LOOK FOR A LITTLE GREEN DRESS T H I S PA R T Y S E A S O N The little black dress is an enduring staple of the party season. But do you really need new one? Environmental charity Hubbub is encouraging people to go green this December. Research1 by Hubbub has found that Britons are set to spend a staggering £2.4bn2 on new clothing for Christmas parties this year, spending an average of £73.90 per person (men £88.14, women £63.12) on party wear. What’s more, these outfits are set to have less than three wears with one in five people admitting they won’t wear the same thing to more than one party. When it came to the lovely sparkly dresses on sale this time of year, only 24% know that most party dresses contain plastic. In fact, Hubbub analysed 169 party dresses from 17 different online, high street and designer outlets and found 94% are partially or totally made from plastic/ plastic-derived fabrics. Hubbub suggests four greener options this season are to: 1.
Rewear, restyle or upcycle an outfit you already own
2.
Borrow or swap with friends
3.
Rent from one of the great rental sites available like ByRotation or Hurr
4.
Buy second-hand from a vintage shop, online reseller or a charity shop
Sarah Divall, Project Co-ordinator at Hubbub said: “Vintage and pre-loved clothing has never been so on trend and it’s only going to get bigger, as people realise the massive environmental impact of the fashion industry. Going green doesn’t mean you can’t dress up. There are so many eco-friendly options out there now, including clothes swaps, renting, pre-loved and charity stores, so you can look stunning and save money without damaging the planet.” The good news is 16-24s are adopting greener ways to dress, as higher numbers swap with friends (36%) and buy from charity shops (30%) than older generations.
NOTES TO EDITORS For more information contact the Hubbub team at Barley Communications:
Jenny Rose
jenny.rose@barleycommunications.co.uk or 07957 551 697 1. Survey of nationally representative sample of 3,008 UK adults conducted by Censuswide in November 2019 2. 53.8m UK adult population (ONS) x 1,833/3008 surveyed who plan to attend Xmas parties and buy new clothes x £73.90 average spend per person of those people
ABOUT HUBBUB About Hubbub: Hubbub is a charity which explores innovative ways to interest mainstream consumers in important sustainability issues, through different ‘hubs’ of activity: Food; Fashion; Homes; Neighbourhoods. Hubbub’s previous campaigns have included #SquareMileChallenge, the UK’s first large scale solution to coffee cup recycling, #LeedsByExample to trial new ways to improve recycling on-the-go, #PlasticFishing, launching the world’s first boats made from 99% recycled plastic to raise awareness of and tackle plastic pollution in the UK’s waterways and #FoodSavvy to reduce food waste. https://www.hubbub.org.uk/ For more information contact the Hubbub team at Barley Communications: Jenny Rose / jenny.rose@barleycommunications.co.uk or 07957 551 697