Using yesterday’s clothes to make the fashion of the future. That’s one of the slogans promoting the TV series Dresscue me. The reality series follows vintage guru Shareen Mitchell in her daily search for exquisite dresses made from discarded clothing.
It’s about the lady, not the dress, is one of Mitchell’s basic principles. The diva, who owns stores in New York and Los Angeles, is convinced that clothing can make women feel more positive about themselves. By finding them the perfect dress, Mitchell and her staff do more than find an answer to the vexing question what to wear. They make their customers feel pretty, glamorous and/or sexy. If we succeed in making women feel beautiful, we can transform their lives, says Shareen in one of the episodes of Dresscue me, which has been aired worldwide.
Noble as this may sound, it’s a shame that Shareen Mitchell seldom talks about the environmental benefits of upcycled dresses. While Dresscue me doesn’t fail to register Shareen and her assistants going through numerous piles of discarded clothing, we never hear about things like our throwaway culture, landfill and recycling. That seems like a missed opportunity: needless to say, re-using secondhand clothes to create new must-haves provides ample benefits for the environments. And as she turns local stock into unique, handmade garments designed to last many years, Mitchell is a particularly good role model for the upcycling trend.
Maybe one of Dresscue me’s motto’s (‘Saving women one dress at a time’) is in serious need for an update? Isn’t ‘Saving the planet one dress at a time’ is just as much as a home truth? Or maybe it’s time for a TV series documenting the daily business of outspokenly green upcycling companies.