Looking good by doing well

Wearing only second-hand clothes for an entire year sounds like a punishment to most 19-year-olds – yet for Holly Chase it’s turning into a fun challenge.

The Auckland student reckons the fashion industry needs to be a lot more sustainable. Cotton is the world’s most pesticide-intensive crop in the world, dyeing fabric often causes toxic pollution in waterways, and clothes made overseas have a big carbon footprint.

So Holly plans to show you can break the unsustainable fashion cycle while still looking good by documenting a year of wearing only second-hand. Each day she posts a photo of herself on her blog wearing an outfit sourced from op-shops, hand-me-downs, or from clothes swaps that she organises with friends.

Her rules state that she can wear new underwear, shoes or accessories, but that’s all – and so far it’s going well. More than 60 days into the challenge she’s spending far less, and has found her look is more original, now that she’s not buying the same styles as everyone else.

“I get so bored of seeing girls my age all wearing almost a uniform of whatever the big stores are selling that season. There’s no individuality!”

Follow Holly’s challenge every day at www.ayearofsecondhand.com, at www.facebook.com/ayearofsecondhand or on Instagram at @ayearofsecondhand.