The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of annual global carbon emissions. This is a statistic that I’ve recently been seeing shared around more frequently, and yet our obsession with shopping isn’t letting up. I’ll be completely honest with you, I love shopping. I love fashion and experimenting with new clothes and I can’t imagine a world where I stop. However, I also can’t imagine a world at all if we continue doing next to nothing to reduce our carbon emissions.
I think most would agree with me that Shein is the face of fast fashion at the moment as it currently represents 28% of the fast fashion market in the U.S. and is valued at $100 billion, more than Zara and H&M combined. It’s incredibly cheap and shady, the two factors that define fast fashion in my opinion! I’ll share a little secret with you, I loathe Shein! I’ve never bought anything from Shein and I never will. Of course, despite being the biggest online fast fashion distributor, Shein isn’t alone. Some other common fast fashion brands that lure you in with cute clothes are Romwe, ASOS, Cider, Emmiol, and boohoo. Those are just a few of the online-only stores I see advertised on Instagram all the time, but even just going to the mall and you’ll be surrounded by more fast fashion brands like Urban Outfitters, Forever 21, and Uniqlo.
Often in defense of fast fashion, you’ll hear people say “Everyone deserves to dress fashionably if they want to and sometimes Shein is all people can afford.” I’m in full agreement with the first part of that statement. Fashion isn’t only fun, but it can boost your self-esteem and help you explore your own individuality. However, I have multiple issues with the second part. Usually, when people say this, they’re arguing against huge Shein hauls done by people who can afford sustainable brands. Of course, I’m against that, but I honestly believe that there’s no good reason to be buying from Shein even if you can’t afford the fancy eco-friendly brands. If you genuinely cannot afford to buy cute clothes at any price other than what Shein offers, I still think that you shouldn’t shop at Shein.
First, Shein is horrible quality. It’s a joke at this point how a shirt from Shein will fall apart after one wash. When someone can barely afford to buy new clothes, the best advice is to invest in things that will last a long time. In the long run, buying good quality clothes once in a while that cost a little extra saves you more money than repeatedly buying super cheap clothes that break. Additionally, I use the word “invest” lightly here as buying clothes that last more than one wear can cost the same amount of money if not less than Shein. You can thrift well-made long-lasting clothes extremely easily. If you go to a thrift store you can assume that most of the clothes there are built to last since most of them were originally made years ago.
You can argue that some people need to shop at Shein because they’re poor, but the fact of the matter is that you are still buying from a company that has shady labor practices. So shady that we’re not even sure how bad it is. However, in October of 2022, there was an investigation that found Shein employees to be working every day of the week with a salary of only $556 per month to make 500 pieces of clothing a day. There is no excuse in the world that would convince me that it’s ok to knowingly buy from a company that treats its workers like that, especially not the excuse that everyone deserves to buy cute clothes.
It feels almost impossible to avoid fast fashion. Even if you decide to make an effort to shop sustainably, it can be difficult to know where to shop and not feel guilty. To that, I have one suggestion that I will preach until the day I die, shop at thrift stores. Seriously, it’s 2023 and thrifting is cool now. Close the Shein tab and plan a thrift trip. I’ve been thrifting since 2017, mainly because I’m cheap, but moreover, because I can find unique pieces that have lasted me years. Thrifting is also, in my opinion, more fun than scrolling on a website. There’s a sense of exploration that you often don’t find anymore when shopping. Of course, by thrift shopping, you’re basically recycling clothes that would have otherwise ended up in a landfill.
If you’re unfamiliar with thrifting or feel like you never have any luck, I understand. Thrifting is a real skill that you need to practice before you start finding thrift gold more often than not. For that, I have a few tips I’d like to share:
1. Check every rack
This is the most common thrifting advice I see shared. You don’t know what gems you can find in the men’s or lingerie section. This means checking every piece of clothing on the rack, it can be easy to scan over things that initially look ugly just from what’s on the hanger.
2. Look at clothing inspiration before you go shopping
I find that I have more successful thrift trips when I have specific outfits in mind that I want to try styling.
3. Try new things
My taste definitely leans towards things that are so ugly it’s cool. Thrifting requires an open mind. Something could look awful on the rack and then be surprisingly cute when you try it on.
I hope that this article has persuaded you to thrift instead of buying fast fashion clothes next time you get the urge to shop, our planet depends on it.
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