DIY designers eye environmentalism, creativity

Mike Gorman
mc286834@dal.ca Don’t throw out that hideous purple leather jacket you rocked oh-so hard in the ‘80’s. It might be a fashion nightmare to some, but for the ladies of Queen Street, it’s is an opportunity for endless redesigns. To them, it’s all about do-it-yourself fashion. “Just take something and make it a little more in-the-moment,” said Merle Bryant, owner and operator of the Clothes Horse. “Especially with clothes that are a little dated, because they’re only dated by a season.” She searches through discount clothing that other stores don’t move during a fashion season, buying up heaps of articles ignored by shoppers. “It’s about the customer’s own creativity.” Bryant opened the store last August, expanding her business that once sat above her now-neighbour, Elsie’s Used Clothing. There, she carries fashion pieces she’s worked on alongside objects by local designers, such as Chloe Gordon’s feather/leather earrings and artist Marilyn McAvoy’s knit arm warmers. Almost everything Bryant carries is used “vintage” or redesigned. Straying away from the pre-set outfits and mass produced clothing of shops such as American Apparel, do-it-yourself fashion has readily caught hold as an option that not only helps the budget, but allows anyone to inject their own creativity and individuality into pieces that were once mass produced. While it would be easy to assume this is just another trend in the turbulent world of fashion, Bryant thinks it’s a matter of environmentalism. “People are very conscious of what it means today to take care of your community and your world,” Bryant said. She sees DIY as an ethical decision as much as a style choice. “Everybody became very materialistic about it, with everything being new,” she said. The result is plenty of end-of-season leftovers that she thrives on redesigning. “When I was a kid,” said NSCAD University assistant professor of fashion Gary Markle, “if you were caught shopping in a thrift store, you were embarrassed, because you couldn’t afford new clothes.” Markle points to the rediscovery of thrift shops by consumers as a beginning for the DIY style. “(Thrift store) clothes are...

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