The Importance of a Conscious Closet (and what is it?!)

Many times as consumers, we look at our shopping habits when it comes to clothing in terms of how much we are spending, where we are spending our money and the comfort and wearability of our clothes.  These things are all relevant.  However, one area that is becoming increasingly important to consider for value-driven shoppers and for those who are concerned about the environment is the true impacts that our clothing purchases have on the future of Earth and the lives of humans living on it right now.

Today is the first of a 2-part blog series about Fast Fashion versus Sustainable Fashion.  Whether you care about the environment or not, I heartily believe it is important for all of us to take a look at our decisions as consumers and understand these topics so we can make our decisions coming from a place of knowledge.  The decisions we make today will impact not just our own lives, but the lives of our children and grandchildren and cannot be ignored.

Clothes could have more meaning and longevity if we think less about owning the latest or cheapest thing and develop more of a relationship with the things we wear

Elizabeth L Cline, author of Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion 

Part one of this series will focus on Fast Fashion.  I will share what it is and its impact.  Next week, I will dive into Sustainable Fashion.  I am passionate about this topic and hope you are willing to dive in with me here and learn something new so you can make better-informed decisions. 

So, what exactly IS Fast Fashion?  Here is the official definition:  the rapid production and consumption of inexpensive clothing, often inspired by the latest runway trends.  It prioritizes quick and cheap manufacturing to provide affordable, trendy garments to consumers.

Honestly, this is how many women shop.  Have you ever popped into Target or Walmart and purchased clothes there?  You have just purchased Fast Fashion.  What about shopping online at Shein, H&M, Zara, or ASOS?  Yep, those are all Fast Fashion.  So, why is it a problem? What's the big deal?  I would take it a step further and say it's not just a problem, it's a very pervasive problem.  

Women buy fast fashion because it's a quick fix to feel trendy.  Many times, the clothes are also very inexpensive, so when you buy them and wear them only a couple of times, you don't have guilt over it.  Or, because the quality is low, you may wear it and wash it a couple of times and then the fabric is stiff or the seams start to pull apart, so it gets thrown in the trash.  Again, you don't feel TOO bad, because it was so cheap!  So, what's the big deal? It didn't cost a lot of money. Here are some facts about Fast Fashion:

• It has a huge impact on the environment.  In fact, it is estimated to be responsible for about 10% of global carbon emissions and 20% of global wastewater contamination due to dying and treatment processes.  In addition, because of the reliance on non-renewable resources to make manmade fibers, contributes to resource depletion. Fast Fashion also contributes to massive amounts of Textile Waste because the clothing is inexpensive and therefore seen by consumers as disposable and ends up in landfills.  Because many manmade fibers are not biodegradable, they just pile up. You can't burn them because they are made of plastic so there is nowhere for them to go.

• It has social and ethical impacts as well.  Manufacturers of Fast Fashion generally have poor working conditions including child labor as one of the practices.  Because the clothes must be so rapidly turned out, children are hired in the industry because there are not enough adults to create the product.  Even when adults work at manufacturing facilities, they are paid poorly at poverty levels, forced to work long hours, and aren't given workers' rights. And migrant workers are trafficked and forced to work in these unsafe conditions as well because, again like with children, to keep up with the demand, workers must be found to keep up.  In addition, these facilities are very unsafe because the chemicals used to make the fabrics are detrimental to the health of the workers and also to the consumers who wear the garments. Scary, right?!

Here are some additional statistics relating to consumer behavior and how it has been impacted by fast fashion.  These issues become cyclical because Consumers purchase Fast Fashion, so more Fast Fashion is made. 

Think about the news cycle when Kate Middleton wears a dress more than once.  Or when you see a starlet in something twice.  It's rare.  In the book "Overdressed:  The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion" the author Elizabeth Cline references an ad by TJMaxx where a Customer says with pride, "I never wear the same thing twice".  I know that I have found myself thinking this when I'm invited to a fancy event.  I want something new instead of wearing something that I have in my closet and have been seen in.  But I have been making a more intentional effort for those events to see what I can pull from my arsenal in my closet as I have learned more about this serious issue.

Here are some quick statistics about Consumer behavior in Fast Fashion:

• A study by Greenpeace found that the average American wears a garment just 7 times before it is discarded.
• The EPA reported that the average American discards 70 pounds of clothing and textiles each year.
• A report by McKinsey found that the average consumer purchased 60% more clothing in 2014 compared to in the year 2000, but only kept each garment for about half as long.

As you should be able to see, this is a huge problem socially, environmentally, and ethically.  Many consumers are not aware of the role they have in this cycle, so I hope that this post has given you valuable awareness of the issue. It is sometimes easier to just bury our heads in the sand and ignore the problem, but my goal is for more people to take the information to heart and decide to make a better future for our children and their children and even for people across the globe that we don't even know. Our choices matter.

In next week's blog post, I will share all about Sustainable Fashion:  what it is, why it's important, and how you can make responsible decisions when it comes to purchasing Fashion.

 

Stylishly Yours,

Michelle

 

*I used ChatGPT to help with research for this blog post*