Upcycling as a Form of Rebellion
Upcycled dress by Kat Sturges
Society will tell you what looks good and what looks bad! People will try to tell you to lose weight or do whatever it takes to reach that “good looking” status. Lately I’ve been sweating it, because after I went to the hospital I had to go on oxygen for a month. And I put on some weight!
What I love the most about upcycled clothes is that they are a big middle finger. They are a middle finger to pop culture, fashion magazines, and anyone who has ever shunned me for how I look. They are also a big “f-you” to anyone who tries to tell me how I “should” dress myself. I don’t see people in the media that look like me very often. And when I do, they are type cast to be either a loser or so desperate that they cannot create a life. Upcycling clothes and rocking my makes gives me the courage to play bigger in my life! And nobody can take that power away from me…not pop culture or naysayers hating on me for how I look..
Part of the reason I upcycle is pure rebellion. I live in Iowa, where people do not express themselves very often with the clothes they wear. If you aren’t wearing a solid or striped shirt with khaki’s or jeans….you don’t fit in. Especially in cornbread white culture, it is not ok to stick out in any way. The status quo is to blend in and not be too colorful!
Back of upcycled dress by Kat Sturges
Upcycling is also a form of rebellion because it is an alternative to the waste economy. Why throw something away when you can make it even more fabulous? Why buy into the rhetoric that you always have to buy something new just to fit in?
Why do you upcycle? What is it about wearing your own makes that keeps you coming back for more? Upcycling has a hold on me, big time! There is something so exciting when you wear something you took the time to make for yourself. It is an act of taking some of your power back from the fashion industry. Because you can create a look that is true to you, not some cookie cutter rendition of what a million other people are wearing at any given time.
