Do you buy too much disposable fashion?

[cordeeelia]

I was watching a tv doccumentary on how people (at least in britain) love buying clothing in vast amounts especially in shops like Primark, Matalan, Peacocks, etc (shops that sell clothing at dirt cheap prices).

As much as I love the occassional thrill of a bargain and a good fashion find, I can't help but feel sick for these people on how much waste they are encouraging these big companies to produce.

Now, i am not a snob or anything but I have been resisting shopping in places like these lately because as a lover of clothes, I absolutely hate the idea of disposing off my old clothes. I only buy when I really like something and I know that I will wear em a lot but these people buy things that they will probably only wear once & chuck it in the "donate to charity" bag.

My plea to you girls is, maybe just think about your shopping habits for a bit, and try to just buy things you know you will keep for a long time instead of things that you may not actually wear or never wear at all. Let's just try to help the environment by doing a lil thing like that.

A lil bit goes a long way. If we stop buying so much, perhaps these companies will stop producing too much and that in turn will reduce the amount of waste that the limited numbers of landfills can hold. Or perhaps these big companies will for once focus on improving their clothes quality instead of increasing their stock quantity.

I hope I made some sense! x

 

[Miss 2 A]

I agree with you. While on travel I shopped at a few places like this and realized that this stuff is really disposable clothing, I have a thing for quality and even now shopping at "better" places I'm still paranoid if my Tshirts get a little 'fuzzy' after the first wear or things start looking too worn.

 

[ZoeyZoo]

I'm still paranoid if my Tshirts get a little 'fuzzy' after the first wear or things start looking too worn.

I agree too... I feel bad everytime I clean my closet and come out with a trashbag or two of items... even though I donate most of them, I still know they will wind up in a landfill.

I get paranoid too that my clothing will age too quickly... I try to buy better quality because I always feel like I have to replace most of my clothing every season and that becomes expensive. The issue I have is even a lot of the more expensive clothing is cheaply made and it can be hard to tell with items like knitwear how well it will hold up. I have very few pieces that held up from a year ago even though I do most of my shopping in better stores like Nordies and NM.

I would prefer to just buy a few pieces to update each season... not just from an environmental perspective but also from a finacial one.

 

[missmustard]

I hear you. As much as I like a good bargain, I also want my clothes to last more than one wash. So I've learnt (the hard way), that investing a little more will pay off.

 

[nauticalstar]

ITA. I have really learned which brands (all lower end or clearance rack only lol) can still hold their shape, color, etc. I feel lucky to be a jeans and cute tshirts kind of gal, because I don't often toss things out (just need bigger and bigger closets! hehe) I have a few nice outfits, dressy things, but most of my clothing can be worn in any situation, as I work in a casual place. So as the rotation gets larger, things last longer for me!

However I have also learned that I am picky about fit and impatient about trying things on- so when I find something I like I usually buy more than one!

 

[D & G rockstar]

I think a big factor is disposable income. when I was a starving student...cheapy clothes, shoes, bags were OK with me. The more disposable income I had... the more higher end my purchases were... that still holds true today.

 

[chicbabacool]

ITA with the OP. I used to buy cheap clothes (AE, Forever 21) but I got sick of the low quality. Clothes shouldn't fall apart after being worn only 3 times!

It's far better for the environment (and your wardrobe) to save up for a few high quality pieces that you can wear for many years. I believe that saving our Earth starts with individuals.

Believe it or not, my transition to designer fashion was brought on a concern for the environment! I fantasize about the days when people had fewer clothes, but they were all handmade and high quality.

 

[azia]

Lowend doesn't always mean disposible. I agree with you on not buying so much that you won't wear and thinking things through but I don't agree that we shouldn't buy from these places for that reason. A lot of the things I've bought from cheap stores I've kept much longer and worn more often than my higher end items. I know people who buy a lot of high-end brands and never wear THOSE once.

 

[Lvbabydoll]

Not always. I tend to hang onto clothes for a long time and then dig them out again in the future. I recently found some shirts I forgot I had and I've been wearing them a lot lately, I forgot how comfy they were.

 

[cordeeelia]

ITA with the OP. I used to buy cheap clothes (AE, Forever 21) but I got sick of the low quality. Clothes shouldn't fall apart after being worn only 3 times!

It's far better for the environment (and your wardrobe) to save up for a few high quality pieces that you can wear for many years. I believe that saving our Earth starts with individuals.

Believe it or not, my transition to designer fashion was brought on a concern for the environment! I fantasize about the days when people had fewer clothes, but they were all handmade and high quality.

I totally agree with you hun. Its all about quality not quantity.

When these shoppers were being interviewed on tv on why they buy so much, their response was "its so cheap!". Basically, it just shows that buying is no longer because you really want or like something, and you can probably sell anything to an uninformed customer who will take his/her chances on every single bargain he/she sees. which results to waste.

I do agree some low-end clothes can last longer than some designer clothing. I always read the fabric content to compare, and i also realised that clothes made in france or italy or even india tend to have much better quality and sewing in general. It doesn't even need to have a famous brand on it, its just the quality that really counts (at least to me) at the end of the day.

 

[cordeeelia]

Not always. I tend to hang onto clothes for a long time and then dig them out again in the future. I recently found some shirts I forgot I had and I've been wearing them a lot lately, I forgot how comfy they were.

Well, thats good for you. I was referring to those who get tired of their clothes easily and can't stop buying just because its cheap.

 

[cordeeelia]

Lowend doesn't always mean disposible. I agree with you on not buying so much that you won't wear and thinking things through but I don't agree that we shouldn't buy from these places for that reason. A lot of the things I've bought from cheap stores I've kept much longer and worn more often than my higher end items. I know people who buy a lot of high-end brands and never wear THOSE once.

I didn't say "we shouldn't buy from these places". I said "buy less from these places".

And i'm not condemning em either, I love em myself, but I don't want to be one of the customers that encourage em to produce so much of these cheap & most of the time lower quality clothing which we will chuck away after a few wears.

Of course, there are always exceptions, but lets just focus on the non-exceptions for now.

 

[mmcgurgan]

I do not have a problem with low-end trendy stores. Yes they produce a massive amount of clothing and I am opposed to waste- but their purpose is to serve the trends of the moment. That is what fashion is- it is meant to become unfashionable. Stores like forever21 give girls from a wide variety of incomes the opportunity to have instyle clothing at a price they can afford. 80% of what I purchase is highend designer clothing, but if i'm into a trend that I know will be out in a season and I dont' want to invest hundreds of dollars into it I purchase a lower-end version of it. Fashion is of the moment- and yes there are classic styles. Those are the pieces to invest in.

 

[Sealy]

I do not have a problem with low-end trendy stores. Yes they produce a massive amount of clothing and I am opposed to waste- but their purpose is to serve the trends of the moment. That is what fashion is- it is meant to become unfashionable. Stores like forever21 give girls from a wide variety of incomes the opportunity to have instyle clothing at a price they can afford. 80% of what I purchase is highend designer clothing, but if i'm into a trend that I know will be out in a season and I dont' want to invest hundreds of dollars into it I purchase a lower-end version of it. Fashion is of the moment- and yes there are classic styles. Those are the pieces to invest in.

I totally agree with you

 

[chloehandbags]

I was watching a tv doccumentary on how people (at least in britain) love buying clothing in vast amounts especially in shops like Primark, Matalan, Peacocks, etc (shops that sell clothing at dirt cheap prices).

As much as I love the occassional thrill of a bargain and a good fashion find, I can't help but feel sick for these people on how much waste they are encouraging these big companies to produce.

Now, i am not a snob or anything but I have been resisting shopping in places like these lately because as a lover of clothes, I absolutely hate the idea of disposing off my old clothes. I only buy when I really like something and I know that I will wear em a lot but these people buy things that they will probably only wear once & chuck it in the "donate to charity" bag.

My plea to you girls is, maybe just think about your shopping habits for a bit, and try to just buy things you know you will keep for a long time instead of things that you may not actually wear or never wear at all. Let's just try to help the environment by doing a lil thing like that.

A lil bit goes a long way. If we stop buying so much, perhaps these companies will stop producing too much and that in turn will reduce the amount of waste that the limited numbers of landfills can hold. Or perhaps these big companies will for once focus on improving their clothes quality instead of increasing their stock quantity.

I hope I made some sense! x

I couldn't agree more!!!

I'm like you, I try to only buy things I will love and wear for a good long while.

I think the fashion industry is partly to blame - it moves far faster than it used to and jumps around much more (in the not too distant past, fashions were considered 'in' for at least a few seasons [or years] and fashion moved at a more natural pace, whereas now, something can be deemed 'in' one season, out the next and back 'in' the next - which is totally ridiculous and artificial!); meaning that most people don't dare spend a lot on items, as they worry that they will be considered 'out' in one season.

The environmental consequences are terrifying, if we carry on like this, not to mention the working conditions and low pay of the factory workers.

We should all be saving for investment pieces, not throwing away our money, our planet and our karma on trash.

But to make this possible, it is the fashion industry's responsibilty to slow things down, just a little and stop being so fashion ADHD.