How To Slow Down Fashion

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You've probably heard of the term "fast fashion" before. If not, fast fashion is the idea that shops create landfills-worth of clothing out of cheap material using underpaid labor in order to keep up with changing trends and fashion seasons. Fast fashion brands you probably recognize include Forever 21, H&M, ASOS, Zara, TopShop, Target, ModCloth, Urban Outfitters, and more. Some fast fashion brands like Zara and Urban Outfitters masquerade as luxury goods, but in reality their superficially higher price tags disguise the fact that they use most of the same practices as their lower-priced counterparts. What this means is that people who don't have the money to buy off of the runway or straight from independent designers will spend their money in fast-fashion shops in order to look just as "with it" as the people who can afford these things. However, low quality and over-designing means that these clothes are only wearable for a season or two before they fall apart or look embarrassingly outdated. In the end, tons of clothing is thrown into the landfill where the cheap microplastic fabrics and finishings used to make them take eons to break down. In order to save our planet, we need to stop buying from fast-fashion businesses and change the way we think about clothing consumption. The truth of the matter is, we are still being marketed new trends faster than ever from the designer runways, and the urge to keep up with the times sweeps most of us up in its riptide.

I would argue that wanting to participate in trends as they emerge is not the end of the world. For one thing, it's going to take systemic change to the fashion industry to slow down the seasonal show schedule, and there are some things we can do about this, but it's mostly change that's going to have to come from the top, from greedy CEOs who will need to reckon with their consciences and pocketbooks. For another, as someone who uses dressing and collecting clothing as her main artform, I tend to view runway shows as finished art projects from the artist-designers and I would be sad not to be able to respond to their art in my own way. I know this may not be a view shared by many, but thinking of designers' runway shows like gallery shows might help you view fashion in a different light. I am often inspired by other illustrators' work and to have it not shown would be sad indeed. There are ways we can be more ethical in the way we follow trends!

For one, we all need to learn to repair our clothing, and to donate it rather than dispose of it when we've moved on. Learning to take out stains, darn holes, sew on buttons, etc. will mean that clothes keep their usefulness much longer! And donating your clothes at the end of their usefulness to you will also increase an article's lifespan. We are lucky that trends cycle and retro clothing of some era or another is usually cool, so keeping your clothes for your kids, or donating them when they're no longer cool, can mean someone will look really hip later on by wearing a genuine garment of the time rather than the fast fashion imitation.

For another thing, we all need to start shopping secondhand. Do whatever you can not to be the person bringing new articles of clothing into this world. There are so many avenues for shopping secondhand both in person and online nowadays, and perceptions have of secondhand clothing have changed so much! No, it's hip and cool to wear an older garment with a story to tell, and we all need to be a part of reinforcing how cool it is to recycle clothing. Online, you can use Depop, Grailed, The RealReal, Vestiaire Collective, ThredUp, Heroine, Farfetch, EBay, Etsy, and more to find exactly the right thing to wear to your cousin's wedding, your job interview, or your next date. As a matter of fact, having search terms like "cropped white cardigan" at your fingertips means you spend a lot less time browsing racks and stores for exactly what you were picturing. Download apps, get accounts on these websites, and start buying and selling your wardrobe online today.

We can all make a better effort to shop small, too. While you will be spending more money to buy a piece of clothing from an independent designer (an $80 tshirt?!), it makes a lot of sense when you imagine a person who is paid well for their work sitting somewhere comfortable and clean and sewing and assembling your product by hand, photographing and listing your product online, and then someone packing and shipping that product by hand as well. By saving your money and buying long-lasting hand made basics, you're going to look a lot more chic, slow down the fashion machine, and feel a lot better showing off what you're wearing. You can actually feel chic and proud rather than frumpy wearing just jeans and a t-shirt!

Those are just a couple ideas to get you started slowing down fashion and feeling better about the clothes you consume. Below you will find a directory of links that you will find helpful for furthering your journey!

Buy/Sell Second-hand:
• Depop

Small Designers to Support:
• Ovate
• Selkie (Shop with this link to receive some money off of your purchase, and earn me a little kickback too!)