Over the last year or so, new fashion trends have taken the world by storm. Many of these trends tend to be costly and require a whole wardrobe change. But why spend hundreds of dollars on a style that’ll only last a couple of months or a year (if you’re lucky)?
Many people have found alternatives to buying clothes at full price. These may include fast fashion (Shien, Romwe, etc), hand-me-downs, thrifting, or re-styling. Though fast fashion sounds nice, it’s not what it seems. It appears to be cheap, fashionable clothing that appears at your doorstep just a week or so after you order it. But behind the glamour of the pretty clothes and fast delivery lies child labor and waste. Many of these companies make their clothes in Asia, where child labor is legal. Fast fashion has been known to exploit the use of children in the making of fashionable clothing in order to make the clothing faster and easier. Sustainyourstyle.org says “Because the fashion industry requires low-skilled labor, child labor is particularly common in this industry.” These children take on easy tasks for long days, to make low wages. This is child labor. These large companies have also had a record of large amounts of carbon emissions, as well as the use of lots of unnecessary plastic in the packaging.
Hand-me-downs can be a great option to get free or really cheap clothing. These clothes tend to be out of date, but that style is in fashion these days anyway. When you’re looking for hand-me-downs, just be careful that they aren’t damaged, and always check the sizing before you accept them. If you don’t want them, they can always be used for someone else.
Re-styling clothing is also a popular way to follow modern-day styles. Shaelyn Wiederien likes re-styling her clothes “because you can change [the clothes] to how you want it to be.” An example of this could be cropping a shirt, ripping some jeans, or sewing patches or designs onto a jacket. It can be difficult to re-style clothes if they’re already re-styled, but it never hurts to try.
Thrifting has gained popularity over the years. Thrift stores accept clothes that people don’t want anymore, sort out the un-wearable ones, and then sell the rest. These stores sell the clothes for super cheap prices, and are honestly super fun to go to. My advice is to take your friends and make a day of it. Hailey Buehlmamn says she enjoys thrifting “because it’s fun… and everything in the store has a story.” Remember, check sizing when you’re shopping. Sometimes the sizes get switched up, and you end up getting something way too big or way too small!
All in all, buying used has so many more benefits than buying new. It saves you money, it has character, and it’s a fun experience.