We all love to shop and most of us put a lot of time into looking good so that we project an image of us that is closer to the one we have about ourselves.
Compared to 1950, when clothes used to be bespoke or specially made for every individual by a good tailor and people used to spend about 10 percent of their income on clothing, nowadays everything has changed. Clothes are really cheap, ready-to-wear, in standard sizes, and we spend less than 3 percent of our income on them.
However, the amount of clothing we buy today has arrived at an average of 20 pieces per year, while the fashion industry produces about 150 billion pieces of clothing every year. Knowing this, we can only conclude that people buy more clothes for a much lower price, thus the quality is questionable.
What is fast-fashion?
In the early years of this concept, the idea was not so bad. The fast-fashion theory used to state that companies can produce clothing at a low cost that will make fashion pieces available to everybody. The idea is not that bad, but, in time, things changed when they were put into practice.
A rule that fast-fashion takes very seriously is that the clothes are made entirely in a closed circuit. Companies design, manufacture and sell their clothes without the help of outside companies. They also rely on feedback, which models are sold and which are not, what people like to wear, and producers also observe what people like to wear on the streets.
Fast fashion companies also produce their clothes very fast, in a maximum time of 5 weeks and there are different collections made every season.
Why is fast-fashion considered to be a bad thing?
First of all, fast-fashion relies on cheap labor. This means that the workers are usually from developing countries, are paid low salaries and work in unsafe conditions, using chemicals that can be dangerous for their health. Sometimes the companies also use child labor and exploit their workers.
Eventually, the large amounts of clothing we buy transform into garbage and some of them are not recyclable or biodegradable. We buy ridiculous amounts of clothing that we throw away in one or two years and put our environment in danger.
What can we do to change that?
Lately, people have forgotten what having a relationship with your clothes means. We own more and more garments that we don’t like very much and interchange them, trying to feel good about ourselves. Even if we own a piece that we like, it will deteriorate fast due to its cheap quality.
A good practice is to only purchase things that you see yourself wearing forever. That means that you will feel good wearing them and they say something about you. It is also important to buy things that are made of high-quality materials. A piece that you love wearing and you decide to wear for many years to come has to be durable.
Also, it is essential to have statement pieces that will never go out of style, like a well-tailored suit or a classic shirt. Cool biker shirts never go out of style, as well, and make you feel like a rebel. The most important thing is that the clothes you wear express your personality and make you feel good about yourself.
Buying fewer clothes will also allow you to spend more money on high-quality ones, even if you do not own that many. They will have a better shape and will make you look very sharp and sophisticated. Doing this will make you happier and will make our world a better place.
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