With the economy unraveling like a cheap jersey, (sorry, that’s a terrible pun) terms like “recessionista“  and “slow fashion” are popping up all over the place.  Every world event seems to spark off it’s share of jargon, but this batch is really resonating with me.

I’ve been an op-shopper since high school: when I was studying it was for economic reasons, since I started working it’s been for environmental and ethical reasons, plus the thrill of the chase! Seriously, if I had $20 to spend on an item of clothing I’d 100% prefer to buy a gently-used,  good quality, designer item that will last and last; than a new, cheap chain-store Tshirt that won’t survive the first wash! My dollar goes 100 times further, and I sleep peacefuly because I’m shopping sustainably.

Not to mention the fact that every dollar we spend on imported instead of locally made stuff is  another nail in the coffin of our economy.  Buying NZ made is ideal but it ain’t cheap, because the price tends to reflect the real cost of producing the item – we have various pesky laws about wages, working conditions, product safety, etc that other countries don’t bother with, but it’s definitely smart if we don’t want to join the 3rd world.

The recession is affecting different people to different extents, but whether you get creative with your wardrobe for  environmental, ethical or financial reasons: anyone that manages to dress well without exploiting people,  ruining the economy or feeding the landfill with cheap junk that only lasts three washes is ok with me!

My tips from 15 years of op-shopping are:

• ONLY buy quality:   Look for good brands, go 100% wool, silk, cotton.  Lots of secondhand shops have a designer rack, it’s a good place to start but lots of great stuff can end up in the ordinary racks too.
• Don’t waste your cash on chain-store junk: even at op-shop prices, it’s still junk and you will end up looking like you got last pick from the rag bag.
• Go often and don’t expect to find Trelise Cooper or Workshop Denim every time! You will find it sometimes, but you’ll also have days where you find nothing at all.  Dedication pays off though.
• Don’t even think about buying anything if the colour doesn’t suit you,  it’s the wrong size or doesn’t fit properly, and definitely not if it’s damaged, faded or stained.   Just walk away.  (Unless it’s a once in a lifetime find, you have the sewing skills to sort it out and you actually have the time to do it)
• Optional: Lots of people choke on paying more than a few bucks for secondhand clothing. To me, a new poly-cotton Tshirt from a cheap fashion store (without mentioning any names) costs about $25.  With that in mind, I’m definitely happy to pay $25 for something designer, in excellent condition that I know would have cost a lot more new.  (Assuming it fits well , is my colour, etc etc) And especially if it’s Merino or silk or something fabulous. Up to you.

And here’s an inspirational  roundup of ‘recessionistas’,  turning the economic downturn into an opportunity to live consciously and sustainably as well as stylishly. Unfortunately all American, does anyone know of any Kiwi chicks blogging about such things? I haven’t been able to track any down.  (No offense to Americans, just we don’t live there!)

The Thrifty Chicks (“Thrifting” as in “op-shopping”)

Simple Mom

The Frugal Fashionista

Cheap JAP

Hot off the sales rack

Articles : What Elizabeth Taylor Can Teach Us About Simplicity

20 Things The Millionaire Next Door Does NOT Do

Chris Natrop is a Los Angeles artist who ‘draws’ with a knife.

His installations, which are cut from enormous sheets of paper, hang from the ceiling with wire and string, taking on a sculptural presence. They cast dramatic shadows that refract and reflect projected light.

His compositions are influenced by his fascination with the intricacies of everyday forms encountered in his direct surroundings, in nature and landscape. And he starts from scratch. He has no preconceived pattern or preliminary sketch, allowing the work to shape itself with each cut.

Amazing! Check out his website here.

Picture: Self portrait by Anna Lisa

Every year I seem to make over-ambitious resolutions. I start with sincere enthusiasm that evaporates by the second week of January, and I’m generally slightly embarrassed but pretty much back to normal by Waitangi day.

So instead, this year is the year of  Kaizen and Wabi-sabi.  You won’t either of them on the menu at River Monster, but they do sound kinda yummy!   Kaizen is the Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement through constant small changes.  In practical terms, this would mean (for example) if I wanted to get up an hour earlier every day, (which seems absolutely impossible and completely unappealing to me at this point) instead of setting the alarm for a whole hour earlier, I’d start with five minutes earlier.  After a couple of days, ten minutes earlier, and so on for a couple of weeks  until I’d almost painlessly achieved my hour.

Kaizen began to be implemented in Japanese businesses such as Toyota during the country’s recovery after World War II,  and has since become a key principle for businesses throughout the world.

Wabi-sabi describes finding beauty in the imperfect- seeing past the obvious to the important stuff underneath. Practically, this would involve me seeing beauty in all our works in progress: for example; pre-wabi-sabi the garden was a half finished mess that was driving me nuts, the plants are taking waaay too long to grow etc etc, but hopefully I’ll learn to see it as beautiful in it’s own right, much better than it was before we started, and getting better all the time.  The important stuff underneath is that the unfinished and weedy bits represent time spent working or hanging out with our little boy, which are far more important  in the big picture than having a finished garden.

So hopefully, this combo will produce a less frustrated, less overwhelmed and more productive Rebecca!  Small changes do add up to big improvements.

Art in the Park is almost here again – I’m painting furiously in 10 minute bursts between rescuing Kane from various predicaments, reading stories and administering cuddles! Really looking forward to it.  It’s on the 15th of February, at the Government Gardens in Rotorua, usually from about 10am to 3.30ish.  Some sneak previews to come, watch this space.

Oxfam have a bigger and more comprehensive selection of ‘gifts’ this year.  Goodness knows we all have more than enough ’stuff’- these are gifts that will actually make an impact in someone’s life beyond Boxing day! I tried a few out on various family members last Christmas- they went down a treat, huge novelty value.  (Possibly also huge relief at not having to feign delight at yet another soap-on-a-rope!)

We’ll definitely be shopping with Oxfam again this year.

The idea is, you donate money on behalf of a loved one, to a cause that would be relevant to them – for example, you’d buy the coffee gift for your coffee-addict brother: tools and training will be supplied to a farmer in a developing country so he can grow and sell better beans, and earn more as a result. And more beans means more money to spend on education and health care. You buy the donkey gift and one donkey will be delivered to a family in a developing country. (Why a donkey? These hardy animals can carry goods long distances to and from market, collect fuel or building materials, and even power water pumps. And the fertiliser comes free.)

There are gift ideas for:

Animal lovers

Bookworms

DIYers

Eco-warriors

Foodies

Gardeners

Globetrotters

Parents & carers

Superwomen

One I particularly love is ‘Train a Businesswoman” The donation goes towards supporting and training women as they start their own businesses. They’ll learn how to improve production processes, find new markets, and manage their finances. With ‘sisters doing it for themselves’, they’ll make it big in no time.

Oxfam sends a cool card and info pack to your friend or relative, and they can bask in the warm glow of altruism and the thought of less junk to quietly put on Trademe after the Christmas fuss dies down. Best of all, you don’t need to lift a finger except to type in your credit card details.

Oxfam Unwrapped site here

Tagged: christmas, gifts, Oxfam ]]> http://runningwithscizzors.wordpress.com/2008/11/18/oxfam-unwrapped/feed/ 0 Rebecca donkey large_ou3874lh_a http://runningwithscizzors.wordpress.com/2008/11/15/more-christmassy-goodness/ http://runningwithscizzors.wordpress.com/2008/11/15/more-christmassy-goodness/#comments Sat, 15 Nov 2008 04:47:50 +0000 Rebecca http://runningwithscizzors.wordpress.com/?p=397 ]]>

….is a bit of a waste of time in the southern hemisphere, but there are other white things to dream of.

Like meringues! These are mini meringues stuck to a polystyrene (or cardboard) cone with royal icing.

Just butter the bottom of each meringue with a bit of icing, using an ordinary knife, and stick’em’on. You’ll need to hold each one in place for a few seconds till you’re sure it’s not going to go anywhere, but royal icing sets really quickly. The meringues come in packs of 12 from supermarkets, or if you were going for extra domestic goddess points you could make them from scratch.

Also:    Paper evergreens at Martha Stewart (shown above)
Styrofoam ornaments by Kathleen George
Flying felt birds at Disney Family
Very time-consuming garland at Craft Stylish
Fabric Christmas trees at The Small Object
A paper wreath from Real Living magazine
Clay ornaments at Living Creatively
Snowflake ornaments at Domino Magazine
Papercraft elves at macula TV
Paper bag gingerbread towns for kids at Family Fun

Oh, dangly earrings. I love them so, but they are sadly a thing of the past for me now that I have a  thug dear child who grabs at any shiny thing that appears before him! The thought of ripped earlobes doesn’t do a lot for me.  But these……

would almost be worth the risk!

Tutorial here.

Here’s a quick roundup of Christmas awesomeness from various locations:

Cool tabletop Christmas trees from Evie S

Download the template here- just cut out and glue together. Piece of cake.

And a slightly fancier one in case you want to get all carried away.

Avoid the cheesy reindeer giftwrap and go classy with printable graphic wrapping paper:

Swirly Wrapping Paper (includes oval frame accents)
Striped Wrapping Paper
Cameo Cummerbund Wrapping Paper
Fancy Cummerbund Wrapping Paper
Graphic Wrapping Paper (includes ornamental plaque)

Other crafty bits and pieces:

Glue your button and bead collection (with craft glue) to a polystyrene cone from Spotlight.

Mother of Pearl or coloured plastic buttons threaded on fine wire and bent into a heart or circle- I’m guessing a star would also be cool?

Sorry blog, I have to confess, I’ve been hanging out with the back yard for the last few weeks. I think it’s serious.

It’s warming up, and several huge weekends spent chopping and digging and dragging and carting away trailer loads of junk and green waste are starting to leave a dent……our big wasteland of a section is slowly getting whipped into shape.  Nobody will be happier about this than our neighbours, I’m sure- after months of having to look at an old Kombi, piles of dead tree and a flourishing crop of noxious weeds growing through the fences, life must be better for them too.

Not too much art happening unfortunately, but lots of fun nonetheless.

I do have this to show you though:

A mirror frame made from recycled magazine pages glued to a corrugated cardboard base (via Urban Outfitters) -not a project for those with short attention spans!