Buying a dress you only wear once or twice is crazy

Laura McKinnon, who runs dress hire shop Laura’s Dresses on the south side of Glasgow, says she’s delighted the high street is adopting the model she first set up a decade ago.

“In my granny’s day it was all about make do and mend. There was a little black dress for special celebrations and it was worn for each one,” she said.

“Over the years however we have become a throw away culture which is sad and most definitely not good for the environment.

“Buying a dress you will only wear once is crazy and makes no sense. It will hang in your wardrobe gathering dust and taking up space. You wouldn’t buy a pair of shoes, or a jacket to wear once, so why a dress?

“The fact Carrie Johnson, Boris Johnson’s wife, hired her wedding dress raised the profile of hiring expensive dresses and brought about a surge in people wanting to hire. Covid then arrived and everything stopped. No events so nobody needed to hire a dress. Life came to a standstill. Thankfully, things have improved on the pandemic front and with it a resurgence in events and people requiring dresses.

“On the whole people are more aware of the impact on the environment and of recycling items, including dresses. I have seen a marked increase in people contacting me to hire for reasons other than saving money.

“The same dress can be hired several times for various events. I can make minor alterations so the dress can be adapted for different clients. My dresses are cleaned using environmentally-friendly products rather than dry cleaners using specialist chemicals that may not be as kind to the planet.

“Once an item is no longer hireable, I sell, recycle parts that can be reused such as beading and fabric or I donate the dress to a charity shop to ensure its sustainability and life expectancy.”