Rose Arnold

As a former ‘Primarni’ fan of the cheap as chips catwalk copies I felt a certain pride in how I managed to pull together great outfits for almost nothing. It’s hard to still feel so clever though when you start to wonder how exactly they make clothes so cheaply and have a nagging feeling you probably don’t want to hear the answer. It’s even harder when there’s yet another expose of how badly people are treated in order to make that £3 top. So, I decided to stop ignoring how buying the bargain dresses made me feel and decided that was it, no more Primark. It did hurt a bit, I missed the rush of heading home with a big bag of sparkly things but I got over it pretty quick.

I started thinking about it a bit more and even read ‘The Rough Guide to Ethical Shopping’ which gave balanced arguments for every side and left me none the wiser. (Having studied philosophy for 5 years I know that you can endlessly debate the most minor of points without ever getting anywhere close to something that could be considered an answer, which I have to admit, seems a bit of a waste of time!)

Me and Lisa decided to look for alternatives to clothes that made you feel bad and thought we’d make a website (with the help of some lovely friends! xx) Only then I maybe took it took it too far and decided we should try and not buy any new clothes for an entire year while we looked for answers. You know, put your money where your mouth is, and see if you can survive without the high street. And after being force-fed a couple of large glasses of white wine Lisa was on board.

Oh, also, I have no fashion experience and I can’t sew! So if I can do something so can you! The more adept amongst you might want to follow Lisa’s guide to knocking up a dress in an evening...I’ll be trying to find beginner's customising tips plus ways to cheat or get help!!