Belmullet woman joins forces to champion sustainable fashion in Mayo

For Maureen McAndrew and Tara Timlin, fashion is about far more than buying something new. It’s about recognising the potential in the clothes already hanging in our wardrobes.

The pair have come together to create a new sustainable fashion project celebrating pre-loved clothing against the backdrop of the West of Ireland’s most beautiful landscapes, entitled ‘With Love from the West’.

Belmullet native Maureen had already been working to make sustainable fashion more accessible through her business, ‘Make Your Wardrobe Work’, which she established around two and a half years ago.

With a background in fashion, retail and customer service, including more than 15 years working across different roles with Arcadia, Maureen initially offered one-to-one wardrobe consultations.

The service focused on decluttering, styling and making the most of the clothes people already owned.

“When I moved back to Belmullet and got married and had my kids, I knew I wanted to set something up,” Maureen says.

“But not just about buying all the time, because that’s really not me. I really wanted to make it sustainable and accessible.”

Sligo native Tara, who has a background in fashion communications, fashion photography and social media, moved home to Sligo and quickly noticed a difference in attitudes towards second-hand clothing.

“I quickly realised the attitude, and the consumption attitude is so vastly different,” she explains.

Having always been an enthusiastic charity-shop shopper, Tara found herself looking for a community that shared her passion.

“When I tell people, ‘Oh, I got this from a charity shop,’ they’ll be like, ‘Really? A charity shop?’ It wasn’t the same excitement.”

That changed when she discovered the world of pre-loved clothing markets.

“That’s how we met,” she says. “Everyone was so excited about their clothes and where they got them, and there’s a story. It felt exciting. It actually felt fun.”

Behind the project

It was through the Climate Ambassador Programme that Tara and Maureen’s paths crossed.

The programme, run by An Taisce, brings together people interested in climate action and encourages them to develop projects that can have a meaningful impact in their communities.

For Maureen, fast fashion and its environmental impact were a natural area of focus.

“I joined up in 2025 and got accepted onto the programme,” she says. “I met lots of like-minded people, and there’s a lovely group in Galway and Mayo.”

As part of the programme, Maureen was required to develop a publication or project.

Knowing Tara’s background in photography, styling and fashion, she approached her with an idea.

“And that’s how it was born,” Tara says.

What began as two people with a shared passion quickly became something bigger.

“We both understood and saw a gap in the market,” Tara explains. “And then we realised that a lot of our passions and understandings aligned.”

“There’s a massive gap in the way people think about consuming clothes and what sustainable fashion is,” Tara says.

Changing perceptions

A significant part of the project is giving light to the work of local charity retailers.

Tara believes charity shops are about much more than simply finding a bargain.

“Charity shops are life-changing for people,” she says.

For Tara, discovering where the money raised by a charity shop goes can completely change the way we think about shopping.

“You start to think, ‘Oh, actually, my money can change a community’, and maybe I shouldn’t be just buying online or going straight online.”

Maureen wants to see a change in the way people think about charity shops..

“I’d really like it to take the stigma away from charity shops,” she says. “I’d like to see them do really well.”

She also believes sustainable fashion has to begin locally.

“Like anything in regards to the environment and sustainable fashion, it has to start within a community.”

The pair noticed that many events and initiatives around sustainable fashion tended to be concentrated in larger urban areas.

“We felt like an awful lot of events around sustainable fashion were just outside of Mayo, Sligo and Galway even,” Maureen says.

“We were struggling to find events and, I suppose, like-minded people in the area.”

Styling with imagination

The aim of the project was not simply to show that charity shops contain inexpensive clothes, but to demonstrate just how creative second-hand fashion can be.

Menswear presented a particular challenge, with fewer charity shops offering extensive selections.

The solution was to seek out vintage jerseys, oversized pieces and retro clothing and combine them into looks that felt contemporary, relaxed and playful.

For the women’s outfits, the landscape inspired a lighter aesthetic, with flowing pieces including pre-loved nightdresses, sheer fabrics and sportswear.

“Everything before it even got in front of the camera was so thought out - are we hitting the aesthetics? Are we showing everyone they can shop sustainably? Are we making it feel accessible?”

Local charity retailers including Vision Ireland, St Vincent de Paul, Social Groundforce, the MS Centre through Essential Seconds, Spice Vintage and First Chance Shirts all contributed clothing to the project.

A project with room to grow

For now, the project exists primarily as an online publication, with the imagery being shared through Tara’s Instagram account, @t.timlin, and Maureen’s ‘Make Your Wardrobe Work’ platform.

Their collaboration has been fuelled by mood boards, Pinterest inspiration, Canva, countless messages and plenty of creative back-and-forth.

As Maureen puts it: “I very much do believe that we all have enough. We just need to see the potential in what can be, and new ways to style things.”