Author Archives: Rubbish Renewed

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About Rubbish Renewed

Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show fuses environmental responsibility, funky fashion and community. Join other socially conscious individuals for an evening of sustainable fashion, showcasing styles that the future demands. We invite you to reconsider the value of trash and celebrate the creative, sustainable spirit of Bend. Started by two educators and rooted in a love of fashion, an appreciation of art and a passion for the planet, Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show is a fundraising event for REALMS Charter School. An eclectic, wearable art runway show, a live and silent auction, and a gallery style marketplace (where contributing local artists sell and showcase their work), will showcase how we “fashion” our lives while lessoning waste.

Cosa Cura Supporting Community with Sustainable Style

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Since 2006 Cosa Cura has created an atmosphere of sustainable style, creativity, local support, and community service. A perfect companion for the Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show. This unique business has partnered with Rubbish Renewed since our humble beginnings and is back for the second year of Presenting Sponsor!

Cosa Cura showing off Rubbish Renewed Trash Fashion from the past!

I’m not much of a current clothes shopper. Mostly because of *The Dark Side of Fast Fashion, but that’s not Cosa Cura. It’s my go-to spot to support local artists and purchase unique clothing pieces that will last and compliment my style!

Cosa Cura at Brookswood Meadow Plaza

As of this Spring, Cosa Cura now offers 2 locations supporting local artists and fashionistas with a locale to sell their designs alongside stylish reused fashion. This unique shop now bookends Bend, with one location in Northwest Crossing and the newly opened 2nd shop in Brookswood Meadow Plaza in Southwest Bend. The Plaza itself is worth a visit with a neighborhood atmosphere with local shops, services, and restaurants. Check out Cosa Cura’s new airy space and support local sustainably-minded, and community-supportive businesses!

*The Dark Side of Fast Fashion – “It dries up water sources and pollutes rivers and streams, while 85% of all textiles go to dumps each year...”

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The Sustainable Fashion Legacy of Harriet Langmas

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Rubbish Renewed is one lucky event to have a rich array of participants. Harriet Langmas, now in her 90’s, has been a staple at the Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show. Always hosting a marketplace booth of her repurposed, discarded scraps that she knits & crochets into hats, scarves, vests, sweaters, and rugs; sews into stuffed chickens, gift bags, and pillows… and often creates garments for the runway. This year is no exception.

Locals donate their cast-off materials to the Presbyterian quilters and the quilters pass their scraps onto Harriet! Materials that others believe are too small to reuse become embellishments in Harriet’s pieces. We were lucky to visit her long time Bend home to see her current creations and listen to her stories.

Harriet’s Sustainable Fashion Legacy goes way back in Bend. It was the 1960’s when Harriett taught at COCC and started the “Displaced Homemakers,” the predecessor to today’s Clothing Connections (a joint venture between COCC and OSU, a free donated clothing service for students). Harriet created a seminar to prepare students for job interviews and a closet in the gym, to provide professional clothes to wear.

In 1972 Harriet appeared on the popular show “What’s My Line” showcasing her patchwork fashion. She once dressed 1st Lady Betty Ford in a patchwork skirt to watch the 4th of July fireworks, and had 3 phone numbers for Katharine Hepburn who she met when filming ”Rooster Cogburn” in Bend with John Wayne. Ms. Hepburn wanted to buy Harriet’s skirts on a whim to give as gifts.

Photo: Kimberly Teichrow Photography

Before leaving Harriet’s she shared her rule of 3, rule of 4, and rule of accessories: Rule of 3 – don’t take any clothes on a trip that doesn’t do at least 3 things. Rule of 4 – it is the 4th thing you put on that makes the pow! Rule of accessories – rhythm, cluster, pow!

Thanks Harriet for helping make the Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show an incredible Bend Event!

Read this 2006 article in the Bend Bulletin to dig into Harriet’s fascinating legacy:

9-Days Away! Celebrate an Array of Trash Textures

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Here is a sneak peak of the array of trash textures creating this year’s fashion on the runway in just 9 days! Designers re-envision refuse and sew, drape, fuse, weave, braid…to create the electrifying pieces for the Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show making their statement for the environment. Get your tickets today!

The Walk Our Talk Zero Waste Event System

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Thanks to The Environmental Center ReThink Waste and their Community Innovation Grant, Rubbish Renewed is creating the Walk our Talk Zero Waste Event System! It provides a loanable service/sorting/waste reduction system including reusable service-ware, collection tubs, signage, educational materials, and guide to create and promote a successful low-zero waste event!

Last weekend at the Banff Film Festival on Tour at the Tower Theater we were able to try it out on a small scale. They used 3 sizes of cups in the bar and the bus tubs and signage to keep 100’s of disposables out of the landfill!

We will have the full system up and running at The Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show just 11 days away, on Saturday, May 11th. Get your Rubbish Renewed tickets today!

This system will be available to borrow starting Fall through our partnership with Bicycle Rides Northwest. This is a community effort to create access to reusables for more Central Oregonians!

Garment Submission Deadline April 5th – 1 week away!

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Just 1 week until the submission deadline at midnight on Friday, April 5th. Remember that you do not need to have your garment completed, but the further along you are, the easier it is for the jury to recognize your vision in your photos and artist renderings. Read the material guidelines carefully.  Here is the link to the Runway Submission Page. It doesn’t hurt to get your submission in early. Check out these materials from a few designs that have started to roll in!

Submit your garment design in just 3 EASY STEPS to be considered for the 12th Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show on Saturday, May 11th

  1. Complete the Submission Form linked from the Runway Submission Page
  2. Pay Submission Fee
  3. Send 3 photos of your design

Complete the submission process by the deadline of midnight << Friday, April 5th >>

We can’t wait to see what you create!

Redmond Proficiency Academy Digs into Trash (Fashion)

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With the Rubbish Renewed season coming spring, people around Central Oregon are looking at trash with a new eye. What is the essence of the material? How can I make something from nothing? What impact can I have on contributing to a more sustainable earth?

RPA students dug into a trash fashion during their January winter intensives. They explored unconventional, tossed-away materials, visioned and drew, then started to work their magic with different techniques.

Working with trash is hard and inspiring. Here’s a few of their thoughts:

Juno: “The work is a lot of trial and error.”

Trinity: “It helps grow my creativity”

Asher: “It’s fun and interesting taking trash and turning it into something cool. It’s cool seeing other people’s creativity and their works of art.”

We’re hoping to see some of these finished pieces on the runway! Time to start thinking about the submission process.

What will you create?

Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show Submission Deadline is Friday, April 5th for the May 11th event. Your garment does not have to be complete by the submission deadline, but the further along you are in the process, the more information the jury will have to make their decision.

Runway Submissions are Open

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It’s the designers, and their creativity, material manipulation, passion for fashion and our planet, that makes Rubbish Renewed unique, entertaining, and meaningful. Each year designers, like you, have made this one of the most coveted and exciting shows in Bend!

The Student and Adult Designer Submission Forms are up and will be open until the Garment Submission deadline at midnight on Friday, April 5th. For inspiration on the trash fashion creation process, student and adult designs, the runway show, the event, and our garment criteria, watch one or both of these short videos (3-4+ minutes – with some slightly different information):

Let us know what you are working on. We will highlight several designers again this year.  Spread the word and get designing! 

What will you Create?

Calling All Aspiring Trash Fashion Designers!

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Calling all aspiring Trash Fashion Designers! It’s 4-months until the 2024 Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show and a great time to start creating. This cold, blustery weather is the perfect moment to snuggle in and start visioning. Where do you get your inspiration? Check out past Rubbish Renewed blog posts below to help you get inspired! We can’t wait to see what YOU create?

Click on the following links to revisit some past idea generating blog posts:

Calling All Creatives – Discover the Essence of Rubbish

Material Manipulation from Waste to Wear-ability

Project Runway Uses Real Refuse for Once

Organic Matter isn’t Rubbish

RR Student Designers in Action

Inspiration from The Unconventional Challenge

Virtual Inspiration

Where does your inspiration start? Design? Materials? Techniques?

How About that Diamond Runway by Flip Flop Sounds

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The first year at a new venue exploration and creativity reign. The second year you get to refine. We are thrilled to take what we learned from the 2023 revival of Rubbish Renewed and elevate it for the 2024 Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show. One thing we loved was Flip Flop Sounds diamond runway!

A few of us were gathered with Courtney (the mastermind behind Flip Flop Sounds) at a local watering hole chatting about the Pavilion as a venue, and Courtney started to sketch ideas. The ideas blew our minds, and the diamond runway was born!

The Flip Flop Sounds magic happening!

Local, Sustainable, Holiday Shopping

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School’s out for winter break. Weathers mild, and the community is bustling. I typically use these next four days to do most of my holiday shopping. In Bend, we have a bounty of local, sustainable, diverse gift gathering spaces. Check out three great community focused businesses (and Rubbish Renewed supporters) to spend your dollars locally and make sustainable purchasing choices that are lighter on the planet!

COSA CURA: 2735 NW Crossing Dr. #101

For your stylish fashion and home decor needs Cosa Cura is the place! The store currently represents 80+ Independent Artists & Designers and carries fashion from 8000+ local consignors. Cosa Cura creates an atmosphere of sustainable style, creativity, local support and community service.

GEAR FIX: 550 SW Industrial Way #1

For your outdoor enthusiast needs check out The Gear Fix! They consign high quality outdoor gear and repair your damaged favorites. Gear Fix cultivates a sense of community both inside and outside of the shop helping make our area inclusive for all that choose to venture outdoors.

RESTORE: 224 NE Thurston Avenue

For the handy person in your life the ReStore has a wide variety of home improvement materials, tools and furnishings almost exclusively donated by our generous community. Shopping at ReStore helps support the construction of Habitat homes that are built for energy efficiency. These affordable homes ensure families have every opportunity to thrive and grow.

After making these environmentally positive shopping choices, don’t forget to package your gifts sustainably. Reuse wrapping paper, magazines, old posters. Use scraps of fabric, reusable bags, or even make the wrapping part of the gift!

Wrapping paper waste fact: The amount of wrapping paper used for Christmas gifts is enough to wrap the plant nine times. 23 million pounds of wrapping paper ends up in a landfill every year.