I wish I had a clear vision of what to do (about fur, fashion, feet, and everything else, LOL). I still have your fur suggestions from a while back.
Friends Chat Thread: Wardrobe, Fun, and Whatever
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Drat - it is already at the storage place, first to be cleaned. Let me hunt around and see if I have an old pic.
Recently I read that landfills are just stuffed with clothes. And the clothes in the landfill don't degrade for ages. What kind of clothes are these landfills holding? I do donate clothes which relieves my guilt that I haven't worn things out -- but then, what wears out these days except shoes, jeans, tees, etc.? When I started my first permanent full time job at 27 (after a M.S. degree) I still could fit in and wore my wool plaid skirt from 8th grade (pre-high school). (I like wool). But I don't do things like that any more b/c I have limited storage space. Anyhow, if something no longer fits it's actually probably cheaper to buy new than to deal with a tailor.
I think about the landfill problem but what about all the people who depend on their jobs in apparel for their livelihoods? (Despite its sweatshop aspects). Say, everybody kept their clothes till they were sick of them (eventually the wool skirt had to go). Would that make the world a better place?
I am not sure what I am trying to say.
I think about the landfill problem but what about all the people who depend on their jobs in apparel for their livelihoods? (Despite its sweatshop aspects). Say, everybody kept their clothes till they were sick of them (eventually the wool skirt had to go). Would that make the world a better place?
I am not sure what I am trying to say.
Well it's all food for thought.
The problem is fashion is one of the few businesses left that can make money. The problems are:
Bargain hunting is an international sport. Unfortunately want does not equate need and people are already knee-deep in 'bargains'.
Too much is produced from designer to cheap highstreet.
After 50 + years of cheap manufactured, RTW there's also a glut of old clothes.
The takeover of manmade fibres over natural (even in designer) adds to the problem of landfill. Even when most of these chemically based material do eventually breakdown they leak chemicals into our water table.
Designer clothes have risen sharply in the last 10 years but high-street clothes have actually stayed the same because people are buying less at full retail.
Even in the sales retailers make a profit so overstock is built in to the equation
Brand new clothes that cannot sell through the chain are added to landfill or destroyed.
There's very little transparency on sustainability. Words actually mean very little, most of it is 'green-wash' marketing.
The whole vegan thing is also a chance for designers to make more money with higher mark-ups delivering a less environmentally friendly product in the long run. I'm not just talking fur.
Etc.
Donations to goodwill/charity are still a very good way of recycling clothes. These do not undergo energy-inefficient processes and give someone else a chance to buy what they could never normally afford or if younger a style they're into that's not current. It's great that you do this.
So much to think about. Everyone is trying to be more conscious of acquisition / disposal, but it's hard to follow all the lines with clothing production. So much of what you say is troubling: "overstock is built into the equation" and chemicals in clothing in the landfill in particular. Ugh. Seriously people only need two outfits: one to wear and one to wash, LOL.
and lots of scarves (that are kept forever)
I think the point I made about apparel being a source of jobs is consistent with your statement that apparel is one of the few industries around that can make money.
Eileen Fisher is requesting old EF clothes from customers to made new recycled clothes. This bugs me. If she paid some small or token amount for those clothes, or gave a person a 10 percent off coupon, I would feel better than with her bumming off free supplies. I feel the same way about product reviews. The help these reviews give to retailer business is not acknowledged. These reviews are a form of advertising. If customers say they bought a great skirt that action has the potential to boost retailer sales.
I haven't worked the kinks out of this proposal in the sense that bargain-hunters might flood the system with reviews and develop a monopoly on 10 percent off coupons.
I think the point I made about apparel being a source of jobs is consistent with your statement that apparel is one of the few industries around that can make money.
Eileen Fisher is requesting old EF clothes from customers to made new recycled clothes. This bugs me. If she paid some small or token amount for those clothes, or gave a person a 10 percent off coupon, I would feel better than with her bumming off free supplies. I feel the same way about product reviews. The help these reviews give to retailer business is not acknowledged. These reviews are a form of advertising. If customers say they bought a great skirt that action has the potential to boost retailer sales.
I haven't worked the kinks out of this proposal in the sense that bargain-hunters might flood the system with reviews and develop a monopoly on 10 percent off coupons.
I always look out for 'verified purchase' or 'sponsored review' coz not many are worth reading but it's worth checking out because most people see 4 or 5 stars and just think great without any further investigation.
I meant to say before we have this in Scotland https://www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/revolve and they back this http://www.revolve-recycle.co.uk which allows people to bring in clothes, get points for them and then use those points to take away other clothes. They also have sewing classes and community things going on too. Some of the clothes that are too worn/bad get put into recycle waste but the good stuff goes back out. NO MONEY needed. I think it's a great idea.
Yes, this zerowastescotland.org does sound like they got a useful and fair system going. I would hope we have something like that here.
Retailers I use do check that reviews are backed by an actual customer purchase.
Reviews should not be allowed in cases where the customer made choices that have nothing to do with the garment under consideration. Gosh, I wish I could think of an example now. These customer decisions (something like, "I was supposed to get a red shirt and this wasn't red" then result in a downgrade of the product which may be totally misleading.
I have such a love hate relationship with reviews for this exact reason! It's so annoying.
I just made (read: hacked up and distressed) my own pair of step-hem jeans. Can't bring myself to buy something so distressed and shredded, and my last pair of distressed jeans (formerly brand new j.brands!) finally gave up the ghost. Felt a bit zen picking my own distressed patches and measuring the hems just so
I just made (read: hacked up and distressed) my own pair of step-hem jeans. Can't bring myself to buy something so distressed and shredded, and my last pair of distressed jeans (formerly brand new j.brands!) finally gave up the ghost. Felt a bit zen picking my own distressed patches and measuring the hems just so
Thinking of making my next big purchase a Gucci belt. I didn't replace my belts after I outgrew them a couple years ago (mostly just by trading or taking cast off ones from friends/family!) but I bought a Madewell one I love. Time for a black leather one though.
Still rocking my gigantic Fendi B Belt til the end of time!
Still rocking my gigantic Fendi B Belt til the end of time!
Friends! Would love if we could resurrect this thread in these challenging times. Maybe we can kick off with a discussion of how we’ve been spending our time now that we’re all indoors with lots more free time? This has made me realize that most of my hobbies involved things that are of no use in times of quarantine. Like who cares about shopping for bags, jewelry, clothes etc when there’s no where to wear them?
Instead I’ve been catching up on my favorite podcasts (Bowery Boys and some travel podcasts to remind me of happier times/a better future), watching movies and television shows (TIGER KING ANYONE??), reading novels, and going for walks in the park once a day and playing badminton (best $12 purchase from amazon ever!)
Instead I’ve been catching up on my favorite podcasts (Bowery Boys and some travel podcasts to remind me of happier times/a better future), watching movies and television shows (TIGER KING ANYONE??), reading novels, and going for walks in the park once a day and playing badminton (best $12 purchase from amazon ever!)