I loved this thoughtful piece on the fast fashion-ifiying of thrift shopping!💕
This stood out to me:
“But there also needs to be equal messaging to say: Hey, don’t you already have a bunch of shit in your closet, and don’t you want to get offline and stop spending money?”
I live on Canada’s west coast and I see the giant container ships moving all the online shopping around. The shipping-by boat and plane-is hugely detrimental to the environment.
The best way to thrift is to shop locally, in person, at markets and vintage fairs and trade things with friends, host and go to closet sales. I’ve been thrift shopping for decades, and I’m constantly amazed at what I find in brick and mortar stores. 💕
"The fast fashion-ifiying of thrift shopping" — so well put, wish I'd thought of that!
Thanks so much for your thoughtful comment and for reading. It must be pretty stunning to watch those shipping containers float by. I definitely want to host/attend more closet sales!
I live in data alley in Northern Virginia. We recently learned that most of our homes are often getting less electricity than they should to feed the data centers. There is an environmental cost to all the digital tools, too. I recently tracked down some local thrift stores and my husband signed up for a mending class. Thanks for sharing your experience from the other coast!
Such an interesting perspective! Thrift shopping has definitely changed, and this raises important questions about sustainability and accessibility. Thanks for sharing!
I really enjoyed your take on thrift shopping. Even as a lover of thrifting, I really believe that overconsumption is overconsumption, no matter the source. I used to think that I was doing a service by keeping items out of the landfill and giving them another life, but the whole buy-declutter-buy cycle gets sickening after a while and ever-changing trends keep us wanting more. It really would be nice if we could just find contentment with the clothes we already have - hopefully, someday!
totally with you — overconsumption is overconsumption. I’m enjoying watching people shop their own closets and reinvent what they already have, and I’d love to become better at that myself!
It really does make me feel hopeful that people are really trying to rein in their consumption and turning toward the things that they already own. The level of consumption we are at as a collective is insane, and unsustainable - I recently read that there is enough clothes on the planet to clothe the next 6 generations (Patrick Grant, The Great British Sewing Bee)! That blew my mind. Then I watched Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy which I didn't find shocking, but did find quite sobering!
I think you’re leaving out a big part of the equation, which is that all of this only applies to people who are straight sized.
Plus size peeps have hardly any options for clothing, so we’re holding on for years to anything we can find that fits us.
We certainly get no rush from finding clothes new or thrifted. Because there is nothing sold anywhere that will fit us!
I think it’s interesting how fat people get shit on for everything, but when straight sized people cause this kind of ecological disaster nobody is calling out the skinny folks.
This is something I've been thinking about a lot as I experiment with taking my style in a new direction. Ultimately, I think I'm ok with buying something thrifted to experiment with and then release it back into the secondhand chain when I've decided it doesn't work or I don't need it. But I get some of this icky feeling. I wonder if there is a difference (morally, I guess) in finding treasure (which isn't necessarily a new thing only since fast fashion) in something used than something new? I don't know.
Yes, it's all so nuanced! On the consumer end of things, I think secondhand shopping is a great alternative. I just wonder how we can reel things in at such scale, and how we can collectively shift our shopping/wearing mindset so that we treasure the few wonderful treasures we collect over time (I personally have a LONG way to go here)
I loved this thoughtful piece on the fast fashion-ifiying of thrift shopping!💕
This stood out to me:
“But there also needs to be equal messaging to say: Hey, don’t you already have a bunch of shit in your closet, and don’t you want to get offline and stop spending money?”
I live on Canada’s west coast and I see the giant container ships moving all the online shopping around. The shipping-by boat and plane-is hugely detrimental to the environment.
The best way to thrift is to shop locally, in person, at markets and vintage fairs and trade things with friends, host and go to closet sales. I’ve been thrift shopping for decades, and I’m constantly amazed at what I find in brick and mortar stores. 💕
Excellent post, thank you.
"The fast fashion-ifiying of thrift shopping" — so well put, wish I'd thought of that!
Thanks so much for your thoughtful comment and for reading. It must be pretty stunning to watch those shipping containers float by. I definitely want to host/attend more closet sales!
Use it!💕
They are scarily omnipresent, not a good thing.
Closet sales are awesome-my next one is in the new year. Go for it, Kate!
I live in data alley in Northern Virginia. We recently learned that most of our homes are often getting less electricity than they should to feed the data centers. There is an environmental cost to all the digital tools, too. I recently tracked down some local thrift stores and my husband signed up for a mending class. Thanks for sharing your experience from the other coast!
Yes! Just because online is “invisible” energy doesn’t mean it’s not using a huge amount of power.
Way to go on shopping locally and mending, Briana!💕
Such an interesting perspective! Thrift shopping has definitely changed, and this raises important questions about sustainability and accessibility. Thanks for sharing!
I really enjoyed your take on thrift shopping. Even as a lover of thrifting, I really believe that overconsumption is overconsumption, no matter the source. I used to think that I was doing a service by keeping items out of the landfill and giving them another life, but the whole buy-declutter-buy cycle gets sickening after a while and ever-changing trends keep us wanting more. It really would be nice if we could just find contentment with the clothes we already have - hopefully, someday!
totally with you — overconsumption is overconsumption. I’m enjoying watching people shop their own closets and reinvent what they already have, and I’d love to become better at that myself!
It really does make me feel hopeful that people are really trying to rein in their consumption and turning toward the things that they already own. The level of consumption we are at as a collective is insane, and unsustainable - I recently read that there is enough clothes on the planet to clothe the next 6 generations (Patrick Grant, The Great British Sewing Bee)! That blew my mind. Then I watched Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy which I didn't find shocking, but did find quite sobering!
I think you’re leaving out a big part of the equation, which is that all of this only applies to people who are straight sized.
Plus size peeps have hardly any options for clothing, so we’re holding on for years to anything we can find that fits us.
We certainly get no rush from finding clothes new or thrifted. Because there is nothing sold anywhere that will fit us!
I think it’s interesting how fat people get shit on for everything, but when straight sized people cause this kind of ecological disaster nobody is calling out the skinny folks.
That’s a great point — I’d be so interested to read about overconsumption (especially in the clothing department) when it comes to plus size people.
This is something I've been thinking about a lot as I experiment with taking my style in a new direction. Ultimately, I think I'm ok with buying something thrifted to experiment with and then release it back into the secondhand chain when I've decided it doesn't work or I don't need it. But I get some of this icky feeling. I wonder if there is a difference (morally, I guess) in finding treasure (which isn't necessarily a new thing only since fast fashion) in something used than something new? I don't know.
Yes, it's all so nuanced! On the consumer end of things, I think secondhand shopping is a great alternative. I just wonder how we can reel things in at such scale, and how we can collectively shift our shopping/wearing mindset so that we treasure the few wonderful treasures we collect over time (I personally have a LONG way to go here)
thanks for including my piece!
Loved the piece!