The following is a guest post by Lauri Apple of FoundClothing, a photo blog about, well, found clothing. FoundClothing has been featured on the Today Show, The NY Times, and BUST Magazine.
Have you ever found a pair of shoes on the sidewalk and wondered, “gee, I wonder what the story is behind those?” How about a sweater or pair of pants? Living in the city, one can encounter all sorts of clothing and accessories on the streets, or bagged up and left beside (or inside) dumpsters, garbage cans and the like. Sometimes these items are expensive brand name items, or still have the original price tag on them. Even luxury goods, such as Prada sunglasses and fur coats, are sometimes left behind by their owners, who apparently are “too busy” to take them to the nearest resale shop.
Find all of this hard to believe? So do I, which is why in March 2006 I set up a website called FoundClothing: an online archive of photos and pithy write-ups about the clothing and accessories that I find in trash cans or left on the ground and other public places. At FoundClothing, you’ll see the picture of the Prada sunglasses (with one lens missing, but nevertheless repairable) in my neighborhood; the fur coat I found on Fifth Avenue in New York City; a scarf left behind in Pittsburgh cafe, and several hundred other items. You’ll also find contributed photos from other trashionistas around the world. Many of these folks belong to a flickr pool I set up to encourage others to contribute to my website; please join as well if you’re trashionably inclined!
Some people call what I do “freegan fashion”; another is “trashion hunting.” I don’t dig through dumpsters to find my wearables: Most of what I find is in plain view, and often times it is perfectly clean and ready-to-wear (I do launder everything at least once before wearing it, though). Perhaps it’s the fact that what I find is so in-shape and like-new that has gotten my website attention from the likes of the New York Times, Chicago Tribune and BUST magazine. In August 2007, NBC’s Today Show invited me to talk about my website and had a Chicago-based camera crew follow me around my neighborhood; we found a jean jacket and a sequined shower curtain on that outing.
I consider FoundClothing to be a testament to the common sense of recycling, and also of observing one’s surroundings. It’s also illustrative of the unique experiences one can have by living in a city; people who live in the suburbs have written to tell me that they couldn’t go trashion-finding in their communities, because the trash cans have locks on them, their neighbors would call the cops, or there’s simply no safe place to walk where they live. As someone who doesn’t drive, but who walks and bikes everywhere, I can’t imagine living in such a place!
Photo by Miss Baker.
{ 7 comments }
Very interesting approach . . .
DDFD at DivorcedDadFrugalDad.com’s last blog post..A Short Hike Into the Woods
I love it. I pull things out of curb piles and the tops of dumpsters also. I don’t dive in, but sometimes I do call it dumpster diving. I was even on the news last summer. I’ve found toys (NICE ones), books, craft supplies, canning jars, costumes, and clothing along with MONEY!
Jessica’s last blog post..Womanly Wednesday: I’m not the only one
I found two pair of Kenneth Cole shoes sitting on the side of the road. They still had the price tags. They fit perfectly. I wore them for a week, but since they wern’t totally comfortable, I donated them to Goodwill. My latest find was a Pendleton wool shirt. These cost $100 new.
I can’t tell you how many metric tons of Women’s shoes I’ve seen sitting on the sides of the road. It seems like such an utter waste of money. I can tell you one thing though, as someone who constantly looks for stuff on the side of the road: old TV sets, Lawn mowers, books, record players, appliances, and so on, I have seen much LESS of the stuff lately. I recall just a couple of years ago when it seemed like every other house was for sale that as soon as one sold, the prior owners would dump the contents of their house out on the street. I kid you not that one day I drove by an old home and the owner had two huge dumpsters and was throwing out antique furniture. I got two dressers, a few lamps, painting, and some other stuff. Unbelievable.
Now people seem a bit reluctant to throw out things that they now realize costs money to replace.
What an awesome post. I just read the other day that only 2% of clothing Americans throw away is actually worn out.
Heidi @ GGIP’s last blog post..Boys will be boys
I agree with Bob. I don’t usually go out looking, but not too long ago, it was common to see a lot of personal stuff on the side of the ride. The way things are today, I’m not seeing a lot of that. I think it’s more likely that people are selling their goods everywhere they can. But, I’d be curious to know the story behind why so many people leave perfectly good items just lying around. As a writer, I simply try to create a story. When I find clothes scattered along the highway, I usually envision some sort of angry fight between two people where one person’s luggage ends up on the road or something like that. Just random thoughts, but your site sounds pretty interesting! Good luck with that!
Kristy @ Master Your Card’s last blog post..The Cost of Being a Good Friend
Over the years I have found things here & there – but really not that often – I found a lovely pair of pants in the restroom of a TV network ofc once?? and a pearl necklace on the street – and a man’s rayon shirt w/ a Chinese pattern on the street – I have found more furniture and so on on the street than CLOTHES.
My mom just bought a pair of Chanel glasses at the thrift shop … for $3!
It’s not exactly freegan but it’s pretty close.
She’s been excited about it all week.
TStrump’s last blog post..What’s with These Retention Bonuses?
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