Fashion Under Foxholes

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contents “anthropo”-problems p.3 same as it ever was? p.4 1 - production: spindle whorl p.6 2 - use-life: needle p.8 3 - disposal: bead p.10 What are we missing? p.12 learn more p.14 bibliography p.15

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” o p o r h t s “an m e l b o pr We live in a time that many scientists are calling the Anthropocene (anthropos meaning “human” in Greek). Essentially, since the Industrial Revolution, human activity has had such a huge impact on the world that what we live in now is a new geological era. As exciting as that sounds, it’s also terrifying - the things that make us stand apart from previous people are our waste products, which go into landfill where they will be mummified for millions of years, brewing methane and carbon dioxide. ll space is at least 7% of landfi that’s 92 taken up by clothes: million tons

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de & t a m ople the pas t e p tha how es in s t y a ng oth rent wa of i l k c o lo their ffe es out i d wore show us p cloth future e can ght kee in th mi dfill lan

Same a s it ev er was?

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...It hasn’t always been like this!

According to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, we need to transition to a “circular economy,” where things are made to last, and instead of throwing stuff away, we recycle or fix it.

Archaeology shows us proof that throughout much of prehistory, this is actually how people lived - and it worked - for thousands of years!

Excavations at Foxholes in the 70s and 80s revealed evidence that helps us understand ways past living was more sustainable than it is today - a few of the artefacts from the excavation report are explored in-depth over the next few pages ->

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A spindle whorl is used to spin wool into thread - a technology that is still used today & has existed since the Neolithic (10,000 years ago!!)

*production

of because ry e t a d o d t tte l is har sed on other po r o h w e l nd ba This spi was found, but ly from just b where it site it’s proba eriod. p from the ring the Roman u before/d

1. spindle whorl made from a broken pot

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At Foxholes, at least 10 items were found that had been made out of broken pots - mainly spindle whorls or game counters.

This degree of recycling is common across prehistory, because things took time and effort to make - so very little went to waste!

(in istory e h e r p in ad eople ow it was m p t a h t w & h e abou Age) wore r o m t u n Find o se, the Iro a this c

modern clothes production is wasteful At the moment, the fashion industry produces 10% of the world’s greenhouses gases, and 20% of the world’s waste water fashion ly t n e r r u The c ncredib i s i y industr - this video s l ce wastefu w many resour of o r shows h a single pai go into jeans

... can we ever be waste-free? that people in the past were Archaeological evidence tells us ancient clothes production, not producing very little waste - in whorls, they also used blocky only did people recycle spindle and dyed their clothes with local patterns (reducing fabric waste) plants (reducing chemical waste) Ways to reduce waste in clothes production (without going back to tartan dresses): avoid fast fashion (guide to sustainable UK brands) buy second-hand (e.g. charity shops/apps like Depop & Vinted) choose more sustainable fabrics (learn more here)

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ts to haeologis he past c r a r o f in t icult It’s diff uch about clothes so m ed find out ey usually degrad preserve h s because t ut some condition ies), and b od b , on quickly atter (e.g. bog ere used organic m k at tools that w oo we also l clothes

*use-life

Tools l i product ke needles we r ion, bu t also e used in clo from bo thes for mai g bodie n s cloaks were of we know that tenance: ten pat they ri shoes a c p n away... ped, instead hed over when d of bein g throw n

2. bone needle

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No needles were recorded in the 1989 excavation report. In fact, no wood or bone artefacts are recorded at all - this is because they are very fragile and break down easily over time. In places where conditions are more favourable, we do find small items like bone needles and awls, especially in domestic spaces similar to those found at Foxholes - so it’s quite safe to assume that there were needles on site, they’ve just disintegrated over time!

Clothes are barely worn before they’re binned times ems are only worn 7-10 it ny ma at th ow kn u yo Did nowadays? That’s a huge before being thrown away years or so. It’s all 35 st pa e th in ly on e, declin hrowaway culture” part of what’s called “t Rather than throwing cl them to charity shop othes away, consider donating s, or even selling them secondhand. If they ’re broken, consider mending instead of replacin g them.

ing mak for er eas ong w id st l A fe s la the clo 9

xholes likely This glass bead from Fo nturies A.D. but dates to the 4th-5th ce in Britain from glass beads were made rds! the early Iron Age onwa

*disposal

3. glass bead made to last Being a bead isn’t easy - bei ng worn means bashing against things, so they wer e often made out of durable materials like glass, stone, shell, or amber.

These make very colourful bea ds, but they also last practically forever!

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goods. in burials as grave d un fo n te of e ar ial s Glass bead meant something spec at ve ha d ul co ey th nse th This means that em. It would make se th th wi ed ri bu le to the peop your whole y, that has lasted da y er ev rn wo g h. in someth ur grave after deat yo to in u yo ow ll fo life, would

the trouble with “made to last” been “Made to last” might have

othes in perfect for jewellery & cl treasured prehistory, when they were tions, and handed down over genera es... grav eventually being buried in

But the problem to day is that things made to break, BU ar T they’re still ma e de using materials that la st forever - arou nd clothes made toda y are made of plas 50% of tic.

last things that g n i k a m e ng them r ’ We ren’t treati a e w t u b , r foreve ! like they do

n we ow t a h e for w ge how w y t i n l sibi can cha n o p s e we ing r uss how k a wear t e c t w s r i a t d to st w pages bout wha e v a a e We h next f think the

-

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e w e r a t Wha missing?

It’s clear that people in the past held differ ent attitudes towards the things they owned than we the 21st century is ma rked by mass consumptio do now n and the production of enourmou s quantities of waste.

One takeaway from the 3 artefacts from Foxholes discussed in this zine is that people in the past were much more connected than we are to the things that they owned. They were reluctant to get rid of things, instead recycling, mending, or re-purposing what they already owned, even taking things they loved with them to the grave.

...it’s not going to completely fix the problems of landfill or global warming, but if we start thinking about things we own not as disposable products but as things to be cherished and maintained, we are taking a vital step closer to the “circular economy” outlined in the UN’s goals for sustainability.

... so we have to get in touch with what we own.

There are plenty of ways to do this! A few ideas have already been discussed, can you think of any more?

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1. Production

Gettin g back in touc h with th ings

Think about something you’re wearing right now. How much do you know about where it came from?

What materials is it made of? How are those material s produced?

How long have you owned it? How much longer do you think it will last?

Being mindful of what you buy is really important, because a lot of the time, sustainably made material s last longer than machine-made fast fashion - so you’ re saving money investing in the long run!

2. Use t ways -purposing are all grea re d an , ng pi ap sw g, in Mend n you phase last longer... ca to make clothing’s use- u could make your clothes last yo think of any other ways you longer? ng special - something hi ot cl of em it an s ke What ma d of? wouldn’t want to get ri nks to resources for li of s ad lo s ha ge pa ve (or The next which might help you sa g, in nd me c si ba ng ni lear vourite clothes... even upcycle!) your fa

3. Disposal Have you ever used an app for selling second -hand clothes, or donated ol d clothes to a charity shop? (there are several real ly good charity shops in Hertford!)

Do you know where your local clothes recyclin g bin is?

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Learn more Audiobooks & podcasts Lauren Bravo - How to Break Up With Fast Fashion Noted - Fast Fashion: “Enough clothes to dress the next six generations”

Events/exhibitions Museum of London - “A Stitch in Time” mending workshop V&A - Textile Activism and Fashion Upcycling workshop

Accounts to follow Instagram @fashmash @thesustainablefashionfor um @visible_creative_mending TikTok @livekindly @slowstitchclub @myvisiblemend X (Twitter) @S4sSensibility @sustcollective

he e in t r e h d ne mentio s t c a f te any ar t o p s u Can yo d Museum?* r o Hertf

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phy a r g o i l b i B A stitch in time: Mending workshop [WWW Document], n.d. . Museum of London. URL https://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/museum-london-docklands/whats-on/stitch-timemending-workshop?id=339608 (accessed 2.1.24).

Beall, A., n.d. Why clothes are so hard to recycle [WWW Document]. URL https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200710-why-clothes-are-so-hard-to-recycle (accessed 1.30.24).

Bravo, L., 2021. How to break up with fast fashion: a guilt-free guide to changing the way you shop - for good. Headline Publishing Group, London.

Buckingham, F., 2019. Future Archaeology 6.0 : exploring the fashion designers practice for the future. UNSW Sydney. https://doi.org/10.26190/UNSWORKS/21202 ClarityIM, 2023. Guide to sustainable clothing brands UK. The Mindful Shopper. URL https://mindfulshopper.co.uk/quick-guide-to-sustainable-clothing-brands/ (accessed 1.31.24).

Garik, 2020. A Guide to the Most and Least Sustainable Fabrics. Eco-Stylist. URL https://www.eco-stylist.com/a-guide-to-the-most-and-least-sustainable-fabrics/ (accessed 1.31.24).

Giles, M., 2020. Bog bodies: face to face with the past. Manchester University Press, Manchester.

Giles, M., 2012. A Forged Glamour : Landscape, Identity and Material Culture in the Iron Age. Windgather Press, Bollington.

Guido, M., 1978. The glass beads of the prehistoric and Roman periods in Britain and Ireland. Society of Antiquaries of London : Distributed by Thames and Hudson, London.

Igini, M., 2023. 10 Concerning Fast Fashion Waste Statistics [WWW Document].

Earth.Org. URL https://earth.org/statistics-about-fast-fashion-waste/ (accessed 1.30.24).

Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology | Hertford, n.d. . Hertford Museum. URL https://www.hertfordmuseum.org/collections/archaeology (accessed 2.1.24).

Neshovski, R., n.d. Home [WWW Document]. United Nations Sustainable Development.

URL https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/ (accessed 1.30.24).

Partridge, C., 1989. Foxholes farm: a multi-period gravel site, Hertfordshire Archaeological Trust monograph. Hertfordshire Archaeological Trust, Hertford.

Ro, C., n.d. Can fashion ever be sustainable? [WWW Document]. URL https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200310-sustainable-fashion-how-to-buyclothes-good-for-the-climate (accessed 1.30.24).

Ruiz, A., 2023. 17 Most Worrying Textile Waste Statistics & Facts [2024] [WWW Document]. URL https://theroundup.org/textile-waste-statistics/ (accessed 1.30.24).

The astonishing amount of water used to make a pair of jeans! | Fashion Conscious - BBC, 2019.

The life cycle of a t-shirt - Angel Chang, 2017.

The true cost of fast fashion, 2018.

What did Iron Age women wear? (cir. 300-200BCE, NW Europe / Britain), 2023.

What does our rubbish say about us? | British Museum [WWW Document], n.d. URL https://www.britishmuseum.org/blog/what-does-our-rubbish-say-about-us (accessed 2.1.24). *All photos used are either stock or taken by author.

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Created in January 2024.

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