There is something inspiring about seeing just how creative designers can be in their materials selection. What really does it for me though are end-use products made possible by dipping into the waste stream…quite literally in some cases. Let’s talk trash…as it applies to fashion.

While they may not be totally practical for a day at the office, or even a night on the town, I’ve seen some amazing artistry come forth in dress form from some very unlikely materials. Take, for example, this little strapless number made entirely from recycled food bar wrappers collected an airplane flight. I love the banded top and the detail at the hemline from the overlapping wrappers. Do you think she’s afraid of giving the cab driver a little more tip than he bargained for should a few of those wrappers take flight?

Makes you think twice about where your Cliff bar wrapper might end up.

According to Make, the designer who submitted to dress says,

“The dress has won two eco fashion shows (one in San Francisco and one in Chicago). Eighty of the 120+ wrappers on the dress came from a flight I took from Chicago to Munich, where I asked everyone on the plane for their granola bar wrapper (which was given to us for breakfast). When the passengers learned why I was collecting wrappers, they were really enthused and wanted to help me out. What excites me about this food bar wrapper dress is collecting wrappers from people in their everyday life… on a flight, watching a movie, going to a baseball game.”

There is something highly comforting about the notion that what would have otherwise taken up landfill space has been diverted and put to another use…even if just for the sake of creativity itself in this instance.

The Junk to Funk Fashion show here in Portland, which has hosted two runway shows now to benefit ORLO, has also produced a number of amazingly resourceful pieces, some with a higher wear-a-bility factor than others. As a participant on the panel of judges for their first show in 2006, I saw ensembles made from everything from a wedding gown made from vinyl mini blinds and curtains, to strapless gown made from an old yellow raft (in one piece mind you), to a faux fur cassette tape jacket over a aluminum tab can flapper dress. Check out the highlights here:

You can even see a bit of me at the end of the judge’s table in the tall (and painfully uncomfortable) recycled styrofoam wig. Oh what we do it the name of fashion…The 2007 show was also a hit, showing about 30 looks and once again paying tribute to an amazing, if at times questionable, but certainly creative use of existing materials. Ultra PDX profiled Four looks: a fiberglass bustier and window screen skirt worn over copper; a retro style recycled bicycle inner tube swim suit; a couture, Marie Antionette style orange and white flowing gown made from plastic bags and an old shower curtain; and an entire ensemble made from gelato sample spoons and cups stole, complete with parasol, stole the show.

Moving on from note worthy refuse wear to a truly haute use of refuse, designer Nina Valenti, the genius behind the contemporary, eco-friendly womens fashion line, naturevsfuture®, recently designed this killer gown for world renowned concert pianist Soyeon Lee, to be worn at her Carnegie Hall debut, aptly named, “Reinvented”.

While there is nothing conventionally ‘trashy’ about this metalic, black-tonal, totally gorgeous gown, it is quite frankly, trash. Ms. Valenti was commissioned by TerraCycle to design the one-of-a-kind gown, which consists of 6000 used and misprinted ‘Honest Kids’ drink pouches. Each pouch was cut into different size squares, then mounted on to a silk taffeta lining into patterns covering every inch of the dress. The bodice, cut into dynamic angles, extends into the flowing bottom layers and culminates in a floor sweeping train. (Source: naturevs.future)

Of all the waste out there to pick from, juice boxes were the medium of choice as a result of TerraCycle’s fundraiser, the Drink Pouch Brigade, a joint effort with Honest Tea to help divert four billion non-recyclable pouches from America’s landfills each year. Picture this: lined up back-to-back, those drink pouches would circle the globe over 15 times!

Maybe its about time we redefine what’s garbage and what’s not. Stay tuned as my tribute to trashy fashion continues each Monday until…well until I run out things to talk about.