Boo to fast fashion: Go green this Halloween

By: Jera Aideen Schiffrer

Is Halloween as wasteful as its notorious reputation? Growing pressure on people to buy new costumes each year, combined with rapidly changing trends and cheap materials, leads to overconsumption and a short lifespan for the pieces. 

Local Galway businesses, charity shops, and vintage stores are trying to combat the environmental impact of this type of consumerism by upcycling and repurposing preloved garments, giving them a new lease on life. 

Planet Retro, a Galway classic, has recently opened two Halloween pop-up shops, offering consumers an alternative way to celebrate the holiday. One in the Eyre Square shopping centre (across from Evergreen Health Shop) and one on Abbeygate Street, in addition to their home base on Merchant’s Road. Their shops offer customers a wide variety of everyday pieces alongside numerous Halloween-specific costumes. From bumblebees to sea creatures and clowns, there is a costume for everyone of all ages and sizes. 

Geraldine Concannon, owner of Planet Retro, explained how they source the stock for their pop-ups at home and abroad, being mindful about recycled materials.  

Geraldine Concannon, owner of Planet Retro, explained how they source stock for their pop-ups at home and abroad, with a focus on recycled materials. “Of course [shop like our pop-ups] [help], 1000 per cent, every costume we have in here is recycled. “Concannon admitted that they need to buy some of the accessories as otherwise “people go crazy looking for them [in other shops].” 

Planet Retro finds many of its pieces in mainland Europe, where another holiday, Carnival, is celebrated each spring. Carnival, like Halloween, is a holiday surrounded by overconsumption, where people dress up and celebrate the end of Winter in elaborate festivals. By repurposing those garments, Planet Retro is helping create a cyclical economy, repurposing items from home and abroad. 

Concannon emphasised the importance of creativity when choosing a costume, saying more students are coming in each year, buying their second-hand items and giving them a new lease on life. 

Some of the items in the Planet Retro shops might not be costume-specific, but a scarf tied around the waist can easily create the illusion of an expensive belt. Concannon invites people of all ages to consider how certain items can be worn in innovative ways.  

While the pieces are not perfect, Planet Retro makes sure they are clean and in good condition before they find their new home. The Pop-ups use a kilo sale approach, with one kilogram of clothing and accessories costing you €25 and half a kilogram costing €15. 

Cheaper costumes may be available elsewhere, but it is important to consider the environmental benefits of reusing and recycling clothing to reduce the amount of waste produced each year. Concannon emphasises the ability to buy multiple costumes in their Pop Ups for a fraction of the price they would cost elsewhere, inviting people to come in together and buy costumes for their entire group. 

It is important to keep sustainability in mind around holidays such as Halloween. Shops like Planet Retro and many others across Galway city can help you find unique costumes while supporting a greater cause. 

Why not pop down and at least give it a chance, or as Concannon says, “Come in [to Planet Retro], if you have an imagination, you won’t fail!”