Reverse The Trend with SexyTadhg: "Sustainability, to me, is taking what you have and working with that"

SexyTadhg:

Singer/Performer

Sustainability, to me, is taking what you have and working with that and not expanding your footprint, by accumulating things that you don’t necessarily need. It’s being mindful of the things you can achieve with what you already have. You could literally take the same garment and wear it in different ways, just by styling.

Accessories are great as well. Going down to the charity shops and seeing what necklaces or belts are around. You can take a dress, add a belt and it creates a totally different shape. I have a sewing machine. Obviously, that’s kind of a privilege, but, being able to take a garment apart and create a new one, is really helpful. Spray painting things is fun, especially jeans or thick fabrics. I love a few rhinestones as well. Taking rhinestones off an older piece and reapplying them to a new one is great, because rhinestones are not the most sustainable things in the world. They’re basically glamorous microplastics. You can reuse them, and it’s cheaper as well.

Look in your wardrobe – whatever you’re not wearing, you could donate to a charity shop or take apart and use it as fabric to create something else. If you need inspiration, there’s so many resources on Pinterest TikTok and so on. There’s a whole community centred around this. I’d recommend connecting with people like that to stay inspired.

SexyTadhg’s live cabaret musical TELEVISION runs at the Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin until December 21.

It’s time to Reverse the Trend. Recent research from the Environmental Protection Agency has revealed we should be doing more to make sustainable decisions when it comes to fashion.

With the ongoing climate crisis, it’s never been more important for us to think about our purchasing habits more consciously. It’s time to buy less, choose well, and look after our clothes - to get the most out of them.

Thinking sustainably presents us with the opportunity to be more inventive, more thoughtful, and more ethical in what we wear. Borrowing clothes from friends, going to swap shops, buying from charity shops, and renting clothes are just some of the innumerable ways in which we can rewrite the narrative when it comes to being on trend and looking fashionable, while also having fun and being creative!

We spoke to influencers, local musicians, designers and artists about sustainability - and what it means to them. Read the full feature in the Hot Press Annual 2025