Oswestry Library will be lending out evening wear and special outfits as well as books in a new collaboration with a sustainable fashion project in the town.
Local library card holders will be able to borrow an outfit for any occasion from the library in the same way as borrowing a book in the innovative link-up with the With Love From… project which is bringing its shared wardrobe of occasion wear to Oswestry Library.
Founder, Lizzie Dibble, said that the ‘Shropshire Shared Wardrobe’ scheme would make beautiful, sustainable fashion available to everyone.
Shared wardrobe
With Love From… is a community project, founded and managed by local volunteers on a mission to reduce the environmental and ethical impact of fashion through the promotion of better choices.
It encourages people to slow down their shopping habits and instead repair, re-wear, share and care for clothing that already exists.
It has created a shared wardrobe of occasion-wear, for a community of conscientious shoppers. People are encouraged to donate party clothing, footwear and accessories to a shared wardrobe and earn points which can be redeemed at pop-up shops or appointments.
Lizzie said members of the project were very excited about the collaborative project with Oswestry Library. A pre-launch festive event will be held at Oswestry Library on Wednesday November 13th from 3pm – 6pm so that people can find out more and hear how they can get involved.
“There are so many benefits to sharing our wardrobes, not only to us personally, but also to our local community and to other communities all around the world.
“On average, it is estimated that British people throw away 72 items of clothing every year, so by sharing our wardrobes we are reducing the amount of clothing sent to landfill and providing local, sustainable clothing waste options for people in North Shropshire.
“We hope that this project will also give local people, cost-effective options for otherwise expensive occasion wear and extend the useful life of clothing. If we can extend the life of clothing by just 9 months of active use it would reduce waste, water and carbon footprints by around 20-30%.”
Pre-launch event
Visitors to the pre-launch festive event will be able to donate items to the shared wardrobe, browse a festive collection from the shared wardrobe, speak to With Love From… experts about reusing loved outfits. Lizzie Dibble and Siobhan Shaw of Shropshire Libraries will be giving a talk on the project at 5.15pm.
People can also pledge their support for the pilot project at https://www.spacehive.com/shropshire-shared-wardrobe
Proud to support the project
Siobhan Shaw, Library Operations & Development Manager at Oswestry Library said the service was delighted to be collaborating with ‘With Love From…’ to create a shared wardrobe at Oswestry Library.
“We are proud to be supporting this project and together, we believe that we can increase visibility and accessibility of sustainable fashion options for local people.
“Public libraries are fundamental to the sharing economy and as such are committed to supporting their clientele to borrow more and spend less, and to work with communities to minimise pay barriers to the information, equipment and resources they require.
“This is achieved by exciting collaborations like this one, and by supporting communities to connect and share what they have with others, whether it is their skills, their knowledge, their art or even their unwanted clothes,” she said.
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