I started following Jen Pistor on Instagram and quickly realized that her fashion philosophy would make her a perfect fit for my Metamorphosis project! She writes and shares about ethical and sustainable fashion (among other things - check our her blog here). And…it turns out that she lives just up the street from me!
I scheduled Jen’s metamorphosis for September, and shortly after, she reposted the image in the gallery below (from @fashiontakesaction) that reads: Thrifted. Borrowed. Swapped. Vintage. Used. Handed Down. Reused. #SecondHandSeptember
It’s like the stars were aligning for this specific metamorphosis project!
My metamorphosis project involves using old jewellery that we no longer wear because it is broken, outdated, etc. I find ways to reuse items as is if possible and if not, I melt them down and turn them into something new.
Although I can provide people with new materials, I really love melting down people’s old jewellery. Not only is it fascinating to see what kind of jewellery people bring me, sustainable business practices’ are really important to me and using recycled materials is a huge part of that.
Jen brought me an assortment of her old silver jewellery and mentioned wanting some stackable bands. Here’s the thing: they may seem simple to design, but when you’re making something for someone who is an advocate of slow fashion, you really want to make something that isn’t just your average stackable band.
(Sidenote: Slow fashion is the movement of designing, creating, and buying garments for quality and longevity. It encourages slower production schedules, fair wages, lower carbon footprints, and (ideally) zero waste.)
Getting a sense of Jen’s style was pretty easy thanks to the deep creep I did on her instagram (go to her IG here) and blog. I have a new appreciation for the colour yellow thanks to Jen and how she wears and styles the colour! As such, I decided to add 14k yellow gold to the three stackable silver rings I chose to make her.
One band has five mini-hydrangeas in 14k yellow gold to represent each member of her family (hydrangeas are her favourite flower that make her think of her grandmother). They aren’t symmetrically placed nor are they perfect. At first this made me nervous but nothing in life is perfect which is what makes things imperfectly perfect. When I told Jen this, she added that she is an advocate of body positivity and loving ourselves in however shape we come so this ring actually really speaks to her! How perfect!
The second band at first just seemed like a design that would pair well with the hydrangea-band, but as I made it I got thinking about all the dualities in life but especially those of motherhood. We may be mum’s, but we are still women with individual personalities outside of what motherhood requires and it’s important for us not to forget that. We can't pour from an empty cup so it's important to take care of ourselves.
I set the third band with 12 citrines (yellow! And also her birthstones) because mum’s are always on…24 stones would have been more accurate to represent 24 hours in a day but I was thinking of a 12 hour clock.
They can be worn together or alone and pair well with most outfits.
I have learned so much about the fashion industry from following Jen on Instagram and I would encourage you to do the same. We can all do a little more to help create a more sustainable world and education is the first step!
