Sustainable costumes and dress-ups

It’s a sad truth that we are buying clothes at a rate that our environment can’t keep up with. In fact, Australians are the world’s second largest consumers of textiles, with each of us buying an average of 27 kilograms of new items each year.

While costumes and dress-ups take up only a small portion of this, they’re also more likely to be discarded after one use – unless your kids are among the select few that are happy to wear the same thing to the book week parade every year.

The good news is that this means there’s plenty of perfectly good costumes floating around in the second-hand market.

Borrow a costume

All you need to do is ask and may be surprised to discover what your friends and family have stashed away at home. This can be especially true for kids' costumes, which are sometimes grown out of in the blink of an eye.

You could also try asking online, local freecycle or community groups will often have like-minded members keen to help others save a dollar and the environment.

Many toy libraries have a good selection of children's costumes too, so if you haven't joined your local one yet, now might be the perfect time.

Second-hand, best dressed

If you struggle to walk past an op shop without stopping for a sticky beak (guilty) you’ve probably noticed, they regularly refresh their stock based on season.

When Halloween or Christmas is approaching, many will also pull costumes out of storage.

If you can’t see any costumes at your local, ask if they have any costumes out the back, or plan a trip back closer to special occasion you're preparing for.

Do it yourself (DIY)

Getting a little crafty can result in amazing one-off costumes that don't have a designer price tag.

Try searching 'DIY' as well as your costume online for inspiration and instructions from around the world.

Even if your local op shop doesn't have the costume you wanted, it can be great source for regular clothes that can be quickly adapted to suit your dress-up, particularly if you need an outfit for you kids.

Setting them loose in an op shop with $20 and helping them work out what to wear – whether it’s an oversized white shirt as a lab coat, or a black satin skirt transformed into a wizard’s cape – will spark their imagination and encourages greater ownership of the outfit than a ‘perfect’ pre-made item.

Rent a costume

Costume shops have a great range of unique styles and sizes to choose from, and at a similar cost to what you’d pay for a brand new (but likely poorly made) option.

Rented costumes often have a much better finish compared to the mass-produced, single-use costumes in shops. Costumes are professionally cleaned as part of the fee, and each outfit is repaired and re-worn many times over, making them a far more sustainable option.

And, as an extra benefit, you’ll be supporting local business.

Dispose of responsibly

Even if you do end up buying a new costume for your dress-up, you can still make a difference by selling or donating it after your special event.

By making small repairs and giving it a gentle hand wash, you’ll not only be keeping one more thing from landfill, but you’ll helping someone else out.

And if you’ve ever been one of those stressed-out parents scouring the op shop racks the day before the school book parade, you’ll understand what a kindness that is.