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Hello Spacehey,
I wanted to ramble about the issues with fast fashion, since I see way too many “alternative” people purchasing clothes and accessories from places like SHEIN.
Disclaimer: I'm using SHEIN as an example because it is very well known and commonly bought from. Other fast fashion companies include H&M, Zara, ROMWE, Temu, Fashion Nova, Forever 21, Hot Topic, and many others. Feel free to ask if a certain brand is fast fashion, because there are a lot people don't realize!
Disclaimer #2: buying fast fashion clothing items SECONDHAND is NOT problematic. This way you aren't supporting the company, you're only reusing clothing!
I’m dividing this into 3 parts, my explanation, alternatives to buying fast fashion, and sources.
The Issue:
I’m mainly going to be talking about the environmental impacts, because it seems everyone already knows about the cruel labor practices, and those who continue to purchase from these companies anyway just don’t care enough. This is something that will affect you too. The combination of pollution, carbon emissions, and water use from fast fashion companies greatly contribute to the many environmental issues we are facing today. The rapid overconsumption and disposal of these products allows the industry to grow and produce more. By buying mass-produced clothes with synthetic fibers, you are contributing to the pollution of our earth (polyester doesn’t break down guys), as well as helping us use up our non-renewable resources. Fast fashion is easily avoidable and I highly dislike the people who blame their consumption of it on cost. I’m in a low-income family and don’t have easy access to thrift stores, and I have never once thought about buying from SHEIN.
Alternatives:
Buy your clothes secondhand. We have enough clothes in the world to dress the next 6 generations. If thrifting is available to you, it is cheaper than SHEIN, and wow reduce reuse recycle! Most of my clothes were gifted to me by friends, deadass. If you want cooler clothes you can DIY your own out of thrifted pieces, or if you have a bit of money, you can buy from crafty etsy or depop sellers (depop is also pretty inexpensive depending on where you live). I don’t wanna hear “I can’t do DIY, I’m disabled,” girl me too, you’ve got other options as well but I think y’all are expecting some extravagant ahh stuff. Most of the clothes I’ve DIY’d have literally only needed pieces of clothing and scissors. I can give you a pinterest board if you want. I believe in you.
Ps: the alt subcultures are literally about individuality. Don’t buy into “trending” alternative clothes, that's just some bs. Overconsumption isn’t very punk of you diva
Sources/statistics:
“If half the items bought in the UK were second hand it would save 12.5 BILLION kilograms of CO2 created by making new clothes from entering the atmosphere. This is the equivalent of 261,000 flights from London Heathrow to Athens or a plane flying around the world more than 17,000 times.” (Oxfam)
"A more responsible consumption pattern—keeping products in use and moderating acquisition of new items—would increase retention of their value, slow the flow of resources, and reduce waste, promoting greater sustainability." (Bocken et al., 2016) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2019.101950
“The industry is responsible for 4.0% to 8.6% of the world’s global greenhouse gas footprint — greater than the footprints of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom combined — according to consulting firm McKinsey. Fashion also comprises up to 10% of global carbon dioxide output, more than international flights and shipping combined, according to the United Nations Environment Programme.” (Kaplan 2023) www.practicalecommerce.com/can-fast-fashion-ever-be-sustainable
“Fast fashion is the second-largest polluter of clean water after agriculture globally. The fashion industry accounts for 17-20% of the world's wastewater.” (World Bank)
“100 billion cubic meters of water is required annually for farming and manufacturing processes, in order to make clothing and textile products.” (UNECE)
Comments
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tinísimo
Great post!! It's really important that we spread awareness around fast fashion, especially within the alternative community, because some people forget our roots and values and call it gatekeeping when we're just trying to protect the world we live in. With the monetization of alt subcultures, it's also often hard for newer people to know why they should buy secondhand or from ethical small businesses (which I think you address very well). To anyone who is reading this who may have fast fashion in their wardrobe, there's also no reason to be ashamed as long as you make an effort to change your shopping habits in the future (e.g. go to thrifts next time you need new clothes, DIY, upcycle, etc) and you wear the shit out of the clothes you already have. Sorry if this is worded weird, I'm tired lol
100% !!
by crimson 📎; ; Report
stoopy
I don’t know why I get so annoyed when people go like “oh I have to buy from shein because I have no other clothes and I can’t afford it” MIND YOU a great chunk of alternative subcultures originated from people who were poor. Repurposing, upcycling, diy-ing, and thrifting were ALL utilized by people who couldn’t afford brand new clothing. I’d argue it’s even a privilege being able to use shein, temu, amazon, etc. and have clothing arrive at your doorstep in a short span of time. There’s no excuse, just stop doing it
Also shein clothing is not biodegradable, most of it will end up in a landfill after people finally let it go which will do more damage on our environment than what’s already being done. Anyone alternative should know why that’s wrong
by stoopy; ; Report
Xx_AngelicAva_xX
THE hot topic becoming fast fashion makes me so mad
I agree with you on that. Plus the quality of the things they sell is getting rly bad
by KikizDrowned; ; Report
its all just melanie martinez merch and mushroom jewlery now, and any of the " good" things are so overpriced.
by Xx_AngelicAva_xX; ; Report
Patience_thelovely
I didn't know that hot topic was fast fashion, I will 100 percent stop shopping there
I love thrifting, it's cheap and I find cute clothes and I'm a plus size gril and I find clothes there most of the time, but I do live in a bigger city,save the planet!
Zee★
finding out hot topic was fast fashion just killed a little piece of me
✮Ric
Loved your blog! Please post more. I think what you're saying is super important. The worst part is that, month after month, we get like three new trends and people just start madly buying clothes they’re not even gonna wear, and good clothes end up in the trash just because they're 'not trendy anymore'.
𝕬𝖐𝖆𝖎
i hate ignorant ppl who js don't care and use worse stuff as excuse for their behavior
☆ Isa!
HIIii, Here's my grain of sand: When creating clothes, factories usually use large pieces of fabric; they use a mold and then the remaining fabric is thrown away since it is not usually reused, and if the garment goes wrong it is likely that a lot of clothes are like this, so immense amounts of fabric are thrown away (because it is very difficult for someone to use that for a cleaning cloth, right?), I just want to add that much more pollution is produced by the factories more than by the population, since these are the ones who produce and throw away in masses, so we need to offer bills that regulate the amount of waste this leaves, such as a "garbage tax" for factories. (just and idea)
✰ꮮⅈŀŀⅈꫀ✰
You literally said it perfectly. please drop the pinterest board tho!!!(ᗒᗣᗕ)՞
https://pin.it/rwPdriBPR this is all i’ve collected so far!
by Faoil; ; Report
andrea larkansnarf
this is literally so true omg. One of my biggest pet peeves is when the next microtrend rolls around, and everyone starts getting overly concerned over fitting into the mould. Like, you don't have to participate in these trends. Where is your identity?? Jus be yourself, oh my God.... "Oh, what are we wearing this summer you guys?" whatever tf you want. I feel lilke trend culture and the eternally looming presence of influencers has led to people losing their identities - people's lives revolve around this stuff, and it's really sad to me. And it's microtrends like these that really contribute to fast fashion & all these clothes ending up in landfills. It's really annoying. I 100% feel for you, man. The next time I see a bunch of recycled Shein clothes invading the thrift stores, I might actually crash out.
Markus
LOVE THIS!! And I hate when people say that they can't afford actual clothing when they are spending over 100 bucks on Shein and Temu. Because if you can spend 100 bucks on fast fashion and throw them away in a week because they are out of style, then you can thrift or even, DON'T THROW THE CLOTHES AWAY! Because it's better to use the clothes to their fullest then to just throw them away. I'm so glad that I finally found my people that don't support fast fashion :)
Muka >:3
totally agree!! i'm not proud to say that i bought wuite som stuff from fast fashion in my early years into the alternative scene, but these last few months i'm radically changing that, and it feels great!! i learned how to buy my clothes at thrift stores and personalize them if i really want to. one problem that i have is that i live in a country where thrift culture is still not very strong, it's been groing for the last few years but, especially in my city, it can be pretty hard to find thrift stores, and in those thrift stores it's hard to find cool clothing for alternative folks, ESPECIALLY since i live in a very summer beach vacation city where the alternative scene is not quite big. anyyway, despite that i find buying from thrift stores more rewarding than fast fashion, you can find a lot of cool and unique clothes, and for great prices too!! now another big problem that i have is about where to buy acessories, since most of the cool ones i find are sold at shein and i can't find similar ones here where i live, that's the major problem. anyway, love this post!! you are so so right :D
I buy most of my accessories on etsy if that helps!
by Faoil; ; Report
unfortunally buying from etsy is nearly impossible here :(( also its CRAZY expensive, but thanks!!
by Muka >:3; ; Report
sl0ven
I don't really understand fast fashion most of its polyester which is top 5 worst materials it traps in heat making you sweat more and it also traps your stench in I don't really get why you would choose to wear something that feels cheap, makes you stink, and visibly looks like a bad fabric
woodlouse
OH GIRL #4 ON TOP BLOGS HELLOOOOOO
★ KASSANDRA
like the person below me said, GREAT POST!! I like the added washing machine image, LMAO!
I've fallen in love with thrifting, and I've recently been buying and selling some things on depop. :) as well as going to thrift stores whenever I can- the thrill of the hunt is beautiful.. it just feels so nice to give clothing another life! among other things like music, decor, and books!
i went thrifting recently hoping to find some lowrise flares, and ended up only finding some lowrise skinny jeans.. sooo im thinking about doing my first diy project, and turning them into flares myself ^_^
MAX!!!!!
and if the environment somehow isnt enough of a motivator for these people, i hope they know that WE CAN TELL YOU GOT ALL YOUR THINGS FROM THE SAME PLACE!!! YOU LOOK BORING!!!!!!!! half of fashion is curation and you cant curate if you're buying straight off the mannequin guys
ON GOD
by Faoil; ; Report
saphir 🧽🌸
TY FOR MENTIONING THAT HOT TOPIC ALSO IS FAST FASHION!!! PEOPLE OFTEN DONT REALIZE THAT JUST BECAUSE THE CLOTHES LOOK MORE «ALT»
its SUPER expensive too and for no reason >_< soo much money just for the BAND SHIRTS.
by ★ KASSANDRA; ; Report
Ghoul
This is lowkey so valid. Idk why sum alt ppl buy fast fashion. I mean yeah you may not have money but thrifting and DIY exist too. And if you can't DIY then do a tut.
Peace/Eli
THIS!! if you want cool clothes for really cheap use vinted or go to flea markets!!! You find such cool things there :P
dgn diaries <33
THANK YOU FOR MAKING A POST ABOUT THIS AND SPREADING AWARENESS!! I hate fast fashion with a passion, reduce reuse recycle y'all!!