You Are What You Wear
- Kate Brosnan
- Oct 23, 2018
- 7 min read
The fashion industry is destroying the environment and we have to change the way we shop. Sustainability and transparency are the solutions, however, it isn’t that simple. I have seen the disturbing documentaries about the fashion industry and I have seen the news articles about our environment. I care so much about this planet and about the people that are working long, grueling hours in unsafe work environments. But last week, I was in line at Forever21 waiting to pay for my clothes I picked out. Why am I still shopping at fast fashion companies when I know all of the negative effects that they have? Am I heartless? Do I just not care? So I tried to wrap my head around why I am not buying sustainable clothing. We have to first find the problems in order to work towards the solution.
Familiarity
People tend to be loyal to certain brands. In a way, it makes you feel safe when you’re shopping because you know what to expect from your purchase. If I’m looking for a pair of jeans, I don’t want to go to every place in the mall and try on different pairs of jeans in different sizes. Trying on jeans is exhausting and after all of that dressing room action, I might not even find the perfect fit. PacSun jeans are my favorite because they fit me perfectly, they’re comfortable, and they come at a reasonable price. So why would I buy jeans anywhere else? If I want something edgy and flirty, I’ll go to TopShop or Nasty Gal, because I’ve bought clothes from them before. People keep going back to stores that they are familiar with and have had good experiences with. This is one of the main reasons people are hesitant about trying sustainable clothing brands. Most of the brands are ones we have never heard of. When I was doing research on sustainable fashion, I found long lists of brands that were completely new to me. That’s saying something because not only am I studying fashion in college but I’m obsessed with it and I feel like I know of so many brands out there, big and small. People need to step out of their comfort zones and give these brands that are trying to change the world a chance. Imagine finding your new favorite pair of jeans that look damn good on you, but are also environmental friendly.
Finances
The cost of everything has risen dramatically over the years. In 1987, which was only 31 years ago, one full year of college cost about $3,000 at a public university. That is adjusted to reflect 2017 dollars. Now, it is approximately $10,000 to attend an in-state university for a year. According to CNBC[1] (Martin, 2017), that’s approximately a 233% increase in cost over the timespan of 31 years. Housing, the cost of a car, groceries, utilities, etc. are all much higher expenses than they used to be. More people are in debt or are paying back student loans. In this economy, when we are struggling to pay the bills, we can’t afford to buy expensive clothing. College, car payments, and cost of living have all gotten more expensive, but most of these things are necessities in our lives. Clothing is a necessity, however, because of fast fashion people don’t have to break the bank in order to buy it. Sustainable fashion is a luxury expense for a lot of people and we would rather set some money aside for other things. How can sustainable fashion make itself appealing to people with smaller budgets?
Used to Fast Fashion
Our generation has grown accustom to low prices. If I want a cute graphic tee, I’ll go to Forever21 and get one for $7. If I want a corduroy skirt with zippers, I’ll go to H&M and buy one for $15. Cheap fashion is at our fingertips at all times. According to H&M[2] (H&M, 2017), there are 536 brick-and-mortar stores, in just the U.S. According to Forbes[3] (Murphey, 2018), there are 600 Forever21 brick-and-mortar stores in the United States. These fast fashion retailers are everywhere. Fast fashion has taken over the fashion industry. They have changed the mindset of consumers. Brands have grown so competitive and they keep lowering their prices lower and lower. As consumers, we have become used to buying a lot for a low price and we don’t want to go back to our old ways.
Brick-and-Mortar
I kept trying to figure out why people aren’t open to buying clothing from eco-friendly brands, and then it hit me. Women enjoy shopping. It’s a hobby and it’s a fun thing to do with your friends or family. We like physically driving to a mall or the outlet shops and seeing the clothes in person. We enjoy touching the different materials and trying things on. There are 50 states in the U.S. and eco-friendly stores are typically only in about 4 or 5, the most. Every sustainable clothing brand I found only had a couple of store locations. These locations were mainly in New York City or in California. So if I wanted that shopping experience and I wanted to buy eco-friendly clothing, it would be a lot harder for a girl living in the Midwest. Sustainable clothing brands are trying to break into this industry and compete against wealthy fast fashion companies. Fast fashion brands have the upper hand for so many reasons. They have consumers convinced that buying cheap is the best way to shop, and because of that they have higher profits. If they are making a lot of money, they can keep adding stores nationally and globally. Once people decide that they want to spend money on quality made products by brands that are completely transparent, these companies will be able to build more brick-and-mortar stores. However, luckily for the Internet, anyone can access these websites and buy online.
Social Media
Believe it or not, social media is another problem for sustainable fashion. Sustainability is more than just paying more money for quality products. Sustainability is also buying less and caring for the items you own in your closet. It means buying staple pieces and mixing and matching, being able to create multiple outfits, with what’s in your closet. However, we all follow celebrities, models, clothing brands, style bloggers, and “Instagrammers” known for their style. Those people are always wearing different outfits. You hardly ever see them wearing the same thing twice. Most of them are probably sent those style pieces for free or at a discount, if they post a picture wearing that outfit. But in our minds, we just see girls wearing new clothes in every post. It’s hard for our generation to only own a couple of staple pieces when celebrities and style bloggers are dangling all the clothes they own in our faces.
Care for Garment
Another reason people don’t want to buy eco-friendly garments is because you have to put in more care for the garment. In this fast-paced world, no one wants to worry about dry cleaning clothes. It takes time out of your day to run to the dry cleaner and pick it up again later. Not only is sustainable fashion more expensive than fast fashion, but now you have to worry about the expenses of caring for the garment. We have to ditch this way of thinking. We don’t treat clothing like expensive, quality garments like we should. People don’t take care of clothing like they are supposed to. You’re getting ready to hit the bars with your friends, and naturally you’re running late, so you rip a dress out of your closet and throw it on. You’re not feeling that though, so you take it off and throw it on the ground and try on a couple of other outfits. Next thing you know, half of your clothes are on the floor and you dash out the door to meet your friends. People spill food and drinks on their clothing and shoes and just throw it in the wash with everything else. If you ever wanted to get a stain out of your favorite blouse, what would you do? You would call your mom or your grandma, because they know every trick in the world for getting stains out. But somehow our generation lacks this knowledge. Maybe it’s because we have Google at our fingertips at all times or because clothing is so cheap that it doesn’t matter if there’s a stain. You can just give it away and buy something else. Clothing shouldn’t be thrown on the floor or given to Goodwill if there’s a stain on it. If people bought quality clothing that cost a little more, I guarantee you people would care more about how they treat their clothing. Dry cleaning might be inconvenient but the fashion industry destroying the environment one t-shirt at a time is a lot worse. You also can’t assume that all sustainable clothing has to be dry-cleaned. I did a lot of research, looking at different brands, and you would be surprised that a lot of the items don’t need to be dry-cleaned. So do your research before you assume.
We aren’t heartless people. We all care and we have to change. As consumers, as designers, as CEO’s, as creative directors, as supply chain managers, as humans, we can all do things to change the fashion industry for the better.
Check My Sources:
[1] Martin, E. (2017, November 29). Here's how much more expensive it is for you to go to college than it was for your parents. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/29/how-much-college-tuition-has-increased-from-1988-to-2018.html
[2] Number of stores worldwide of the H&M Group by country 2009-2017 | Statistic. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/268522/number-of-stores-worldwide-of-the-hundm-group-by-country/
[3] Murphey, A. (Ed.). (2018, October 24). Forever 21 on the Forbes America's Largest Private Companies List. Retrieved October 24, 2018, from https://www.forbes.com/companies/forever-21/#21a26af7365f
Trotman, S. (2015, November 02). Patagonia's new denim line is changing things for the better. Retrieved from https://www.wgsn.com/blogs/patagonia-denim-denim-filthy-business/
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