By Adwoa Ampofo
I’m tired of fast fashion.
More specifically, I’m tired of ultra-fast fashion, the kind that arrives in crinkly plastic mailers, trends for two weeks, and pills after three washes. Brands like Shein have become synonymous with what experts now call “ultra-fast fashion,” a hyper-accelerated production model that churns out thousands of new styles daily.
Shein has been described by market analysts as one of the largest fast-fashion retailers in the world, with an estimated valuation that once exceeded $60 billion. Its model relies on rapid micro-trend production, low prices, and algorithm-driven design but that speed comes at a cost.
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, the fashion industry accounts for up to 10% of global carbon emissions and is one of the largest consumers of water worldwide. Meanwhile, the International Labour Organization has repeatedly raised concerns about labor exploitation risks in global garment supply chains.
Ultra-fast fashion is not designed to last.
I grew up shopping at stores like Gabe’s, GAP, Old Navy, and JCPenney. I wore hand-me-downs from cousins. My style has never been complicated leggings, a shirt, maybe a hoodie.
I can live without Shein.
Lately, I’d rather shop at thrift stores, on Depop, or even at H&M not because they’re perfect (they’re not), but because I’m trying to step away from the endless churn of “buy, post, discard.”
Ironically, part of this shift is aesthetic. I love early 2000s fashion. Thrifting makes more sense when you’re chasing Y2K silhouettes instead of whatever TikTok decided is trending this week.
In this economy, who cares where you get your clothes from as long as you’re not breaking the bank.
The Streaming Fatigue Is Real
The same exhaustion I feel toward fast fashion? I feel it toward music streaming.
I used to use Spotify religiously. But in recent years, Spotify has raised Premium subscription prices in multiple markets, including the U.S., while its free tier remains heavily ad-supported and limited in functionality. Free users experience frequent ads and restricted playback controls.
At some point, it started to feel like I was paying for a streaming service that still didn’t feel premium.
I stopped using Spotify in November and switched to Apple Music partly because I received a free subscription bundle when I bought my AirPods Max.
But even that doesn’t fully solve the problem.
Streaming is convenient, but it’s intangible. You don’t own anything.
That’s why I’ve been thinking about buying vinyls and physical albums maybe even using an MP3 player again. Physical media is resurging: vinyl sales in the United States have grown consistently for over a decade. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, vinyl revenues have surpassed CD revenues in recent years the first time that’s happened since the 1980s.
As a 2005 baby, I caught the tail end of physical media. Burning CDs. Buying albums. Thrifting before it was aesthetic.
Now, physical media and thrifting are “back.” But for some of us, they never really left we were just pressured into convenience culture.
We’re Not Reading Enough And AI Isn’t Helping
Here’s the part that worries me more.
While we’ve been accelerating our wardrobes and playlists, literacy rates have quietly declined.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) often called the Nation’s Report Card reported in 2022 that average reading scores for 9-year-olds fell five points compared to 2020, marking one of the largest declines in decades. In 2024, further assessments showed reading proficiency rates remaining below pre-pandemic levels for both fourth and eighth graders.
The long-term trajectory is concerning. Lower reading proficiency in early grades is strongly linked to academic struggles later in life, including higher dropout risks.
Policies like the early-2000s No Child Left Behind Act aimed to standardize accountability through testing. Critics argue that while it increased assessment measures, it also narrowed curriculums and emphasized test performance over deep literacy development.
Now add another layer: AI dependency.
We are increasingly outsourcing thinking from essays to summaries to brainstorming to generative AI tools. While AI can support learning when used responsibly, overreliance may weaken critical thinking, writing fluency, and sustained attention.
And sustained attention is the key word.
Reading requires patience. Physical shopping requires intention. Owning music requires commitment.
Ultra-fast culture removes all three.
Back to Analog
Maybe this isn’t about Shein or Spotify at all.
Maybe this is about resisting an algorithm-fed lifestyle that tells us faster is better, cheaper is smarter, and convenience is king.
Thrifting isn’t just sustainable it’s slower. Buying vinyl forces you to listen to an album front to back. Reading a physical book demands your full attention.