Guilt of Disposable Fashion

I love fashion. Let me rephrase that... I enjoy expressing that moment or who I am with fashion. It isn't about being trendy, but it is an expression of one's self. It isn't about wearing a trend, but what works for you at that moment. There is an art to it that isn't about designer labels, the latest trends, or how many items you have in the closet. It certainly isn't about getting attention... It is about showing yourself. There is a difference. 

Minimalism helped me to truly appreciate fashion, one's sense of style, after painstakingly deciding which pieces stayed and went for nearly two months. From over one hundred pieces I sold, donated and tossed, the only piece I miss to this day is the vintage Chanel cross-body purse in hot pink. It would've been the perfect keeper of my iPhone, wallet, keys and lip gloss as I hopped around the city. 

Photo by Noah Buscher on Unsplash

Abundance of fashion doesn't equate to fashionable. We have lost sight of what fashion and style are with the rise of fast fashion such as Zara and H&M and disposable fashion such as Shein. Fueled by social media, fashion and style are often now defined as an abundance of new rather than an art of self-expression. 

I had heard about Shein but never visited their site until earlier this year when I read WIRED's Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control: Inside Shein's Sudden Rise. You know that saying about how curiosity killed the cat... I was curious. I had no chance of leaving the site with just my curiosity satisfied when I saw an adorable Hello Kitty bralette and shorts. To meet their promotional free shipping minimum purchase amount, I added a tie-back bralette that was just perfect for the summer months. It doesn't help that I like the pieces, wore them and they have not become disposable yet. Regardless, am I an ethical person?

My guilt was pushed aside, justified as a one-time purchase for my Hello Kitty addiction (not that it is an excuse), until I recently read The Cut's Shein Is Even Worse Than You Thought. Fashion and harm have been on my mind, and not just Shein. The industry has had a bad reputation for inhumane treatment of laborers in factories for decades now. The phrase "sweatshop" was born from the industry.

While I try to be a mindful consumer and not always go for the cheapest price tag since the price of cheapness is often at the cost of another human's living conditions, the fashion industry has been on my mind with another subject... the environment. 

Unless you have stuck your head inside of an anus, you know extreme weather patterns have become the norm. Most of us don't think of fashion and think of pollution... Did you know that fashion accounts for 10% of global carbon dioxide output according to Bloomberg? That is more output than international flights and shipping combined. 

To meet the demands of disposable fashion, modern textiles account for a fifth of the 300 million tons of plastic produced globally each year. Yes, that is where polyester comes from. I once soaked Shein's Hello Kitty shorts to hand wash and the fabric took forever to soak in water. 

According to Bloomberg, studies have shown that people throw out clothing after wearing items an average of seven to ten times and 1 out of 3 respondents in the U.K. considered clothes old after one to two years. I have pieces in my closet that are more than two decades in age... Marc Jacobs, Gucci and Balenciaga, to name drop, would cry if they heard "old" to describe them. I still get compliments when I wear them. 

They don't have to be a luxe label... I have pieces without luxe tags that I have considered "it" items for more than a decade. You know that #OOTD doesn't mean a new outfit, every piece being new, everyday, right? When you get tired of something in your closet, take a pair of fabric shears, a needle, some threads and your imagination to mod- modify the design. Sometimes, you will catch me on Instagram with mod. 

Let's get real. Fashion shouldn't kill the earth; however, our hunger for more, different, and new when it comes to fashion is destroying lives with historic droughts and hurricanes. Unprecedented fires and floods... Should the destruction of the earth be the price tag of your #OOTD? 

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