![]() ![]() Two items were all I could buy with my money. All those £5 t-shirts add up, apparently! I decided to invest in a pair of organic cotton jeans from an indie brand and a pinafore dress from a local maker. Choose a rewardĪfter three months of no buying, I had a rather large amount of money saved. It’s such a small gesture in the scheme of things but as demand slows and awareness grows, Shein and its peers WILL disappear. Those cheap clothes started to feel very expensive indeed and I knew I could do something. How some women in Asia are paid just £4 per day and that is a generous wage. A few gentle articles turned into deeper reading about the living and working conditions of global garment workers. As the days went by it got easier and then I started reading about fast fashion. I sat on the sofa scrolling through Zara, H&M, and even Boohoo’s websites, planning what I would buy when the challenge was up. The first few days of no-buying were tough. It’s mostly vintage dungarees and plain t-shirts, so by proxy, I am fashionable. Long story short, I struggled at first, then enjoyed the process, and now, I have a capsule wardrobe. Nothing makes you feel wasteful like owning so many versions of something but only liking one. It came after I was looking for a pair of jeans to wear and none of the NINE clean pairs would do. It came after I realised I wore less than half the items I owned on a regular basis. I decided to go three months without buying any new clothes. Go cold turkey but make it a challengeĪ few years back I initiated a circuit-breaker shopping challenge. Just fill your space with positive messages.Ģ. Why? Because influencer marketing has got you trapped. A similar number declared they would keep buying from even the worst and most notoriously unethical names, regardless of the consequences. Vogue Business surveyed 105 Gen Zers in 2020 and more than half said they buy from fast fashion brands. I highly recommend looking for body positivity accounts to follow because they immediately cut through the idea of thinness being superior and clothing being everything. By all means, follow people you admire, I know I do, but be discerning. You all deserve better, realistic, and honest role models. I hope the popularity of the Kardashians is already waning, but anyone that promotes weight-loss aids and shapewear, while being called out for photoshopping? Hard pass. Molly-Mae is a topical one (she just wants you to buy Pretty Little Thing clothing she earns a HUGE commission on). I say this with respect to their lack of selectiveness when promoting products and brands. ![]() I could list at least 30 celeb influencers I consider to be dangerous. I’ve been thinking about how I managed to cut myself off and here are a few tips you might find handy: 1. The world needs your help to cull fast fashion for good, but we don’t expect you to go it alone. ![]() I also know how it feels to suddenly be paying £50 for an ethical sweatshirt, compared to £8. It horrifies me now, but what I’m saying is that I know how hard it is to change habits overnight. I’m sure I recall buying a dress “just in case a funeral cropped up”. ASOS and I were on first name terms and the high street chains always had something I could justify getting. I know I sound like a boring old person, badgering you about cheap clothing. Not if that perfect white shirt costs me very little but the earth a megaton of emissions. Yes, I still want to dress well, maybe a bit trendily (“I’m not a regular mum, I’m a cool mum” type thinking), but not if it means that someone is being paid below living wage. I’ve found that the closer I edge to 40, the less bothered I am about looking current. It’s a vicious cycle and Shein et al will not be the ones to break it. But please trust me when I say that only we, as consumers, have the power to usurp fast fashion’s grip on us. We can’t wear the same thing twice for fear of fewer likes and engagement and heaven forbid we don’t have at least six shirts with THE collar style of the moment. Yes H&M, I’m looking at you and your ‘Conscious’ range. And when I say that, I include all fast fashion companies, whether they hide their environmental disregard or not. As an aging millennial in a world of Gen-Zers/Zoomers, I need to say something. ![]()
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