Fancy getting your hands on clothes
previously owned by Olly Murs? Or how about
something once worn by
fellow musician Plan B or comedian Alan Carr? These celebrities –
among others – have joined UK homeless charity Shelter by donating
their clothes to an online auction,
in order to raise money for the charity. While this campaign is
expected to bring in just a few hundred pounds, previous celebrity
clothes auctions and sales have raised vast amounts for charity.
In
2011, for example, items belonging to Elizabeth
Taylor – including
some of her fabulous haute couture – fetched
$150 million for The
Elizabeth Taylor Aids Foundation.
But what is there for those of us who can't
afford to buy second hand goods touched by celebrities, but still
want to help others with our purchasing decisions? Let's take a look
at some of the ways that new accessories and clothes are helping
others.
The online shop, Etsy, has rapidly become
one of the most widely renowned outlets for homemade items. Anyone
can sell their items on there, and anyone can buy them. This means
that you could end up living in Malta and buying something that a
student in America has made in their art class. The joy of the site
is that items are very often unique, and it allows budding designers
with great ideas to be able to sell items that they have lovingly
created. There are some brilliant items on the site that are designed
to raise awareness for bipolar disorder. As the colour for breast
cancer awareness is
pink, and the colour for testicular cancer awareness is blue, the
colour for bipolar disorder awareness is a beautiful green. One Etsy
retailer – Black Cat Design – created a stunning sterling silver
awareness ribbon pendant that hangs on a silver chain with a green
Swarovski crystal to
raise awareness for bipolar disorder. The aim of these efforts is to
get people to ask questions, such as what are the symptoms
of bipolar disorder, how
many people does it affect, can it be treated and what can be done to
help.
Raising funds
Other charities have used fashion to raise
money to support charities, such as the UK charity Stroke
Association's "Style for Stroke" campaign. The campaign has
seen the charity team up with Fashion and Style PR expert, Nick Ede,
for several initiatives to raise money. Nick took the challenge of
designing eight dresses to reinvent last season's little black dress
and create the new season's 'Lovely
Black Dress'. Fifteen per
cent of the profit from every dress sold went to the Stroke
Association.
Jeans for Genes day is a brilliant example
of an annual event that seeks to raise more money each year to fund
the charity and its research
into genetic disorders. It
is a very simple idea that follows the idea of a 'mufti day' –
inviting everyone to wear jeans for the day and to pay a little money
to do so. It takes place each year in Australia and the UK, and
limited edition clothing is sold from the Jeans for Genes website to
raise even more money and awareness, as t-shirts emblazoned with
slogans such as "Wear jeans, change lives" can take the
cause further into public consciousness. Comic Relief – an English
charity that hosts a huge fundraising event each year – has evolved
in recent years to sell t-shirts designed
by the world-renowned Stella McCartney,
and modelled by a huge selection of stylish celebrities – such as
Kate Moss and Rihanna – and some not-so-stylish celebrities –
such as Keith Lemon. A third of the money raised by Comic Relief goes
to projects in the UK, while the rest goes to a vast range of
projects across Africa.
But what about vintage?
The majority of charity-related fashion
items tend to either be modern designs, or are dusty old dresses
found in charity shop bins. Fortunately, someone came up with the
brilliant idea of selling vintage clothes, accessories and
miscellaneous items for charity. Oxfam's vintage online shop allows
browsers to shop by decade or by category (including vintage dresses,
vintage skirts, vintage coats and men's vintage), and it even
suggests items in a colour clash box at the bottom of the page. A
pair of white and blue polka dot cotton gloves caught my eye, as
did a
retro satin clutch bag, but
you could spend hours poring over the selection. The vintage homeware
is just as tempting, with everything and anything ranging from tea
towels to butter dishes to buttons and even a 'Sherlock Holmes' pipe.
The best thing about all of these
campaigns, events and shops – in particular the Oxfam vintage shop
– is that you can find exactly what you want for a reasonable
price, and you know that the money will be going towards a good
cause. What more could you want?
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