ReFashionista

The inspiration for this dress was based on the beautiful colour and woven tapestry look of the fabric. It reminded me of the amazing fabrics and textures of Game of Thrones, particularly Cersei and her daughter Masarla and their gorgeous dresses in the first couple of seasons, so that's who we went as to Comic-Con last year. 

This fabric started as a doona cover I found at a local op shop. $8 for a king-size bed and two pillowcases, the side panels are $5 remnant from a local op-shop. 

While there is a lot of fabric in a king-size bed, it's not a lot of fabric, and you have to be open to getting creative about your layout and sewing pieces together to create a large enough piece to cut out the pattern. I love the challenge of creating something entirely new from what it was. 

Denimus Maximus, a bold, gender-fluid statement piece. This look celebrates the versatility and hard-wearing nature of denim, brought to life in flowing, circular layers that move with a denim swish. The soft movement of the skirt is contrasted with a structured jacket, balancing strength and fluidity. 

Inspired by male skirts through the ages, Denimus Maximus challenges traditional silhouettes and invites viewers to think outside the circle — both literally and in terms of fashion norms. Rooted in the principles of the circular economy, it’s a wearable reminder that reimagined materials can still make a powerful impact. 

Denim Woven Jacket: Created from the hems and seams of dozens of pairs of jeans, it’s a patchworked tribute to denim’s durability and endless potential. On the back? A striking cityscape design, stitched and shaped from salvaged offcuts, a skyline built from waste. 

Every line, fold, and fray holds a piece of someone’s worn-in story, reimagined into something bold, structured, and full of texture. 

These bold outfits reimagine salvaged jeans and t-shirts hems with attitude, texture, and a whole lot of character. It’s layered, patched, and pieced together using raw edges that proudly celebrate imperfection and creative rebellion. Gritty, playful, and made to move!

18. Camden Throwback by Mel Arthur. T-shirt pants, top and altered jacket

Australian based artist Marina DeBris began picking up trash along beaches over 25 years ago. Her mission began when she moved from Bondi Beach, Australia to Venice Beach, CA. 

Trained as a graphic designer at Rhode Island School of Design, Marina’s interest in the intersection of art and the environment has been constant. Her artwork has gained international attention and her installation the “Inconvenience Store” won 3 awards at Sculpture by the Sea, including the People’s Choice. Her work has been exhibited internationally, throughout Australia and was featured in Harper's Bazaar Magazine. 

Using humour, Marina aims to startle viewers into taking a closer look at things we usually ignore. She hopes to encourage people to rethink their use of disposable items and ultimately reduce waste in general. 

23. Marie in Versailles by Melinda Hicks

I love making Historically inspired dresses. This pattern sat in my collection for nearly 15 years, as you need at least 15 meters to create the style and silhouette for it to be convincing. I then realised curtains, particularly sets of curtains, contained reams of fabric. For the other gem, wedding and formal dresses, there is so much that can be used off them in many additional projects, including the boning and lining, the hoops, beads pearls and lace, if you are lucky enough to obtain and enormous lengths of fabric in the skirts and trains. 

The first dress I made was with four curtain panels and has been worn to the French festival.  This Marie Antionette inspired court dress started life as a wedding dress I was lucky enough to pick up for $20. I love using wedding dresses as there is so much beauty that can't just be for one day, and then forgotten up cycling transforms into new outfits with new purpose while still retaining a story of its beginning. The yellow fabric a $10 remnant from my local op-shop it too needed a little creative pattern placing and a lot of patience. It took about 90 hours to make and cost $30.  

The 1950s was an era of 'boom' to the extent that the children of the period are known as boomers (of which I am one). This work expresses the optimism of the 1950s, a period of extravagance, abundance and effervescence. 

Seventeen gores, that measure 4 cm at the waist and  50 cm at the hem line, are embellished with a variety of textures created with scraps of denim. The skirt is enhanced by a net petticoat. The denim jacket is made up of the off cuts from the jeans used in the skirt.  The corset is created from new denim but adorned in a range of buttons from old shirts, dresses and coats.  The boots are made from denim and leather - both offcuts from other projects. This outfit was submitted to the first Sydney Wearable Art Gala in 2023. 

A denim and tulle dress, a dreamy, dramatic piece crafted entirely from materials once destined for landfill. Made from old jeans and curtains, layered with waste tulle, netting, and discarded silk lining, this dress brings together contrast and elegance with a conscience. Striking and refined, structured yet soft, it’s a statement in both style and sustainability. This is couture with a purpose.

• Skirt, top and headpiece circles made in Upcycle Newcastle’s Rescued and Reimagined workshops.
• Skirt and top construction by Cathy Stuart
• Headpiece construction by Julie Jackson
• Gloves by Shelby Burns 

A striking fusion of softness and strength. This piece is built from cutting room waste from local company JettProof, and single-use plastic lids, which provides internal structure. It’s a dress that holds itself; sculptural, unexpected, and designed to challenge our ideas of what waste can become. 

The Upcycle team collected dozens of single use plastic lids (e.g. yoghurt, dips, cream, cheese). Circles of the 2 way stretch fabric were hand stitched with a gathering thread, stretched and secured over each plastic lid. These circles were then overlapped and hand stitched together through the 2 lids, to maintain rigidity across the joins. Pliers were often needed to work the needle through the plastic layers, with many broken needles along the way! 

The Lid Vicious Dress is a testament to creative problem-solving, material innovation, and the beauty of second chances.  

Rock Candy by Katrina Flett Gulbrandsen & Suz Allibone for The Full Circle Collective reimagines the ubiquitous t-shirt, transforming 35 landfill-bound shirts into a vibrant, sculptural exploration of textile waste. 

32. Cat Suit, Jacket and pants by Cathy Stuart

An altered and embellished men’s suit coat takes on new life — reworked with unexpected details and creative flair. It’s paired with a bold bottom half: upcycled denim shorts, extended and reinvented into statement-making pants. This outfit plays with contrast — structure and softness, tradition and rebellion — all stitched together with a circular mindset.  

Cuddle Bug by Spangled Visions is a playful, nostalgic, and slightly chaotic celebration of childhood comfort reimagined as wearable art. The vest bursts with colour and texture, made by meticulously sewing a variety of soft toy animals—each one repurposed, loved, and layered to create a tactile armour of plush joy. 

Paired with the vest are statement trousers that continue the theme: a floppy-eared bunny clings to one ankle, while another perches cheekily on the opposite knee. Equal parts fashion and sculpture, Cuddle Bug blurs the line between whimsy and wearable commentary, inviting audiences to reflect on themes of memory, material excess, and emotional attachment. This outfit doesn’t just walk, it cuddles its way down the runway. 

Skirt and sleeves made in Upcycle Newcastle’s Rescued and Reimagined workshops. 
Top and Hat made by Cathy Stuart. 
This sculptural look takes its cues from Issey Miyake’s iconic Minaret series of the mid-1990s, reimagined with rescued materials and experimental flair. Created from discarded T-shirts and wire from old coat hangers, it elevates waste materials to create an outfit with structure and movement.  

Continuous yarns were cut from T-shirts and wrapped around wire hoops to create the skirt. Using multiple T-shirts with varying amounts of stretch, it was difficult to keep a consistent shape – one of the challenges of using waste rather than standardised materials! External overlocked seams were used to create the fabric for the top and sleeves. Heavy iron-on interfacing gave structure to the soft T-shirt fabric for the hat. 

It’s a bold nod to design history, with a circular (economy) twist. 

35. Featherama led by Cateen Van Bergen, Ann McLaughlin, Lyn McBriarty, Linda King and Uscha Heilmann for Upcycle Newcastle  

Toxic Tango uses seductive allure to reflect our problematic relationship with single-use plastics. It mirrors the back & forth of our awareness of the environmental impact of our excess, yet the difficulty to resist its convenience. 
 
Inspired by the blue glaucus sea slug, thriving amidst the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, this wearable artwork is a visceral reminder of our throw-away culture. 
 
Crafted from salvaged plastics, fused with heat, creating a unique Upcycled textile. The making of this piece included discarded garbage bags, hay bale strapping, aluminium cans, plastic bottles, can pull tabs, onion bags, freezer bags & foam packaging.  
The artwork itself embodies the very excess it critiques.  
 
Toxic Tango ignites a dialogue about humanities insatiable lust for consumption and its poisonous consequences for our environment.