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The Greed Grinch Meets Sustainable Chic
December 2, 2016
— clothing, disposable, fashion, sustainable
Frida gets dressed
The advertising industry fills the consumer’s mind with dreams of more consumption. That is the job of propaganda, to convince the public to buy more of everything. We now discard our clothing and buy more than ever at a faster rate. Disposable fashion is a good example of how we rape the earth’s resources without subtracting the loss from our ever expanding GDP. We buy the cheapest clothing with the plan of wearing it only a few times before moving on to more new outfits available at very low prices.
There are some of us who object to the whole trend because it results in poorly made garments. Locavores like me are bringing up the concept of sustainable chic as a fashion standard. The Primark Effect refers the growing danger of discarded fiber in the landfills around the world. We have begun to throw out clothes at a dangerous rate of speed. The handcrafted garments of the past are giving way to cheap, poorly made and designed goods produced with slave labor in the third world. Disposable fashion is a real and growing thing. The only real winners are the companies producing these cheap products and their retail outlets.
My first choice for wardrobe shopping is thrift shopping. It is a sport for me to find classic, well made garments for good prices. The older clothing can be exquisitely well made with fine tailoring that is not common these days. I like all kinds of finds, but the older the better if it is still in good shape to use. I still enjoy sewing from time to time because it is a pleasure to bring a garment to life from scratch. My fashion philosophy is to acquire and take care of unique, well-made goods that will last for a long time. I prefer that they be previously owned or come to me in the form of a piece of lovely fabric and some buttons. I like to feel that nobody else can ever show up dressed like I am. How do you shop for your clothing, gentle reader? Have you given any thought to the effects our cheap clothing has on the economy and the environment?
comments
Thrift shopping is definitely a good way to follow through with the green philosophy of reuse, repurpose, recycle. I go every so often, as even that can lead to a house packed with things we don’t need.
Totally agree with your theme. It’s very easy to get caught up in the frenetic activity of SHOPPING. I admit, I am the first to promote interesting things to buy. I do it when I can 1) save someone $$$ and/or it’s such an unusual item or seems to be a great gift for the hard to shop for people
I like your idea of thrift shopping for gifts (or sample sales too) because you can find great stuff but it does require time!
Alexis, you are so on target. My house is overstocked with fabulous stuff I bought at thrift stores..Everything in moderation.
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Stevie, you have the advantage of not only living in LA, but knowing the ins and outs of scoring bargains retail. I adore and admire that too because everyone buys retail all the time, no matter what the philosophy. Saving is always good…..unless you buy too much to save too much ( which is a thing)
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