À La Mode (Briella)

11/3/2024

Fashion is one of my personal favorite forms of art - there is something so incredible about playing with norms and making people themselves the canvas. Unfortunately fashion is an art form only the most bourgeoisie get to express themselves with. Or at least it used to be - while back in the day the respectable middle class would have 2-3 sensible outfits, and one nice outfit for church and any other special occasions, nowadays it seems everyone in the modern west (besides the poorest of the poor) have dozens of different garments. This started happening during the industrial revolution when more cheap labor and factory lines opened up. Now there are even more machines and cheap labor, and thus the birth of fast fashion. Fast Fashion is described by the oxford dictionary as “Inexpensive clothing produced rapidly by mass-market retailers in response to the latest trends.” Recently the inhumanity of fast fashion has been a trending topic on social media platforms. I am here to consider both the pros and cons of recent fashion and implore you to come to your own conclusion. I am personally against fast fashion for the most part. For one thing it is one of the most exploitative practices out there stemming from out of US cheap labor, sweatshops with excruciating labor and almost no pay. And with cheap labor comes cheap products. One of the reasons people needed so few outfits back in the day was that they were hand made high quality tailor made to fit the wearer. Now the Amazon or SHEIN might last two to three wears, and don’t fit the wearer. It also goes without saying that the economic footprint of thousands of millions of clothes being made per day is not anywhere near good for the environment. The worst part though is that fast fashion is a cycle, because it is so accessible it makes clothing trends come and go far faster than they ever used to, especially in addition to the media, and because there are more trends, more clothes need to be produced by fast fashion, it feeds into itself. Because the trends go by so fast, people throw away so many clothes a day, it is some of the most wasteful things on the planet right now. I don’t think it is all bad though, with cheap labor also comes cheap prices and means more people can afford clothes, I don’t believe it’s worth the lives decided in the sweatshops but I think a compromise can be made with slightly higher prices and better treatment of labor. And those with the means supporting good clothing shops. I don’t think we should go back to everyone having four articles of clothing, but I also think this isn’t the answer. I like clothes being available for people, and that fashion can be determined and participated by the masses, but not at the expense of people and our planet. There has to be a compromise where people can enjoy fashion without overconsumption or playing into quick trends.

17 Comments

Emylee Perkins

11/3/2024 05:06:00 pm

I really think that people should just come up with their own style that they personally like and wear it. This seems to me like the most normal thing to do. Then, everyone can purchase clothes from places that don't promote "fast fashion" with unfair labor and other problems that can fuel our world. It is not morally correct to buy from places like SHEIN because of all of those reasons that you listed, and the clothes are really poor quality. Another thing to note is that stores like that are trying to flood the market and become a monopoly so that when they take over their prices will skyrocket and send America and other places into a financial disaster.

Chanci Phillips

11/3/2024 06:55:57 pm

I agree that most stores are just in it for the monetary gain and not for the right reasons. SHEIN is very accessible to people, making it a popular option to those who are looking at the cheap price and not the quality.

Deanda Lamping

11/3/2024 07:42:48 pm

Do you suppose that some purchase ways might not be accessible for all peoples? I agree with you, but I also think we should consider the 'why' people buy from places like SHEIN. I understand that it is not ok to associate with places like sweatshops and corporations that take away from a persons free will, but people buy from these places with the knowledge that they are paying for the convenience of the price. I still think that personal research should be done before any purchase.

Chanci Phillips

11/3/2024 06:53:11 pm

I think that over consumption is our culture and it is very hard to change bad habits. I agree that nee reforms need to be made for all labor workers around the world, but that is nearly impossible to just up and stop. Fashion/clothing can be inspiring and a way for people to express themselves with just their appearance. The best way to help this overconsumption is to thrift your clothes or buy from truthful companies who support a clean environment and a healthy lifestyle.

Deanda Lamping

11/3/2024 07:32:29 pm

I completely agree! I also think that thrifting is the best of both worlds. Overconsumption will always be apart of our world, but we are given the individual right to change where and what we buy.

Mariah

11/3/2024 08:37:28 pm

I completely agree with you that we need to change our lifestyles and habits. Thrifting is always a great option, but it seems to me only people with a certain type of fashion like to thrift. Sometimes there are great finds at consignment shops, but typically the clothes are outdated with designs that people, especially young adults keeping up on trends, really dislike.

Emylee Perkins

11/3/2024 09:15:23 pm

I agree when you say that overconsumption is hard to change. We must consciously make an effort to live different lifestyles when we notice this occuring. This can also be difficult because sometimes we don't realize that which what we are doing.

Deanda Lamping

11/3/2024 07:29:52 pm

Fast seems to be the way of the world it is up to us to personally take the time and research what we are buying. As consumers we have just the same amount of blame as the creator if we don't educate ourselves. We all desire to have high quality fashion but sometimes the whereabouts of where we reside or our income might limit where we shop. We are then left with the cheaper quality shops. The only way to be different and the only way to slow down, is to be the change we want to see. We have the individual decision to not support these places.

Mariah

11/3/2024 08:35:28 pm

I agree that consumers are definitely to blame. If we didn't rely so much on fast fashion companies, they wouldn't be so successful. Unfortunately, we do rely on it so much so these companies will just keep becoming more and more popular. Is there any way we as a society could collectively back off from purchasing products from the big fast fashion companies?

Brylee Ganske

11/3/2024 10:27:35 pm

I agree everything seems extremely fast, I honestly wish things would slow down just for a bit so I can get a chance to catch up.

Mariah

11/3/2024 08:31:52 pm

I agree that it is against most people's morals to buy from fast fashion because of the way workers are treated, but most people still give in to the temptation of convenience because that is what America seems to revolve around. Teenagers especially rely on fast fashion because it is so cheap. You mentioned that fashion trends are always changing very quickly. Teens always want to be caught up on the trends and because they need to change their wardrobe so often, fast fashion is the way to go for them because they know they really will only get a few wears out of each piece of clothing. That being said, I agree with you that we definitely need to find a compromise with companies so that workers can be treated better but we can still have the convenience.

Emylee Perkins

11/3/2024 09:17:21 pm

I like how you mentioned that teens oftentimes want to fit in with their peers. It is unfortunate that this is based around greed and consumption, even if not intended by these kids. I think that if more people start choosing to dress in the style that they like and use clothes that they already have, people can be grateful and live in a way that is healthy for everyone.

Brylee Ganske

11/3/2024 10:26:04 pm

I agree that many teens try to fit in with the current fashion and I also agree that it would be awesome to find an compromise where we can still get cheap and speedy items.

Megan

11/4/2024 12:11:19 pm

I agree with you about Americans being greedy to save money and not thinking about who it affects behind the scenes.

Brylee Ganske

11/3/2024 10:24:14 pm

In today's time, everything is needed faster and for some reason in bulk for the people. Now that doesn't mean it's right to work people to death for a product that's quality won't get you through a day. Reforms definitely need to be made but I don't know how this would be done. Many place wear these items are made are in countries that don't have as strict laws as we do around child labor or have such a big economical standing around it is harder to stop it completely. Though they have been trying to harder to conduct child labor which will hopefully continue in the future.

Megan

11/4/2024 12:10:01 pm

I totally agree with you and often wonder about that issue.

Megan Aiello

11/4/2024 12:09:20 pm

I think that clothing stores and companies take a huge part of our world such as trends and popular clothing. I think that if people were more dedicated to produce a higher quality clothing than they should get paid a good amount as well, for example SHEIN or TEMU where the workers are not paid enough. I think clothing is a huge part in human society and we use it to express ourselves as well as communicate.

À La Mode (Briella)

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