The ‘Denim Lady’
Winter 25, Bodmin, Cornwall
It was a surprise to see ‘DENIM LADY’ scrawled across the giant translucent bin bags. But it shouldn’t have been. In my first hobby-business I was always ‘the bag lady’. Perhaps this is a step up? Certainly a step sideways as I arrive at the Bodmin donations centre for Cornwall Hospice Care.
I’ve always recycled in my designs. Initially to be thrifty as a late teen starting ‘bags by Rosie’, and later as a fully fledged adult trying to do her best for the planet with ‘Jeanie&Me’
Im not the only one hoping to make a difference. The donations centre drop boxes are 3 huge compartments as you walk in the door. It’s only 10am and they are into the third already. I’ve just had a clear out myself but I’ll end up taking home a lot more than I came with.
I’m ushered to the back room which is itself a treasure trove of categorised donations awaiting collection or removal. Rails full of interesting clothes, boxes of brass, bags labelled ‘vintage designer’ and my 7 giant bags of ‘non stretch jeans’ for the ‘DENIM LADY’. Excellent! I’m thrilled and quickly remove my coat to better limber up for what proves to be a very fruitful rummage session.
My relationship with Cornwall Hospice Care began last year. I’ve always shopped at their charity shops but I was delighted to be involved in their first charity fashion show back in October. The event showcased choice finds from charity shop donations, and also included local businesses who use second hand materials for their fashion brands. The models were all shop volunteers and staff and it was a wonderfully joyful and inclusive fashion show. NY fashion week eat your heart out.
Cornwall Hospice Care does wonderful work providing end of life care across Cornwall. I’m so glad to be working in a very small way with this amazing organisation. Read more about what they do here.
After a successful event where I made some special pieces for the runway, a visit to the donations centre was on the cards. Working in this way is exactly what I had hoped for when starting Jeanie&Me. When you are standing in a back room, up to your knees in jeans and the penny drops that this is just the jeans, just from Bodmin, and these are just the ones saved for me… it completely confirmed to me why I’m doing this. That recycling within the fashion industry needs to become the norm because there is a disgraceful amount of perfectly good second hand clothing that will probably end up in landfill.
The fashion statistics that always hit home:
Over 3.5 BILLION pairs of jeans are produced each year. (*statista.com)
92 MILLION tonnes of clothing will end up in landfill each year. (*greenpeace.com)
We have enough clothing on the planet right now to clothe the next 6 generations of the human race (*Patrick Grant ~ Great British Sewing Bee)
The most sustainable garment is the one already in your wardrobe!
With these figures spinning in your head let’s get back to the fun, guilt-free rummaging. Braided denim trims, orange zebra print (yep) and bleached hearts were all treasures amongst the otherwise excellent, but perhaps less exciting blue jeans. Classic, heavyweight 100% cotton jeans in large sizes. What a jackpot! I struggle back fully loaded to the counter and make my donation for every bagful. What a wonderful win-win situation. If only more business transactions could be so wholesome, connected and meaningful.
I merrily head back to my studio to reorganise the shelves. This influx of fresh blues has forced me to re-think my storage and properly categorise each new pair that arrives. I now stack the jeans by size and type, which should make planning and cutting out my denim shirts much more efficient. Hurrah!
The Cornwall Hospice Care Fashion show also featured these brilliant Cornish brands;
Make A Mends ~ Repairing, recycling and upcycling vintage clothing and second hand fabrics.
Flotsam Flo ~ Making bags and accessories using materials difficult to recycle such as beach inflatables.