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The cast of Sherlock Holmes Vs Arsene Lupin:
A Drag Crime Caper by Dum Theatre in Gladrags Costumes
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Dear Friends,
Spring has arrived in a burst of creativity, and Gladrags has been right at the heart of it. From supporting Brighton Fringe performers to helping local schools bring their biggest productions to life, our costumes have been busy on stages across the community.
Behind the scenes, our circular costume work continues to grow, with garments repaired, reimagined and sent back out for their next adventure, reducing waste while keeping creativity flowing.
In this newsletter, we’re sharing more from the Fringe, celebrating our reminiscence sessions, and highlighting our latest circular costume stories.
So pop the kettle on and feel inspired by our wonderful costume community.
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Garment restored, restyled and embellished to create an 1830s dress. By Pranay, a Gladrags placement student
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We were delighted to host two students from the University of Brighton’s Fashion and Design History course on our Gladrags Sustainability Award placement in March. The award encourages volunteers to reflect on the tasks they undertake and the positive environmental impact of their work, helping them build practical knowledge of the sustainable practices that underpin Gladrags. It also supports pathways into employment, particularly in the growing green jobs sector. By completing the Sustainability Award, volunteers gain experience and confidence that can strengthen job, apprenticeship, or university applications and interviews. Please contact volunteering@gladragscostumes.org.uk for information about our placements and visit our our environmental impact page regarding our sustainability commitments. |
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Gladrags providing memorabilia of the 60s and 70s, and Jools transporting guests at Robert Lodge back to the joy of nights out on the town
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Rejoicing in Reminiscence
From Whitehawk to Coldean and a stop-off with Together-Co's Befriending Group, our reminiscence Spring Tour is in full swing.
This is thanks to support of our Memories Matter Crowdfunder and to our recent Enjoolata funding, that will support our collaboration with other local organisations to ensure we are mitigating loneliness and isolation for older people in our community. With the Spring theme of “A Night Out”, we’ve been reviving the magic of handbags, Gladrags, and unforgettable dance moves, sparking laughter, memories, and a few well-practiced steps. Lucy Mitchell is Community Coordinator at Wellsbourne Healthcare in Whitehawk and social wellbeing is a top priority for her.
As she puts it: “For those of us over 60, in a fast changing world where our histories may not seem as relevant and where loneliness can knock our confidence, we need to find our Mojo! Jools from Gladrags really does work her magic and the costumes are such a fabulous way to bring people out of their shyer side and into some fun."
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Our new outlet stores at Kemptown Trading Post and Stanley Road Department Store
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Circular Apparel ImpactWe’re excited to be growing our presence in the local community through partnerships with Kemptown Trading Post and Stanley Road Department Store, where a curated selection of our vintage pieces are now available.These partnerships are an important part of how we keep our costumes in circulation. Selling vintage items allows us to rehome garments that are no longer needed for hire, while generating vital income to support our charity work. At the same time, it encourages more people to choose second-hand, helping to reduce textile waste and extend the life of clothing.Through projects like this, we’re continuing to close the loop, ensuring costumes are reused, repurposed and re-loved within our community, rather than ending up in landfill.Please support these small local independent businesses and our charity in our sustainable apparel journey by popping in to find your next fabulous find.
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Reigate and Westminster Schools productions of, 'The Sound of Music'
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Supporting Performance in Schools
At Gladrags, we’re lucky to have an incredible volunteer sewing team who not only repair and repurpose costumes, but create new pieces too.Over the past few months, they’ve been busy supporting large-scale school productions, from Mary Poppins to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Two consecutive runs of The Sound of Music focused their efforts on crafting the iconic Von Trapp “curtain outfits”. Designed to fit a range of sizes, they reflect 1930s Austria and even leave enough fabric for the matching stage curtains. A tall order, brilliantly delivered. For schools, working with Gladrags isn’t just about creativity, it’s about saving resources and reducing waste. By hiring and reusing costumes, schools can avoid the cost of buying new outfits for every production while supporting a more sustainable, circular approach to theatre.Schools can also become Gladrags members, unlocking subsidised hire rates, access to our full costume resource, and ongoing support for productions throughout the year. It’s a simple way to make budgets go further while bringing sustainability into the heart of school performances.
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Trustees and staff at a recent strategy meeting
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Join Our TeamOur trustees play a valuable role in guiding the charity towards our aims and objectives whilst keeping rooted in our values. They generously give their time, care, and sound judgement to help us plan for the future, stay accountable, and keep our community work thriving. We’re deeply grateful for everything they contribute behind the scenes. As we continue to grow, we’re excited to welcome new trustees who share our commitment to creativity, reuse, and community connection. We're looking for people with diverse work or life experiences who can bring fresh perspectives, ask thoughtful questions and help us make wise decisions. If you or someone you know would enjoy being part of Gladrags’ next chapter, we would love to hear from you. Find out more and get in touch here.
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Puppeteer Darren visiting Gladrags to source costumes for his Brighton Fringe Festival Our Place show
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Our Place Family Fun DayJoin puppeteer Darren East at the Brighton Festival. Darren is the Our Place Moulsecoomb and Bevendean Artist in Residence of the year and has been leading workshops with residents to create a live and interactive performance using giant puppetry, masks, music and surprises.This is what Darren said, “It's great to get inspiration from costume as part of my creative process, which it has influenced. My puppet mice are now brightly coloured, matching the pieces selected from Gladrags."This will be a festival fun filled day, boosted by the unique Gladrags dress-up tent and bringing the heart of the community together, enabling access to creativity.You can find out more on our socials regarding Gladrags' collaboration and the impact Our Place makes within our local community.We’ll see you there on Saturday 16th May, 12 pm to 5 pm!
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We are truly lucky to have the opportunity to support such thriving theatre productions by providing our sustainable costumes.
We’d love you to support local theatre by booking your tickets to some of the upcoming productions gracing our local stages.
Here's where our costumes feature in this year's Brighton Fringe Festival!
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Fate Train, weaves Norse Gods and the modern day into a surreal tale where time, memory and self become blurred. Celebrate with the old Gods with FOLKS theatre, BN1 Arts Centre on May 2nd 3 pm at 7.30 pm
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Shakespeare's Lost, The Brighton Shakespeare Company presents a new comedy inspired by the works of the bard. Experience a comedic twist on Shakespeare plays at The Lantern, 15th to 24th May at 9 pm
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Animal Jam, Animal Jam is a big, joyful live gig for families who love music, nature and fun! You can find this fun festival event at the Go Kid Music Club, Spiegeltent on 17th May at 2.30 pm.
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Sherlock Holmes Vs Arsene Lupin: A Drag Crime Caper, A new camp comedy pitting England’s most famous consulting detective against France’s most infamous gentleman burglar. Discover your detective skills with The Department of Ulterior Motives, May 16th 2pm & 7pm at BOAT and May 19th - 21st 7:30pm at Ironworks Studios.
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Thank You!A huge thank you to Big Yellow Self Storage for supporting Gladrags with additional storage. This extra space helps us store, sort and share even more costumes with our community. This unit sits alongside our Rehome-It space unit where items are now freshly replenished, packed with quirky costumes, practical basics, fabrics and trimmings, all ready for a second life. Please join us at our next open day to explore what’s available or if you’d like to arrange an alternative time, please email: volunteering@gladragscostumes.org.uk. Projects like Rehome-It show how small, practical actions can have a big circular impact, reducing waste, widening access, and keeping creativity flowing in our community.
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We'd Love You to Connect With Us
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Why did you receive this email? You have received this mail because you have signed up to our mailing list and you have agreed that we can contact you about Gladrags related news, events and products. We will never pass your details on to unrelated third-parties. To stop our emails being seen as spam, please add us to your email account's address book. Please do not reply to this email; if you would like to contact us for any reason, please instead visit our website.
Thank you! |
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