Social media and fast fashion have seriously skewed our perspective of timeless, good-quality pieces of clothing, accessories and homeware. In a world dominated by fast fashion and ever-changing trends, it is hard to remain trendy in a sustainable manner. Charity shops and resale platforms are becoming increasingly popular now as an affordable, sustainable fashion option. But behind these new sustainable methods lies a less glamorous reality: what happens when there are simply too many clothes to sell?
Second-hand shopping truly seems to be a sustainable alternative to the expensive cycle of buying new clothes and remaining fashionable, particularly for students and young people. It is a method of giving clothes a second life and keeping them from landfill. Social media has further fuelled this with constant hauls and shopping sprees at charity shops. Yet, the rise of second hand fashion comes with a growing challenge.
Fast fashion brands produce enormous quantities of inexpensive and poor-quality clothing, encouraging consumers to buy more, but meaning they discard items sooner. With trends constantly changing and the poor quality of these items, unwanted clothes are overwhelming charity shops and resale platforms, outweighing the demand. The nature of these items leaves these shops struggling to sort, store and sell them; resale sites are flooded by the same item being sold over again. This creates an uncomfortable contradiction: second-hand shopping is a sustainable solution, but cannot solve the problem of overproduction and overconsumption. This is especially apparent when we compare the cost of buying second-hand to buying new. When you understand the need for second-hand prices, it seems like a fair price to pay, but if you simply compare on a surface level, people want the cheaper items, and they want them quickly.
Choosing second-hand clothing is a sustainable way to shop, giving unwanted items new life. However, this cannot truly erase the damage fashion has on the environment. If sustainability is the goal, underconsumption is the solution, only buy what is necessary, buy staple pieces of good quality you know you will wear and will last. To truly shop sustainably, buy second hand, but also buy consciously not to follow trends, buy pieces that will be loved and worn religiously before they are thrown into landfill to decompose over hundreds of years.