For the 8th year in a row, Recycled Runway in Boulder, Colorado, featured young designers who created fashion designs out of found and recycled materials to stunning effect. This is haute couture at its most sustainable. 

So you want to save money, look great AND help others less fortunate than you?
Ok here's the solution....ditch the mall and get your clothes at thrift shops!

As someone who has just moved to Canada, I've had to become incredibly frugal and have found a few ways to accomplish all of these objectives. Hold on a tick, before you scream "NO WAY!!" at your pc, let's dispel some common misconceptions.

1." I would never wear clothes that someone else has worn!"

“Fashion is not something that exists only in dresses.  Fashion is in the sky, in the street; fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.”
          –Coco Chanel
 
From the words of Coco Chanel to the local designers it’s clear that fashion is a reflection of ourselves and our lives, ideas, and innovation.  The catwalks of Milan to Paris, New York and even Hong Kong are a buzz of innovative thinking and everybody seems to be talking about “Eco-Fashion”.
 

When sorting through your closet, it’s easy to see the items that you don’t wear as junk that no one would enjoy. However, your trash could be another person’s treasure. Rather than throw away rejected garments, why not recycle old clothing by trading it for new pieces with this year’s Frock Swap? Once Loved Threads founders Marjolyn Ustaris and Danielle Ow started the Frock Swap as a chance to trade some of their own pieces for new clothing items, and since that first swap in 2008, the event has only grown.