Way back when, longer than I care to admit, I was invited to a rather posh do: a “grand ball” no less. Being a Uni student with barely two pennies to rub together, I had no money to buy a ball gown. Meanwhile some of my fellow students were dolling themselves up in all manner of Taffeta and Brocade.  

I asked my flatmate, Lou, for inspiration.  

‘Hey, don’t worry about it Lisa, we can make you something’.  

‘Make me something?!’ My only experience of sewing was a rather disastrous attempt at ‘Home Economics’ when we were compelled to make a Gingham A- line skirt (super flattering..... not). Having said that, I can darn socks! I am very proud of this skill passed down to me by my mother. I still own a wooden darning mushroom to this day. Still, I could not envisage making anything that would look remotely like a ball dress. 

Aha, well, it turns out that Lou was way before her time. She was a ‘refashionista’ at heart. We used to scour the charity shops in Edinburgh and lived in oversized Grandad shirts and overcoats that had seen better days. No one would have dreamt of wearing a fashion label, heaven forfend, perish that thought. Uncool. We were hipster before the word was invented. At least that’s what I tell myself. 

But a ball dress presented a problem. Ball dresses in charity shops are uncommon to say the least.  

‘OK. Do you really have to go to this ball, Cinderella?’ Lou asked, smiling. 

There was a slight chance of meeting Prince Charming so yes, I wanted to go. 

Lou sighed and scoured the room (a rather messy room, in true student style). A light pinged and Lou ran to her bed, rummaged under her pillow and brought out her nightdress, a big smile lighting her face. You will go in my nightdress.  

I can’t say that I started a new trend that night in my white Broderie Anglaise nightdress (that was a wee bit too see-through for my liking) but I can say that I didn’t get picked on for being in the ‘wrong’ gear. In fact, I had a great night. 

Today, I am delighted to see many of my son’s and daughter’s friends making their own clothes from vintage and remnants that would otherwise end up in landfill.  

In that vein at Rainbow Life you will find scarves beautifully hand made from upcycled saris  and swimsuits made from recycled plastic fishing nets   

I expect we will extend our range to include more re-purposed clothing as we see more and more designers creating new from old and using scraps, offcuts and vintage clothes in their creations. These designers we wholeheartedly support.   

And for those of you with a passion for refashion we urge you to go to the ball in a nightdress.  

Better still join a collective such as https://www.remodecollective.com/