Hi guys! Vintage and Upcycling is one of the more niche societies on campus – how can people get involved?
Hiya! Our name may sound niche but really we’re for anyone with an interest in alternative or vintage culture! This includes clothes, music, movies, art, literature etc.etc. Whether that means you’re a teddy boy, new romantic or just love dungarees we’re open to everyone!
It’s cliché but the best way to get involved is to just jump in! We’re all really friendly I promise We post updates and socials on our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/VintageSoc/) so feel free to message us. Or just holla if you see us around campus, I’m the one with the headscarf and scary boots, Ella is the 1940s queen!
2) Speaking very generally, what are the main aims and agenda of V+U?
Essentially we just want to carve out a space for like-minded people to chill together! We want to create a community where people can have fun and express themselves away from the mainstream. Our members can dress how they want, watch whatever movies they want, listen to whatever music they want without any judgement! We don’t really have an agenda, it’s a flexible society that can be what its members want it to be.
But we do have a more serious side: the benefit of vintage and upcycling is that they help to lessen demand in the fast fashion industry, the second biggest polluter of the planet after the oil industry. So we help the planet and get drunk, win-win!
3) So how does sustainability come into all of this? It seems a bit random
For me the reason I got into second-hand clothes was originally to try and create my own style. However, the more I got into fashion the more I realised how important it is to reuse and resell old clothes because this lessens demand on the fast fashion industry. The fast fashion industry relies on exploitative, practically slave, labour which is mostly made up of women and children. As a feminist I could not support this. Then I watched The True Cost which changed everything for me. The fast fashion industry is destroying the planet, way more than agriculture or the meat industry, yet we here little about this because we all want a cheap new blouse. So for me style and sustainability go hand in hand.
In the future we want to try and raise awareness of what a massive issue the fast fashion industry is. We hope to do a film night and discussion based around The True Cost. Hopefully we will also collaborate with other societies on Campus to campaign together.
I realise this all sounds super heavy! Our main aim is to have fun I promise!
4) What kind of social events does V+U host?
Our events really vary, we like to try and do what our members want to. Our non-drinking events include clothes swaps, charity shop crawls, vintage movie nights etc. For example, this Saturday (15th October) we’re doing a trip to Vintage in the Village in Coventry and then going to get food! (cheeky plug!) Our nights out are mostly get-togethers in cool bars, bar crawls ending at an alternative music night, cocktail /house parties, group trips to gigs- anything a bit different involving alcohol and we’ll be there! That being said we are planning a ‘Mean Girls vs Clueless’ themed Pop circle. (As if!) In the future we hope to collaborate with other societies like the craft society so there will be even more variety in our socials.
5) How does V+U connect with the rest of campus life?
We try to interact and collaborate with other societies on campus to spread the Vintage and Upcycling Soc love. All our events are open to members and non-members meaning that anyone at Warwick can drop by to any of them! But really our main aim is to create an ‘atlernative’ kind of space at Warwick so on the whole we try not to rely too heavily on campus life.
6) Why should people join V+U?
Because it’s free.