Page 122 - Knighted_Issue2.0

Jackie Munson

Upcycling: From Practical to Trendy

Repurposing textiles or other material is not a new concept. Even with varying core
reasons the result seems to be the same, creating something new using an old resource.
Necessity, fashion trends, money, and current events can all be major players in the game of re-
using materials. "Upcycling" is simply a modern word for changing waste or products into a
different, new, and often trendy item, and the motivation behind upcycling ranges from
survival, art, creativity, sentimentality, and, currently, the desire to reduce our carbon footprints.

Necessity will always be the mother of invention, and this holds true in most aspects of
life, including clothing. Lack of modern machinery before the Industrial Revolution made
fabric an expensive commodity to produce. Once a garment no longer fit, practicality forced the
repurposing of that material into something that could benefit the family. A dress, for example,
recycles into children’s clothing, dolls, a quilt, scraps for rags, or filling for pillows, with no
area for waste. A worn elbow in a sleeve becomes a new fashion with a little cutting and
styling; the leftover material then turns into a handkerchief, bonnet, washcloth, etc.

Textiles are not the only items that we can repurpose. Items that we now know as
readily available, people would make from other (waste) items, mixing animal fat and ash
together to make their own soap, and grease or tallow to make candles are examples of rustic
upcycling. A sentimental item of cloth could be made into a part of a quilt, or handkerchief,
ready to pass down for future generations.

Industrialization and the railroad created lower costs and a more disposable society,
which simply means that people are able to purchase items from mass production. Alvin
Powell writes, “With industrialization came the idea of ‘affordable luxuries,’ an increased
emphasis on fashion, style, and acquiring the latest technological innovations. What also arose
was an association of poverty with mending things and reusing them.” (Powell) He further
indicates this begins society's shift from labor to consumer, changing the dynamics of the
market system. People were able to purchase more and repurpose less.

With industrialization comes a price: trash. As society learns action and consequence
through the generations, some citizens use inventive trends with refuse. In 2005, "Trashion"
came onto the scene; per the Urban Dictionary, these are “fashionable items made from found
or recycled materials.” Nancy Judd discusses upcycling as more of a subculture, “What may
have started out as possibly adding lace, a ruffle, or reusing material for a patch in the past, has
turned out to creating ‘Eco Trash Couture.” (Judd) Using items normally thrown in the trash to
create dresses, accessories, or other types of fashion is extreme. However, there are websites
which encourage the current “trashion” trends, and for people to become “trashionistas,”
including trashionfashion.org, or junktofunk.org. These and other comparable sites allow people