as sustainable
self-expression WRITTEN BY ELLA NORTON ILLUSTRATED BY CECILIA PALMER DESIGNER ZOE HARDISTER Anna Bassman, a sophomore at UO, flipped through clothes at Buffalo Exchange until she found a plaid dress that she thought held potential. She bought it for $10and transformed it into a two-piece set. She believes Cher from “Clueless” would wear it if she lived in today’s world. “I definitely never have an idea of what I want to do when I walk into a store,” Bassman said. “I kind of look at something and am like ‘Oh, this would be a cute skirt,’ or ‘This would be a cute set… And then I’ll kind of stare at it for a little bit [to] figure out if it’s a good enough quality to be tampered with, because thrifting is up in the air.”
stronger, since I’ve gotten older,” Bassman said. “Seeing how you can incorporate your own personality into your clothing, I feel like it’s super important for self-expression.” Bassman thinks the recent fashion trends from celebrities such as Harry Styles and Billie Eilish have encouraged people to become more bold in what they’re wearing, which can encourage them to try upcycling. “I know when I first started people weren’t super open to it,” Bassman said. “My parents were like ‘That looks kind of weird,’ and I was like ‘No, on the right person it would look really good.’”
Bassman started upcycling her junior year of high school. She was inspired by other students, who made their own clothes, and her love of fashion. Bassman began thrifting to find bases for clothing she could transform and make her own.
Similarly to Bassman, Eliana Kertzner, a freshman at UO, has been upcycling for nine years since she taught herself to sew from her grandmother’s sewing machine. For Kertzner, upcycling means transforming a piece of clothing.
“My sense of style has definitely developed, and gotten
“[It can be] anywhere from taking a piece of clothing and
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