Online fast fashion brands have become incredibly popular over the past few years, and increasingly popular with COVID restrictions preventing many from doing their shopping in person. But are these online shopping trends really worth it in the long run?
As a broke college student, I completely fell into the trap of binge ordering clothes online; I found multiple websites – including Shein and Zaful – that have gone viral and placed order after order at insanely cheap prices. But spending under 80 bucks for nearly 15 items of clothing seemed to be too good to be true; turns out it really isn’t worth it. I’ve come to learn that my eight-dollar crop tops only make it through the washer about five times before the colors fade and turn into a paper-thin material with threads coming loose. The jeans that I thought would definitely be worth the price ended up loosening up to the point I had to donate them. So what was I really paying for? 80 dollars for a shopping haul that would only last me a few months?
In addition, these clothing brands are actually quite harmful to the environment; as these brands keep pumping out millions of articles of clothing at a cheap price for us, it’s creating a massive amount of pollution. In fact, according to a piece by The True Cost, the average American wastes 82 pounds of clothing per year, with fast-fashion companies being partly to blame.
So, in my brief relationship with these fast fashion brands, I can say one thing: ditch your Shein jeans and invest in a pair that will stay with you for more than five rounds in the wash. I promise it’s worth it.