Like Mother Like Fabulous: A Conversation with Redress & Pizza Express

My big girl is growing up faster than I'd like but rather than lament how quickly she's maturing, I'm choosing to celebrate how our relationship is changing. I have to admit, I really love watching her develop her own personal style and I'm especially thrilled that she's interested in sustainable fashion, too. More than once, she's asked me to take her shopping and I'd be lying if I didn't say how much I was tickled to be asked my opinion about what she wears.

I know I won't always be her go-to for style opinions or other advice, but I hope that she'll always at least consider what I've said when she's asked me. I remember on my own experiences being parented by my mum as I engage with my kiddos. My mum was never one of those pushy mums who thrust her own opinion about things onto me. She waited patiently for us to ask her what we thought about situations before carefully sharing her views on the matter and never in away to change us. I appreciate this. 

Likewise, I feel like allowing my kiddos to come to me has proven more successful. It shows them that as parents we trust them, but also we are undconditionally supportive and honest. Goodness knows, my kiddos are more than honest with me about what I wear (and many other things). And, we've created an environment that allows it, so that's fine.

Back to the topic of this post...for a self motivated learning project this year, my daughter chose to explore upcycling. She had some hand-me-down cast offs from a friend and went about thinking of simple ways to change them into a new outfit. Of course, I directed her to Redress HK's website which gave her all the information she needed to not only understand what upcycling is, but to also explore the bigger environmental issue of textile waste.

When I mentioned this to Christina Dean the next time we spoke, she was keen to give my big girl a chance of her own to ask questions about upcycling, sustainable fashion, etc.

So that's just what we did.

After drafting up some questions for both Christina (Redress) and Liam (Pizza Express) about sustainability and some initiatives they're working on together as well as a few things she was curious about from her own upcycling project, we were set. I was so proud of how well she handled herself talking to these important grown ups. The key part of making this an engaging experience was making sure her questions related to things that mattered to her. How do the sustainable initiatives, ecofashion and sustainability affect her as a nearly teenager?

I also really appreciated the time and respect that these two hugely successful and no doubt busy professionals gave her to have a conversation with them about their work.  Since meeting with them, my Ella has been much more aware of her environmental footprint. She is a conscientious consumer when it comes to buying clothes (we've been on many thrifting adventures and sustainable fashion events together), and she's definitely aware of the need to be more engaged in the conversation about recycling, refusing plastic and ocean pollution with her peers. And more importantly, to make these conversations turn into action.

You can hear more of her thoughts in her own words if you click over to my Instagram profile and watch the #ellsiebells highlight, or watch it below.

Stay tuned for more Like Mother Like Fabulous posts. We've got some future collaborations planned.