Sustainability is Sexy
We will talk to leaders in the sustainability space to provide insights, solutions and updates for creating a healthier planet.
Sustainability is Sexy
121: Upperhandmedown
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In this episode, Liz speaks with Steph Olshanski, artist and owner of the online thrift store and upcycle shop, Upperhandmedown. Listen to learn about sustainable fabrics, fast fashion vs. a closed loop system and the benefits of purchasing second hand.
Upperhandmedown: http://www.upperhandmedown.com
Sustainability is Sexy: https://www.sustainabilityissexy.org
Hello and welcome to Sustainability is Sexy, the podcast, where we talk about all things sustainable from regenerative agriculture, alternative to single-use plastic, and everything in between. I'm your host, Liz Murphy, and each episode I will talk to leaders in the sustainability space to provide insights, innovation, and inspiration for all of us to create a healthier planet.
SPEAKER_02On today's episode, we have Steph Olshansky, local upcycling artist and creator of Upper Hand Me Down. Welcome to the podcast, Steph. Thank you. Happy to be here. Super excited to be talking to you today. For those of you that don't know, Steph is my roommate, so we hang out all the time together. So this is going to be super fun to actually do the podcast. I honestly want to jump right in because I find that talking to people about their backgrounds a little bit gives us some insight into how you started your business and why you started your business. So first things first, have you always been a thrifter?
SPEAKER_03I probably definitely maybe yes. My mother was very big into buying things secondhand and she kind of taught me her bargaining skills. And then when I got old enough to buy my own stuff, that was just my number one uh solution. Literally for anything from clothing to dishes to I'm no discriminator against secondhand.
SPEAKER_02I'm always jealous of people that grew up that way or that had that innate sense of I should be buying secondhand because I honestly didn't even think about it too much until I met you. Except for like maybe financially, I thought maybe it'd be a smarter decision to buy secondhand, but it just wasn't really ingrained in me to go thrifting. So that's that's really super cool. So what what tell me a story about something from when you were a kid that you remember? Do you remember any like cool thrifting things?
SPEAKER_03I nothing that was like found, but my mom would drag us to antique shops. Like in Pennsylvania, they were everywhere. And so I would just be this little kid. Every shelf was so much taller than me, and walking through everything smelled old, and there was like old music and just these huge warehouses, and just loving how everything was like glass, and how you just knew it all had a history. And but she would collect things and sell them on eBay, and so I got to see all of them. Yeah, those type of things.
SPEAKER_02Smart lady.
SPEAKER_03She had it before it happened.
SPEAKER_02I mean, there's lots of reasons why we should be buying or could be buying secondhand, but what do you think are the most important things about secondhand purchases?
SPEAKER_03Well, when I started, when I really committed to it, it was over the issue of clothing and how my budget as a you know preteen or even college student, I couldn't afford good quality clothing. And so my I saw my choices would either be really fast fashion that would fall apart in the washer, or I had to come up with something else. And so when I started going to thrift stores, I saw that you could get really good quality for so much less. But my one hang-up was um, I challenged myself as a teenager to like try and buy everything made in the USA. And then once you really start looking into that, it's nearly impossible. And then, especially with secondhand, I would painstakingly look at the labels to see where things were made. And same issue, like hardly any of it's made in the USA, but that money's already in the economy. Somebody already bought that garment. It's already been, you know, 17 seasons ago. So it doesn't, that part of it doesn't matter. It's the fact that you're the the even better fact that you're reusing something that was already made so that it doesn't end up in a landfill quite as soon because a lot of the stuff still will end up there, but it's giving it like prolonging the life. And I also love having my own like fashion sense. So it's you just have way more to work with when you have hundreds of brands in one room rather than a store to go to.
SPEAKER_02So what is fast fashion and why is it negative?
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Fast fashion is when you think of big box store companies that I mean, I don't know if I should name names, but with that, like they have their essential model is that they copy whatever's on the runways in New York and all of those places, but they copy it so that it's cheaper, it's produced faster, and it's kind of keeps up with the seasons that are the collections that these big designers produce. So it's fast because they have a quick turnaround, and then as soon as that collection's done, they're on to the next thing. But what they do, you know, like everything that's made quickly and cheaply, it's it's outsourced to other countries. It's um though even those brands that are producing the fast fashion, they don't even know necessarily what's going on in those warehouses, and there's just so much stuff that's overlooked that to produce that garment, no garment should ever cost $5. If you're getting it super cheap on sale, whatever, just when you think about the person who literally operated that machine or made it by hand, took them however much time, that's not worth $5. That's not a livable wage, nothing. So the unfortunate part of it is that we're very used to those cheap prices. So we kind of think that more expensive items are just not worth it because you can already get something so cheap. That's where thrift stores come in handy, and that where I'm happy to be alive when we have thrift stores because we still have this cheaper option, even though we should really get to a place where we can all afford sustainable clothing and that it's all, you know, sustainable.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. And it's a, it's, it's just like everything else that we talk about on this podcast, it's a mental shift, you know, from that programming or that box that we've been put in when it comes to cheap clothing. Right. Um, and understanding it. I'm still learning all the time. I, you know, I see a garment that is uh has no plastic, that's handmade, that is $40 instead of five. And my brain automatically says, well, why wouldn't I choose the five dollar piece of clothing? Um but I'm starting to learn that there's a reason that that is so cheap.
SPEAKER_03I thought about it today that it's it's kind of similar to, I don't know if people that are listening have made the switch or tried to just cold turkey get rid of paper towels. Because that's something that especially in America, we're so used to using that once it's once you realize what what's happening and you you adjust to the you know cloth pads or whatever you replace it with that's more sustainable. Um once you're adjusted to it, you you think, why would I ever have ever done really created it? It will be a shock because it's not it's just so ingrained in us. It's just not natural. Yeah, it's super true.
SPEAKER_02Yes, I love that. Yeah. Um, so you're an artist, you've always been an artist, and you've found a way to combine your creativity and your passion for sustainable clothing into upper hand-me-down. So let's jump in and talk about that. So, what is upper hand-me-down?
SPEAKER_03Upper hand me down was kind of born out of me trying to mix all of my, a few of my, not all of them, all of my passions into one thing. I've enjoyed getting to get into more sustainable practices over the last few years. And I love fashion and I love um painting and sewing. So, among other things. But I um when I put it all together, kind of came up with this kind of midterm solution to fast fashion and what's going on in the fashion industry, because when you think about it, most objects in the world, especially clothing, they have a linear life. So they're in a line creation to destruction. But the those two processes, creating it and destroying it, have like such a huge impact on the environment and just very unnecessary. About 15% of all materials end up on the cutting room floor when something is designed. And that's a lot of material that is either incinerated or goes to the landfill. And then we all know kind of what happens at the end. You just toss it and it's we think it's gone forever, but it's not. What I'm kind of trying to do is get on the bandwagon of turning that line into a loop. So if you think about taking the end back to the beginning, that clothing that you're done with has to go somewhere other than a landfill. So we're not at a place yet where fabric has come far enough technologically that it can be recycled, reused into the same product. Um, we you physically cannot break down most clothing that has polyester in it. It's just not recyclable. So that that clothing is going to stay how it is. So when you turn it back around, you can keep using these same things again and again, not just as the shirt that it used to be, but as you know, a purse or just a patch on a pair of jeans or something. So finding use for the material to keep it out of the landfill because the hard truth of it is it will eventually go there. But if you just, you know, wear something one extra year, purchase from the second hand and give those clothes a couple extra years of life, when you think about the millions of clothing garments that are in the world, that just would reduce the landfill so much and even just our own carbon footprint of not having to create so many new things every yeah, because it would reduce the demand for the new stuff. Right.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And so while we're waiting for everything to catch up with creating the sustainable things that can be in a circle all the time, this is kind of a way to what I like to say is that it's upper hand-me-down is giving the upper hand to the perspective of second hand and hand-me-down clothing by simply just upcycling what's already in the system.
SPEAKER_00Today's episode is brought to you by the Mighty Bin, San Diego's first zero waste grocery store coming to North Park at the end of 2021. Get sustainability tips, construction updates, and details of their grand opening by following them on Instagram or signing up for the Grand Opening Raffle at themightybin.com.
SPEAKER_02Okay, so I live with you, so I've seen all of the cool stuff that you've been making. I get super obsessed with everything that you do, but I want to know some of your favorite projects that you've done so far with Upper Hand Me Down.
SPEAKER_03Just about everything I do, I love doing. That's good. Yeah. But I one of my favorite things to do is take something that's broken and fix it by turning it into something new. So taking like an old piece of jewelry from the 80s that is damaged or um it's just a little dirty, cleaning it up and turning it into a pair of earrings or um something that's usable now. Taking old leather scraps or fabric scraps and um turning those into chokers because let's be honest, fashion is always based on trends that gives you a lot of creativity to just always keep experimenting and applying old things into new things. One one project I'm looking forward to is I found at a thrift store a just a huge piece of pink silk that happened to have an embroidered dragon on it. Yeah. And I've been saving it for so long because it needs to go on the right jacket or whatever the hell becomes like something that inspires me because you don't just run into something like that. If you see that made in a store by like Gucci or something, it's thousands of dollars because it is actual silk, but it was just sitting there, just a fabric for like two dollars. So awesome.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I've seen I've seen Steph take uh well, obviously paints jackets, which is incredible, like really artistically paints jackets. She's taken t-shirts and turned them into tank tops for me, taken old jackets and used my old band t-shirts to patch them on and make really, really cool jackets. Uh, I am the recipient of many a painted earring and sweet chokers. And I just, as somebody that I have creativity, uh, you know, for those of you that know me, I'm a chef and a musician. But when it comes to that painting, crafting, sewing, it is such a foreign concept to me that I just get so excited and impressed when I see what you're doing. So, where can we find your stuff?
SPEAKER_03You can find me on um Instagram, is a lot of my products, but also um educational things that you can find, just the basics of what is even polyester, what is fast fashion. Um, I'm trying to constantly update that with products as well as um just information that people don't readily have, they don't readily think about until something affects them to actually look for it. But I also have a website, upperhammerdown.com, and I'm always expanding that with um blog posts and uh different things. I'm toying with the idea, once everybody is allowed into the world again, of having kind of like a repair service where I've darned people's socks and things that you know you don't these skills, which is amazing, these skills everyone had the female in the household had all of these skills 100 years ago before that. Then we, as we just gradually make things more convenient, we lose these skills. And it's not that it's impossible if if everybody could do it back then, we definitely can do it now.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's something I said when it comes to a lot of the sustainable practices within various industries, is that we're going backwards in order to go forwards because we have to pick up these skills that we had.
SPEAKER_03It's it's all about in everything that's on a line, you have to go back to the beginning to change what's happening there. Yes, in order to make progress. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Well, as somebody that um is newer to attempting to have a more sustainable closet, what is a what do you think is a first step or one of the first few things that people can do to start living more sustainably in the fashion, in their fashion?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, well, oh, there's so many steps. Um simple, simple things. Simple things. Well, the first thing that comes to mind is um wear what you own. The most sustainable garment in your closet is the one that's already in your closet. Like it's you're just gonna keep using that, and that's that's what's best for the environment. Um, learn how to hand wash things, stop using your dryer so much. There's there's very simple things we can take into account to have an environmental impact that doesn't mean trashing our current closet for all these new things. And honestly, reduce too. If you don't think that you use half of what's in your closet, give it to somebody who needs it and only keep what you absolutely love to put on your body because that's what clothing's here for.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, 100%. That's a really good suggestion. And then in the same vein, I always like to ask my guests for a sustainable practice or product. It does not have to be anything to do with fashion. It absolutely can be. But something that you use in your own life that you love that you've, you know, found has benefited you.
SPEAKER_03Well, it's not super, like you said, related to fashion. But one of the things that impacted me when I finally made the switch was to kind of find alternatives to all of my personal products, like soaps and shampoos, and kind of just going for things that don't have as many harsh chemicals or just natural. My skin has appreciated it so much. And my hair, and I think that that would be it would very be very hard for you to just give me something that had a bunch of chemicals really useless. So obviously there's millions of products you can choose from, but you know, just try to make baby steps and and see how you feel. And yeah.
SPEAKER_02One other question that I thought of that I think would help me and probably other people that are trying to implement some of these things is what fabrics should we be looking for to support?
SPEAKER_03Great question. The fabrics that you know to be natural, basically anything that's plant-based at this point. That's cotton, linen, although cotton has some issues with how it's grown, but it is um more sustainable. Gene is made from cotton, but you know that every a lot of things are made with jeans. What else? Is bamboo uh bamboo, yeah, and and hemp, they're getting more popular. If if you're able to, I would say the one that you should absolutely try to avoid is polyester. It has seeped its way into so many things, but there are things that are, you know, still don't have it in there.
SPEAKER_02I think that we can look at a lot of different parts of our life, just like you mentioned with the beauty products, when you're talking about the food that you're putting into your body, instead of getting processed fake food, get food from the ground, it's the same thing, it sounds like when it comes to fabrics. Yeah. So just being a little bit more aware of polyester and things that right.
SPEAKER_03And that's and I'm only talking about things that are new. If you go to a thrift store, you know, have at it. As long as you love what you're buying and you don't just buy just because of the deal, that is also a you know a hard thing to work out of our brains. Is it's a deal, but is it a deal for?
SPEAKER_02That was like a really massive thing for me that has made a huge difference. Is I used to be the kind of clothing shopper specifically that I would buy things even if I didn't 100% like it. Like I would put it on, I was like, okay, it fits kind of cool and it's inexpensive, so I'll buy it. Sits in my closet, would never wear it. It's just been such a shift to clean out my closet first of all, all of those articles, and then give them to you so that you can do other things with them. But um, and then really what I see in my closet now is what I wear regularly. And it's so different because I spent so many years of my life staring at half of my closet that I hadn't worn in years. And why the heck were I put that in there? It's just such a weird thing that we do. Um, so yeah, so I have definitely benefited from uh being more educated on this. And as Steph mentioned, you she has really amazing educational materials on the website and on her Instagram. Um, it's a really big part of what she does. It's not just making things, it's also teaching and educating.
SPEAKER_03I think with anything sustainable, it's not just creating a replacement for what's going on, it's it's changing your whole mindset on why you're doing it. Because if you don't have the the why behind you're making these changes, they're not gonna last. So yeah, it is great to once once you're exposed to the information, it's it's just brings you more and more power.
SPEAKER_02Which I love about it. Yeah. So thank you so much for being here today, Steph. I have been looking forward to this interview and I'm so glad that we've been able to complete it because it's a new concept for me, this um, you know, sustainable fashion world. Um, and the more that I learn and the more that I learn about the resources here in San Diego, um, you know, through you and through a couple other of local brands that are are really focused on it, I just am really appreciating it.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it's honestly something that's so little is known across the board about it. It's just not presented anywhere. So you're definitely not the only one that that just hasn't even heard or seen. And there's no shame in that. It's just, you know, educating yourself. And yeah, that's what I'm all about.
SPEAKER_02That's what you're here for. It's great. You can find more information on Instagram at Upper Hand Me Down and online at upperhandme.com. As always, all of the resources and brands mentioned on today's podcast will be linked for your reference. Until next time, I'm Liz Murphy sending you sustainability love from San Diego.
SPEAKER_01Sustainability is Sexy is a nonprofit organization located in San Diego, California, focused on inspiring and driving innovation within our community to create real change. Learn more at sustainability issexy.org and find out how you can be involved.