycle clothes. During the manufacturing process, quality was important and key hence the fact they often last longer than most of the clothing today. But why has vintage fashion become popular recently, maybe because they can’t be replicated effortlessly or perhaps due to celebrities such as Kate Moss and Kim Kardashian having worn vintage on the red carpet? What people don’t realise is that fashion trends always come back around. Instead of throwing your ‘old’ clothes away, be patient, wait a couple years, fashion is not as new as you would think it is.

(Photo: TimeOut)

Recently we have seen a rise in 90s streetwear fashion on both our runways and on the streets. Big brands have dramatically increased their prices to offer ‘vintage’ pieces, but this could be saved if we as consumers actually visited vintage shops instead. Vintage can be advantageous in both ways, it allows you to differentiate yourself from the rest and it can also allow you to add to the current trends, so you look truly ahead of what the current runways have to offer.

Thank you!

Hafsa x

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