Ive been thinking a lot about this too and noticing it. And while I avoid the known worst offenders (SHEIN, Zara, HM, Boohoo etc) the opacity of garment supply chains makes it impossible for most consumers (including me!) to rule out contributing to fast fashion style clothing. Even if something costs more there’s really no way of knowing if workers were paid fairly to produce it most of the time.
My strategies are: whenever I can, I buy vintage. Buying new, I invest in the pieces that I obsess over for months and that are mostly made of natural fibers; and I wear my clothes until they have holes or terminal stains. I repair my clothes and shoes until they just can’t be fixed anymore. And if I can buy American-made, I do that too. Mostly I do not impulse buy.
None of this is enough. I still have way too many synthetic clothes and I still buy active wear from Amazon sometimes. But for most of us, being totally morally pure and good in what we buy is just not possible. So my strategy is: use everything I have for as long as possible and buy with that in mind.
I low key want to make a hot take that if you've ever ordered a big box from princess polly you've also never been best dressed anywhere. I've just never seen people who shop like this, slay.
I feel like fast fashion never left but maybe it had a brief moment of uncoolness and now no one cares at all so everything is up for grabs.
What’s really got me depressed this year is the realisation that brands I trusted to be “sustainable” or “nice” or at least “slower fashion than shein” have completely dropped that facade. Madewell, Anthropologie, and Reformation have all been decreasing the quality of their clothes for years, so even at their higher price point it doesn’t mean you’re getting a fairly made item. Shopping sustainably/ethically is already rough, but once you add in being plus sized it feels damn near impossible to stick to your morals (much less your clothing preferences)
good observations here! can i also add, in many countries Zara is aspirational, both due to its cost and availability (maybe theres only 1-2 stores, in the capital, so going on a trip there Zara is part of the big city experience, for example). Wearing Zara is a way to feel cute, urban, part of a global conversation that in x country or y province you want to be part of.
I think taking care of your Zara stuff like its "good" is something important, and that I try to do, not just for me but hopefully for the next owner.
agreed! i’ve also noticed while abroad, the zaras i went to (bcn, ldn, etc) have had a much better assortment of products than what’s on the shelves in the US stores.
the only zara products i’ve kept / loved for longer than a year are the ones i brought abroad lol
There’s something so classist/elitist about this topic. For many, where they shop is driven by lack of choice and funds. Sure, there is a contingent of those climate careless folks but I’d venture to guess that most people buy fast fashion simply because that’s all they can afford. And while the Zara’s, Shein’s and PLT’s et tal. are doing major damage, many luxury brands are equally egregious (e.g., LVMH, Loro Piana, Phoebe Philo) when it comes to utilizing cheap materials, high emissions, and horrific working conditions. I haven’t seen True Cost but I hope it addresses both ends of the fashion industry spectrum because there is no singular villain in this story (except we the consumers).
hi! i completely agree, i hope that sentiment came through in the piece because i think it is the biggest barrier as to why we can’t “fix” fast fashion… it’s because people can’t afford anything else and no one talks about it!!!! to say “just save up for it” is so reductive and unfair. also completely agree on luxury brands not being better especially in terms of ethics
Lack of funds and choices would be better served by shopping secondhand. The choices are so expansive that I have to filter myself before checking out.
That’s not the case everywhere. In many countries, specially developing ones, second hand means buying clothes by the pound that come from China full of mold. Other times it means buying stuff that is simply not appealing or in good condition. The moral argument that some people want to make when they “suggest”getting second hand stuff instead of fast fashion is, for many many people, unrealistic at best, classist at worst.
Thank you for writing this!! I've barely been on Substack this last month because I got burnout thinking too hard about the fast fashion cycle and the sheer scope of it all as a tiny fashion writer sharing my style with the internet. I completely agree that it's too enormous a problem to solve with shopping tips for individuals whose priorities aren't going to be the same as Fashion Hobbyists (though I do still think those tips are really helpful for people who want them). God I hope fast fashion doesn't become cool again. I'm wondering if some of it has to do with the resurgence of Y2K trends, which tend to be quite plasticky (crocs, popcorn shirts)... 🖤
I was super unimpressed when I saw Cindy and Kaia for Zara. Like…my dudes, I don’t care if they drove a dump truck of money up to your house.
You’re right though that most people are just (blissfully or willfully, I’m not sure in 2024) ignorant about the whole thing. This summer my 50yo colorist (who has amazing style) started telling me about how she just ordered six swimsuits from Shein. In my head I was like “….You’re clearly intelligent and you’ve been on this planet for a while, you never stopped to wonder about the quality or provenance of a $15 bikini?” I didn’t want to make her feel bad. But I did tell her about a locally-based company that makes gorgeous swimsuits human women will actually want to wear more than once.
I try not to judge because I have a lot more disposable income and fashion knowledge than most people in my daily life. But I do think things would get better if the average person had just a teeny bit more awareness.
hii i read your piece at 9am yesterday, and now at 2am, i actually can’t stop thinking about this part: "while i personally love vintage shopping and taking an entire afternoon to shift through racks and racks finding that perfect piece i’ll pass down to my kids one day and prefer scrolling on eBay and depop as opposed to scrolling on instagram or tik tok, a lot of people simply don’t have the time or do not enjoy shopping in that way." as someone who works in fashion and is genuinely interested in it, i read news about this issue everyday and understand the urgency, but i now realize that other people don't view fashion in the same level of significance that i do. i often question friends who dismiss the urgency to stop buying from shein etc, and get replies of "it's not that serious" so many times. working in the production side of fashion, i see the industry's implications firsthand, even when sustainability is prioritized in the company. i do think that at this moment the urgency for sustainable and ethical fashion seems to be limited to the fashion community (i rarely see it being discussed in mass media??), likely because others don't see fashion as a serious topic, hence the tendency to dismiss the issue. i think people don't think they are connected to fashion, despite wearing clothes every day. if more people especially those outside of the fashion world recognized this problem as a serious case they might actually start to care. anyway, thank you for starting this important conversation!!! it was a lovely read <3
I am also stressed about what's gonna happen within the crowd that does care about fashion now that fast fashion brands are bringing high fashion designer in - Clare Keller is at Uniqlo and Stefano Pilati collab with Zara
also.......I see people take Loro Piana sponsorships and go on Loro Piana trips.......and everyone cheering them on in the comments..........after we all read that Bloomberg piece
I think it's so important that you're naming this. We want to be optimistic about our progress toward sustainability and conservation that acknowledging regression can be disheartening. Also, yes! We absolutely should acknowledge that the most sustainable brands/practices don't necessarily work for everyone yet (my mom wants to shop ethical brands and vintage but they're rarely size inclusive enough).
I sure as hell watched True Cost, and I have found a way to shop that doesn't cost me sleep, although i doubt it would stand up to a rigorous ethical analysis. !) If I need something, I buy it second hand from Thredup.com, and 2) if I want something new, I buy it from a wonderful website that helps women in India make and sell clothes that the Indian women design, sew, and sell through the website www.MarketplaceIndia.com. I started buying clothes with them in 1990, and I still have the first thing I bought from them, and wear it regularly. Their manufacturing process does not create waste that end up in a landfill ; they decorate and embellish their clothing with the scraps left over from cutting out the pieces to be sewn together. Obviously this doesn't solve the environmental problem of the fashion supply chain, but it helps a little.
i havent thought abt it like this but ur so right - i think its part of people not caring anymore about being ~politically correct~ since the blacklash its gotten n dimes square normalizing things like saying the r word
I really my hardest but its tricky in Australia. Our second hand scene is dismal - its mainly filled with fast fashion any way and not even H&M and Zara (we've only had those stores for about ten years BTW) its kmart crap. I'm alsomid-size so that's an extra challenge. We have a few ethical brands in Oz I love like ELK and Alpha 60 and Kowtow and Boody which I primarily shop at but the only undies I find comfy are 5 pack granny undies from kmart. I buy ethical ones and I dont wear them so whats better for the environment? I have definitely kicked my H&M and Zara habit and I'm done with COS (this makes me sad because COS is very much my aesthetic). I do buy a lot of stuff on FB marketplace and depop. I also struggle with shoes! I've been having some foot trouble so I have to stick podiatrist approved brands and I have no idea what their ethical or sustainable production is like. Good on You is missing a lot of Australian stores. I'm genuinely trying my best and I hit the mark about 90% of the time. I loved this piece because I can always avoid buying from Zara and H&M and its a good reminder to do that.
I live in New Zealand and very much the same, especially with the second hand shopping. Just wanted to pop in here to recommend NZ-made Thunderpants if you’re after good quality and comfy non-Kmart undies, they truly are the best
Another incred piece, obvi. I often feel cursed by a fashion conscious! Knowing what everything is a knock off of makes you disgusted 24/7 and sometimes I feel like I’m going crazy when the people around me don’t care. It’s hard!!!
really great piece! reading this after watching countless TikTok’s about molly mae’s new clothing brand, how people have spend hundreds and hundreds of £ on clothes in a split second, the scarcity and exclusivity marketing making them just add everything to their basket and checkout without thinking about it. the fabric composition was only added to the website after everything had sold out and it’s just all plastic and polyester garments at inflated prices, equivalent to h&m and zara. it’s just shocking!
Ive been thinking a lot about this too and noticing it. And while I avoid the known worst offenders (SHEIN, Zara, HM, Boohoo etc) the opacity of garment supply chains makes it impossible for most consumers (including me!) to rule out contributing to fast fashion style clothing. Even if something costs more there’s really no way of knowing if workers were paid fairly to produce it most of the time.
My strategies are: whenever I can, I buy vintage. Buying new, I invest in the pieces that I obsess over for months and that are mostly made of natural fibers; and I wear my clothes until they have holes or terminal stains. I repair my clothes and shoes until they just can’t be fixed anymore. And if I can buy American-made, I do that too. Mostly I do not impulse buy.
None of this is enough. I still have way too many synthetic clothes and I still buy active wear from Amazon sometimes. But for most of us, being totally morally pure and good in what we buy is just not possible. So my strategy is: use everything I have for as long as possible and buy with that in mind.
Same here! Stuff from “mall brands” even 20 years ago is fantastic quality.
Zara can be so tempting!
The shoes at Zara regularly test my resolve LOL
I low key want to make a hot take that if you've ever ordered a big box from princess polly you've also never been best dressed anywhere. I've just never seen people who shop like this, slay.
YEPPPPP
I feel like fast fashion never left but maybe it had a brief moment of uncoolness and now no one cares at all so everything is up for grabs.
What’s really got me depressed this year is the realisation that brands I trusted to be “sustainable” or “nice” or at least “slower fashion than shein” have completely dropped that facade. Madewell, Anthropologie, and Reformation have all been decreasing the quality of their clothes for years, so even at their higher price point it doesn’t mean you’re getting a fairly made item. Shopping sustainably/ethically is already rough, but once you add in being plus sized it feels damn near impossible to stick to your morals (much less your clothing preferences)
It’s so disappointing. Totally agree with all you’ve said 👌🏼
good observations here! can i also add, in many countries Zara is aspirational, both due to its cost and availability (maybe theres only 1-2 stores, in the capital, so going on a trip there Zara is part of the big city experience, for example). Wearing Zara is a way to feel cute, urban, part of a global conversation that in x country or y province you want to be part of.
I think taking care of your Zara stuff like its "good" is something important, and that I try to do, not just for me but hopefully for the next owner.
agreed! i’ve also noticed while abroad, the zaras i went to (bcn, ldn, etc) have had a much better assortment of products than what’s on the shelves in the US stores.
the only zara products i’ve kept / loved for longer than a year are the ones i brought abroad lol
There’s something so classist/elitist about this topic. For many, where they shop is driven by lack of choice and funds. Sure, there is a contingent of those climate careless folks but I’d venture to guess that most people buy fast fashion simply because that’s all they can afford. And while the Zara’s, Shein’s and PLT’s et tal. are doing major damage, many luxury brands are equally egregious (e.g., LVMH, Loro Piana, Phoebe Philo) when it comes to utilizing cheap materials, high emissions, and horrific working conditions. I haven’t seen True Cost but I hope it addresses both ends of the fashion industry spectrum because there is no singular villain in this story (except we the consumers).
hi! i completely agree, i hope that sentiment came through in the piece because i think it is the biggest barrier as to why we can’t “fix” fast fashion… it’s because people can’t afford anything else and no one talks about it!!!! to say “just save up for it” is so reductive and unfair. also completely agree on luxury brands not being better especially in terms of ethics
Lack of funds and choices would be better served by shopping secondhand. The choices are so expansive that I have to filter myself before checking out.
That’s not the case everywhere. In many countries, specially developing ones, second hand means buying clothes by the pound that come from China full of mold. Other times it means buying stuff that is simply not appealing or in good condition. The moral argument that some people want to make when they “suggest”getting second hand stuff instead of fast fashion is, for many many people, unrealistic at best, classist at worst.
Thank you for writing this!! I've barely been on Substack this last month because I got burnout thinking too hard about the fast fashion cycle and the sheer scope of it all as a tiny fashion writer sharing my style with the internet. I completely agree that it's too enormous a problem to solve with shopping tips for individuals whose priorities aren't going to be the same as Fashion Hobbyists (though I do still think those tips are really helpful for people who want them). God I hope fast fashion doesn't become cool again. I'm wondering if some of it has to do with the resurgence of Y2K trends, which tend to be quite plasticky (crocs, popcorn shirts)... 🖤
Fast fashion never left
I was super unimpressed when I saw Cindy and Kaia for Zara. Like…my dudes, I don’t care if they drove a dump truck of money up to your house.
You’re right though that most people are just (blissfully or willfully, I’m not sure in 2024) ignorant about the whole thing. This summer my 50yo colorist (who has amazing style) started telling me about how she just ordered six swimsuits from Shein. In my head I was like “….You’re clearly intelligent and you’ve been on this planet for a while, you never stopped to wonder about the quality or provenance of a $15 bikini?” I didn’t want to make her feel bad. But I did tell her about a locally-based company that makes gorgeous swimsuits human women will actually want to wear more than once.
I try not to judge because I have a lot more disposable income and fashion knowledge than most people in my daily life. But I do think things would get better if the average person had just a teeny bit more awareness.
hii i read your piece at 9am yesterday, and now at 2am, i actually can’t stop thinking about this part: "while i personally love vintage shopping and taking an entire afternoon to shift through racks and racks finding that perfect piece i’ll pass down to my kids one day and prefer scrolling on eBay and depop as opposed to scrolling on instagram or tik tok, a lot of people simply don’t have the time or do not enjoy shopping in that way." as someone who works in fashion and is genuinely interested in it, i read news about this issue everyday and understand the urgency, but i now realize that other people don't view fashion in the same level of significance that i do. i often question friends who dismiss the urgency to stop buying from shein etc, and get replies of "it's not that serious" so many times. working in the production side of fashion, i see the industry's implications firsthand, even when sustainability is prioritized in the company. i do think that at this moment the urgency for sustainable and ethical fashion seems to be limited to the fashion community (i rarely see it being discussed in mass media??), likely because others don't see fashion as a serious topic, hence the tendency to dismiss the issue. i think people don't think they are connected to fashion, despite wearing clothes every day. if more people especially those outside of the fashion world recognized this problem as a serious case they might actually start to care. anyway, thank you for starting this important conversation!!! it was a lovely read <3
I am also stressed about what's gonna happen within the crowd that does care about fashion now that fast fashion brands are bringing high fashion designer in - Clare Keller is at Uniqlo and Stefano Pilati collab with Zara
also.......I see people take Loro Piana sponsorships and go on Loro Piana trips.......and everyone cheering them on in the comments..........after we all read that Bloomberg piece
10000% it’s so odd to me in particular that uniqlo always gets a free pass….
I think it's so important that you're naming this. We want to be optimistic about our progress toward sustainability and conservation that acknowledging regression can be disheartening. Also, yes! We absolutely should acknowledge that the most sustainable brands/practices don't necessarily work for everyone yet (my mom wants to shop ethical brands and vintage but they're rarely size inclusive enough).
I sure as hell watched True Cost, and I have found a way to shop that doesn't cost me sleep, although i doubt it would stand up to a rigorous ethical analysis. !) If I need something, I buy it second hand from Thredup.com, and 2) if I want something new, I buy it from a wonderful website that helps women in India make and sell clothes that the Indian women design, sew, and sell through the website www.MarketplaceIndia.com. I started buying clothes with them in 1990, and I still have the first thing I bought from them, and wear it regularly. Their manufacturing process does not create waste that end up in a landfill ; they decorate and embellish their clothing with the scraps left over from cutting out the pieces to be sewn together. Obviously this doesn't solve the environmental problem of the fashion supply chain, but it helps a little.
...and that all of this is mail order and has to be shipped to me is part of the equation that I IGNORE. I know...my bad.
i havent thought abt it like this but ur so right - i think its part of people not caring anymore about being ~politically correct~ since the blacklash its gotten n dimes square normalizing things like saying the r word
I really my hardest but its tricky in Australia. Our second hand scene is dismal - its mainly filled with fast fashion any way and not even H&M and Zara (we've only had those stores for about ten years BTW) its kmart crap. I'm alsomid-size so that's an extra challenge. We have a few ethical brands in Oz I love like ELK and Alpha 60 and Kowtow and Boody which I primarily shop at but the only undies I find comfy are 5 pack granny undies from kmart. I buy ethical ones and I dont wear them so whats better for the environment? I have definitely kicked my H&M and Zara habit and I'm done with COS (this makes me sad because COS is very much my aesthetic). I do buy a lot of stuff on FB marketplace and depop. I also struggle with shoes! I've been having some foot trouble so I have to stick podiatrist approved brands and I have no idea what their ethical or sustainable production is like. Good on You is missing a lot of Australian stores. I'm genuinely trying my best and I hit the mark about 90% of the time. I loved this piece because I can always avoid buying from Zara and H&M and its a good reminder to do that.
Fellow Aussie! I’m with you on COS. I really love the style but can’t get behind it because it’s owned by H&M ☹️
The Canberra store also closed so that helped me! I don't live there but I visit often and it felt like a sign to stop.
I love when fate just helps you haha I’m in Melbourne but rarely in the city so that definitely helps
I live in New Zealand and very much the same, especially with the second hand shopping. Just wanted to pop in here to recommend NZ-made Thunderpants if you’re after good quality and comfy non-Kmart undies, they truly are the best
Another incred piece, obvi. I often feel cursed by a fashion conscious! Knowing what everything is a knock off of makes you disgusted 24/7 and sometimes I feel like I’m going crazy when the people around me don’t care. It’s hard!!!
really great piece! reading this after watching countless TikTok’s about molly mae’s new clothing brand, how people have spend hundreds and hundreds of £ on clothes in a split second, the scarcity and exclusivity marketing making them just add everything to their basket and checkout without thinking about it. the fabric composition was only added to the website after everything had sold out and it’s just all plastic and polyester garments at inflated prices, equivalent to h&m and zara. it’s just shocking!