Growing up my mom would come home with bags full of clothing given to her by her employer. The majority of my clothing was sourced from second-hand sources, with only a small fraction being brand new. I was so excited anytime I would see her bring the bags because to me the clothing was new and most of the time it had tags. I was 10 when I started to question why they were giving away these clothes if they were new. Wouldn’t they want to spend their hard-earned money on clothes they actually would wear? As time went by I started to care more about what I would wear, having five older sisters helped as I would steal their clothes. or ended up buying from H&M, Hollister, or some other store in the mall. By the time I was a freshman, right before the pandemic, my friend told me about Shien and other fast fashion online stores. I ended up not buying anything from their websites and I forgot about them.
Months later I started to see hauls of Shien on TikTok and the amount of clothing that these creators were getting for cheap. Hauls aren’t new they have been around when Youtubers were blowing up. Even more recently these fast fashion brands have been receiving backlash for their effects on the environment and the working conditions they provide their workers. They even brought influencers to their factories which I found very surprising. Using influencers to promote your brand is a smart marketing strategy but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case for Shien. They received tons of backlash from this trip. Fast Fashion brands give life to the micro trends we see. In 2020 I remember seeing the VSCO girl, Y2k, and different aesthetics that people switch from in a matter of months. The fashion life cycle is meant to last years but now it’s months, instead of having two seasons we have collections coming out left and right. The materials of our clothes also matter as they impact the environment. More than 60% of our clothes are made from polyester, a synthetic material. Polyester contains plastics that enter the water system when we wash our clothes and even worse it takes twenty to 200 years to decompose.
While individuals are increasingly embracing sustainable shopping practices through platforms like Depop, thrift stores, and various other outlets, a recent trend has emerged where individuals are frequenting thrift stores to purchase clothing. This trend raises additional concerns, particularly regarding the pricing of clothing in thrift stores, which serve as a primary source of affordable attire for many low-income families. There are many problems in the fashion industry, and making sure that we become sustainable in our choices is important. Instead of buying clothing every month, we should focus on buying pieces of clothing that will last us years. We need to become more aware of the clothes we buy and where we buy from. Making sure that we don’t give in to the trends but instead focus on building our style.
I completely agree that as a society at large we need to be more aware of where our clothes are coming from, the same people do with food. Like you I had a friend introduce me to Shein and would see the “$300 Shein Haul” all over Tik Tok, but I never bought anything from there. The ebb and flows of fashion definitely are fast and I see why it is a quick way for people to stay on the trend. Maybe what we need to do it encourage people to have more of an individual style so these fast fashion companies do not even know what to make, or we need increased legislation on them. Either way I loved the fashion life cycle diagram you included at the bottom, it certainly tells the life of these cheap clothes! This was such a great post to read!
My sister would always talk about these hauls and demand that my mom or grandma get her new clothing quite often. Weeks later, she would never wear these new clothes again. On the other hand, my dad and I only buy new clothes when our old ones are falling apart. I have worn the same clothes since I stopped growing taller around freshman or sophomore year. My dad has worn the same clothes for at least a decade. I agree that as a whole, we should all pay attention to the environmental impact of the clothes we purchase. I like how you added that chart at the bottom, it definitely helped in my understanding. Nice job!
Fast fashion really is a danger to the environment, especially considering the synthetic nature of the waste and the high energy costs related with its production. This is actually quite similar to my issue brief, which is concerned with e-waste, as another similar fast-developing “trendy” industry. Hopefully the government can step in regarding this, particularly with regulations on how these are made, which will reduce the negative impacts of their use and disencourage their purchase due to rising costs.