10 Best Recycled Dresses And Gowns For Unique Looks

By Alex Assoune Apr 01, 2024

The best recycled dresses and gowns for ladies are ideal for creating original outfits for a pageant or a competition. These beautiful and fabulous looks will help you turn heads and make a lasting impression.

Many sustainable fashion brands and clothing designers use recycled and upcycled materials to create gorgeous, fashionable, and eco-friendly garments that help you look great and do good for the planet.

Choose clothing made from recycled fabrics to reduce waste and encourage the circular economy. Many stylish and eco-friendly pieces are designed to protect the environment and workers in the fashion supply chain.

I've done a lot of research and hard work for you so that you can buy any of the below recycled dresses and gowns made from quality, reclaimed materials under high standards.

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1. NA-KD All Over Frills Maxi Dress

Category: Basics, denim, outerwear, knitwear, underwear, swimwear, nightwear, accessories
For: Women
From: Gothenburg, Sweden
Values: Organic, recycled
Prices: $20-$60

NA-KD is a next-generation fashion marketplace, a mobile-based online shopping sanctuary for fashion addicts worldwide. It offers a sustainable collection of recycled dresses and gowns made from 100% recycled fibers.

NA-KD has committed to having lower-impact materials in all of its products. It uses plastic production leftovers, PET plastic bottles, nylon fishing nets, and other plastic waste.

NA-KD sells many different worldwide clothing labels at various price points and designs a range of clothes, footwear, and accessories under its brand.

The NA-KD brand is one of the fastest-growing on social media. To launch new collections, it regularly partners with influencers such as Andrea Hedenstedt, Anika Teller, Astrid Olsen, Camille Botten, Dilara Avci, Pamela Reif, Kristin Sundberg, and more.

SHOP NA-KD

2. Etsy Upcycled Hoop Skirt

Category: Clothing, bags, shoes, accessories, jewelry
For: Women, men, children
From: NYC, New York, United States
Values: Organic, recycled, vintage, custom
Prices: $10-$300

Etsy is an e-commerce website focused on handmade or vintage fashion items, homeware, and craft supplies. It offers beautiful, upcycled, and recycled dresses and gowns.

Many independent sellers list stylish, eco-friendly, recycled garments on Etsy. The marketplace is highly active and widely recognized as the most trusted vintage store.

SHOP ETSY

3. Afends Recycled Sheer Maxi Dress

Category: Basics, denim, outerwear, outerwear, loungewear, swimwear, underwear, bags, accessories, jewelry
For: Women, men
From: Byron Bay, Australia
Values: Organic, recycled
Prices: $50-$70

Afends is an alternative clothing brand that creates surf and skate-inspired streetwear for women and men. The sustainable fashion brand makes recycled dresses for women from eco-friendly materials.

Afends aims to be leading the organic hemp fashion market with everyday essentials collections made from organic, recycled, eco-friendly fabric alternatives.

Afends wants to be a role model in sustainable practices and spent years researching hemp, one of the most durable and economically viable all-natural threads.

Afends places sustainability at the forefront of its design process and promotes it to its consumers and the surf and fashion industries. It uses premium quality materials to make long-wearing staples.

SHOP AFENDS

4. Nanushka Camille Midi Dress

Category: Basics, denim, loungewear, knitwear, outerwear, bags, shoes, accessories, jewelry
For: Women, men
From: Budapest, Hungary
Values: Organic, recycled, vegan, luxury
Prices: $270-$400

Nanushka is a sustainable, luxury clothing brand founded by vegan fashion designer Sandra Sandor. The modern, bohemian brand makes versatile, day-to-night clothes to create a new informal form of beauty.

Sandra Sandor cherishes and protects the planet in everything she does, driven by an insatiable desire to explore more, gain inspiration, and become a better version of herself.

Nanushka offers a beautiful and exhaustive collection of recycled dresses. It takes decisions with love and consideration for our planet and the people, committed to doing better.

SHOP NANUSHKA

5. Zero Waste Daniel Tank Dress

Category: Basics, knitwear, sportswear, swimwear, bags, accessories
For: Women, men
From: NYC, New York, United States
Values: Zero waste, recycled, upcycled
Prices: $50-$170

Zero Waste Daniel is a sustainable, eco-friendly, and handmade in Brooklyn clothing brand by zero-waste lifestyle pioneer and fashion designer Daniel Silverstein.

He creates genderless clothing and accessories with pre-consumer waste sourced from New York City's garment industry and other hard-to-recycle materials.

His New York City atelier uses fabric scraps and discarded fabrics that other designers, costume departments, fashion studios, and garment factories usually send to landfills.

Instead, Daniel Silverstein creates stylish and unique pieces of upcycled fashion. He is pioneering circular fashion through upcycling, a more inclusive and regenerative way of producing clothes.

SHOP ZERO WASTE DANIEL

6. Reformation Maevry Knit Dress

Category: Basics, denim, knitwear, outerwear, swimwear, activewear, loungewear, underwear
For: Women
From: Los Angeles, California, United States
Values: Organic, recycled, Fair Trade, carbon-neutral
Prices: $10-$230

Reformation is a clothing brand that makes sustainable and affordable dresses and gowns. It offers a collection of stylish apparel for petite up to extended sizes.

The clothing retailer designs effortless silhouettes celebrating the feminine figure with the most beautiful and sustainable fabrics possible. It pays attention to minimizing its social and environmental impacts.

Reformation uses upcycled and recycled materials, such as deadstock fabrics made from verified aging, leftover, and over-ordered textiles from factories, other designers, and fabric warehouses.

Six of its suppliers have attained a social compliance certification like Fair Trade, SA8000, or WRAP. They are working to increase participation in social certification programs to ensure good working conditions.

SHOP REFORMATION

7. Vivienne Westwood Annex Dress

Category: Basics, knitwear, loungewear, outerwear, underwear, bridal, bags, accessories, jewelry
For: Women, men
From: London, United Kingdom
Values: Organic, recycled, artisan craft, luxury
Prices: $150-$820

Dame Vivienne Isabel Westwood is a British luxury fashion brand, designer, and activist that promotes high fashion without the high stakes for the planet. She works hard to stop climate change and the extinction of life on Earth.

The luxury clothing designer is passionate about the environment and uses fashion as a vehicle for activism. She designs affordable and sustainable collections of beautifully crafted recycled dresses for women.

Vivienne Westwood creates collections, collaborations, and catwalk shows to promote innovative design, campaign for protecting life on Earth, and mobilize people around climate change and human rights.

SHOP VIVIENNE WESTWOOD

8. Christy Dawn Rosemary Dress

Category: Basics, loungewear, knitwear, outerwear, maternity, shoes, accessories
For: Women, girls
From: Los Angeles, California, United States
Values: Organic, upcycled, made in the USA
Prices: $80-$490

Christy Dawn is a sustainable fashion designer who creates affordable, ethical, stylish dresses exclusively from upcycled fabrics ethically crafted in Los Angeles.

Christy Dawn designs each style with longevity in mind. Every fashion piece is intentionally timeless and versatile and tailored to fit petite to extended sizes.

The fashion designer aims to make simple, easy-to-wear pieces that will become wardrobe staples. Its dresses keep you comfortable while preserving the integrity and beauty of the Earth.

SHOP CHRISTY DAWN

9. Arielle Patience Upcycled Dress

Category: Basics, activewear, swimwear, loungewear, outerwear, accessories
For: Women
From: NYC, New York, United States
Values: Recycled, organic, Fair Trade, zero waste, made in the USA
Prices: $70-$650

Arielle is a sustainable fashion label made in NYC, committed to organic, recycled, zero-waste fabrics, local manufacturing, fair-trade operations, and plastic-free production.

Arielle uses upcycled cotton to create one-of-a-kind dresses for your next special event, proudly produced in New York's Garment District.

Arielle maintains a good relationship with the people who make its clothes, supporting the local economy, and defunding unethical labor.

SHOP ARIELLE

10. GANNI Embellished Mesh Dress

Category: Basics, denim, loungewear, outerwear, knitwear, swimwear, underwear, sleepwear, bags, shoes, accessories, jewelry
For: Women, men
From: Copenhagen, Denmark
Values: Organic, recycled, give back
Prices: $20-$650

GANNI is a Danish clothing brand that doesn't follow trends but creates exclusive capsules for women. It offers timeless, recycled dresses and gowns made from certified recycled polyester.

GANNI features strong Scandinavian styles full of unexpected details and personality. It describes itself as Scandinavian design, but not as you know it.

The clothing brand from Copenhagen creates fashionable and classic pieces for every wardrobe. Its clothes are elegant, chic, and responsibly made with deep care for the planet.

GANNI introduced over 30+ responsible initiatives last year, including a take-back scheme, rental platform, and certified organic or recycled fabrics into its collections.

SHOP GANNI

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About the Author: Alex Assoune

Alex Assoune (MS) is a global health and environmental advocate. He founded Panaprium to inspire others with conscious living, ethical, and sustainable fashion. Alex has worked in many countries to address social and environmental issues. He speaks three languages and holds two Master of Science degrees in Engineering from SIGMA and IFPEN schools.

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