Fashion Entrepreneur Summer Ruddock-Ellis on Her Sustainable Wardrobe Journey

April 29, 2021 at 05:45PM

I got my first part-time job at a Sirens store when I was 15 and living in Brampton, Ont. Though I worked at Square One Shopping Centre in Mississauga, I rarely shopped there, instead taking all my hard-earned money to local thrift stores.

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One of my first experiences thrifting was when I was a preteen; I went to Value Village with my mom out of sheer curiosity and after having a difficult time at mass fashion stores because I couldn’t find pieces that fit properly or that reflected my personal style. That single visit opened up my imagination and a willingness to experiment. I would frequent Value Village, The Salvation Army and Goodwill, sometimes taking the same bus to get to the three different shops in one day. I could create any outfit I wanted, and most items cost under $15.

Thrifting gave me access to pieces I couldn’t acquire any other way. I got my first designer items second-hand before I was ever able to purchase a high-end piece at the retail price. I remember once finding a Ports 1961 wool dress at the Talize location in Brampton and being amazed because I knew the brand had a boutique in Toronto’s prestigious Yorkville neighbourhood and I had seen its runway shows online. I was so taken aback to be able to find something of that quality and reverence to me at that time. Clothing — an important medium for self-expression — was accessible at the thrift store, and the possibilities felt endless.

When I moved to Ottawa for my undergrad studies, I developed an even deeper interest in thrifting, enticed by the different things you can discover in such stores, including home decor. I furnished my entire dorm with previously owned housewares, and this was another defining moment as I realized the versatility of shopping second-hand for everyday life.

Fellow students often asked where I had gotten my clothing or if I was in the fashion program (even though Carleton University doesn’t have one). They would never have guessed I was studying economics and finance.

Since so many people were curious about, and in awe of, what I was wearing, I started curating and selling the items I was buying from thrift stores to my classmates. I did my first pop-up out of my dorm room, and upon returning to Brampton after a third-year transfer to York University, I continued to host pop-ups in my backyard as people became increasingly interested in my aesthetic and the array of items I had found for them.

summer ruddock-ellis sustainable wardrobe
Photography courtesy of Summer Ruddock-Ellis

In the suburbs, “curated” thrift stores did not exist, so the hunt was difficult—but also rewarding. I would search for anything I saw that looked similar to styles I had seen in magazines and on websites like Style.com. I loved finding pieces from throw-back streetwear brands like FUBU, Baby Phat and Enyce — all nostalgic labels I had wanted to buy but couldn’t afford when I was younger.

Since I haven’t always been able to find exactly what I was searching for — either for my customers or for my own wardrobe — I have taken to altering pieces by dyeing, patching and cutting them so they can have a new look and a new life. Natural fibres like wool, cotton, linen and cashmere are the best items to take a pair of scissors to (and to transform using natural dyes). I love fraying knits, creating an unfinished hem on denim and chopping raw silk. I’ll normally cut something, dye it and then put it through a wash or two as I prefer a lived-in feel to my clothing.

summer ruddock-ellis sustainable wardrobe
Photography courtesy of Summer Ruddock-Ellis

My go-to dyes for colouring pieces are from food scraps and other organic matter. I’ve been a vegetarian for over 10 years, and anything from my waste bin will do — beets and avocado skins, turmeric and sorrel. I sometimes pull things directly from my backyard, gathering dandelions, pomegranates or wild berries. It’s all about testing pigments to see what works, and the majority of how I approach altering clothing is experimental. I take a lot of inspiration from my Jamaican heritage and the dancehall sensibility; much of the clothing in that scene is DIY — garments revised to emulate something someone saw on television, for example, but that wasn’t accessible for them to buy.

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This practice of mending and modifying existing pieces is an interest that has grown stronger in recent years as I have taken a harder look at my own consumption habits and considered how to improve them. But despite the negative implications of fashion consumption — from garment-worker exploitation to landfills (and, increasingly, thrift stores) full of fast-fashion pieces — clothing has ultimately allowed me to navigate the world the way I choose.

I encourage others to be open to wearing not-new, upcycled and altered pieces through my partnership with the brand 4YE; I helped launch its Rework collection in 2019. I also run a second-hand retail business called By Pseudonym, and through this platform, I can share ideas about extending the life cycle of clothes in artistic and engaging ways.

 

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Right now, I’m working with my friend, Sydné B. Wright of Ethereal, on an upcycling collaboration. She’s more educated about the practice of repurposing clothing than I am, and, together, we’ll be dyeing knitwear and updating the silhouettes of pieces in By Pseudonym’s inventory. Our reference for these items comes in part from the Fall 1993 Comme des Garçons collection — one that presented pieces with knits and lighter fabrics fused together.

Looking back at my life through the lens of clothes, I see that I’ve been able to use them to show the world who I am and what I believe in. The name By Pseudonym comes from the idea that through style, you can create a different version of yourself — perhaps even of the person you want to be.

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