With Love From's Lizzie Dibble Wants Local Libraries to Lend Clothes as well as Books

Lizzie Dibble wants libraries to lend clothes as well as books. Not just any clothes though. A carefully curated selection of donated second-hand fashion, imbued with the stories of former wearers, and volunteer-run. With Love From… has built a collection of occasion-wear, mostly for women (though there’s also a children’s dressup box) for library members to loan in her hometown of Oswestry, UK. That focus is intentional, because party dresses are some of the least-worn garments in our wardrobes. Lizzie is on a mission to encourage less wardrobe waste and more collective joy - all while encouraging new users into the existing local library network. We have questions! Who’s donating? Who’s borrowing? How does it work in practice? Did the library take some convincing? How can others get involved? Could it annoy existing library users who just want a quiet spot to read? Lizzie’s answer to the latter is both lovely and surprising. She says that the shared wardrobe is a quiet space, and that’s part of why it works. With Love From… is not just like shopping without money, but without the frenzy that underpins so much unsustainable consumption. Could this be a blueprint for shared wardrobes around the world? If you find the Episode valuable, please help us share it. Find links and further reading at thewardrobecrisis.com Support the show on Substack - wardrobecrisis.substack.com Tell us what you think. Find Clare on Instagram @mrspress Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You can listen to With Love From's Lizzie Dibble Wants Local Libraries to Lend Clothes as well as Books online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

With Love From's Lizzie Dibble Wants Local Libraries to Lend Clothes as well as Books is an episode from WARDROBE CRISIS with Clare Press by Clare Press.

This episode is 43:02 long.

This episode was published on Dec 4, 2025.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from WARDROBE CRISIS with Clare Press when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.