Ethical Fashion and the Nuances

Clothes were never important to me, that is until a few years ago. It began with me caring about how I present and express myself to the world and myself. Now, it is about how I can express myself while also considering the ethics of the different ways I shop. However, with this fieldwork, I wanted to explore how my clothes ended up in my wardrobe and how these experiences impacted the world around me to grow a deeper understanding of the ethics of consumerism.

Observations
The first observation in my closet, I was looking at my closet as a whole. I have a small walk-in closet with two racks and a dresser inside. The dresser holds the clothes that I wear daily, inside the comfort of my home. I have clothes from my siblings, from fast fashion brands, vintage shops, and thrift stores.

I examined my pieces of fast fashion clothes, specifically a silk shirt I have. It is a white silk shirt from H&M, and the tag says “Made in Thailand.” This one little tag exhibits an issue with fast fashion brands; unethical work. They export their factory work in foreign countries for cheap labor. So, unknowingly for years, I shopped at stores that did this type of labor and damaged the environment in the process.

So, I begin my shopping at thrift and vintage stores. Michael Pollans, “Weeds are Us,” makes the realization that humans must take responsibility for their part in hurting our environment. I made these realizations myself when I was exposed to the world of sustainability on social media. I did the research and took action on an individual level by changing my shopping habits. While different actors in our society may be the biggest offenders, individuals must be aware of the issue to call attention to it.

One-piece I thrifted was a pink shirt. It is one of my favorite pieces in my closet, a pink silk shirt with painted flowers on them. This item was bought on Depop, from a vintage shop on there. There is the trend where people go out thrifting and sell clothes that they see potential in. So, they uptick the price since they took the time and sought out these clothes. Many have an issue with this because this action leaves other people with less attractive clothes to buy in thrift stores. People sell vintage pieces for up to hundreds, especially when apps or websites promote these types of businesses.

Now that I think about it, I don’t shop for new clothes unless I need something. I shop once a year for anything I might need. The only other reason I would get clothes is if it is gifted to me, my mom buying them or if I take clothes from my older sister who doesn’t want her clothes anymore. It has only been a couple of years since I have thought about where and how clothes are made and what kind of impact I have on the world if I buy from certain brands. So, now here I am researching how fast fashion is made and the consequences on the environment and people around the world.

Also, the pink shirt was not a necessity for me, and it was purely a want. I wanted this shirt because it was pretty to me. Now I usually shop for what I need, but that does not eliminate the process of me picking something I find beautiful. Growing up, I never really thought about clothes as expressing myself, as I do now. Instead, it was more about having enough clothes for the new school year. I grew up with six other siblings, which tends to be extremely expensive. So, there were a lot of hand-me-downs, especially since I am one of the younger ones. This sort of experience translates into my adulthood, and I still get hand-me-downs from all my siblings. If I don’t have to buy new clothes, why should I?

Furthermore, I have realized that I have already practiced being environmental, but not consciously. I did it out of necessity, and many people who have been or are poor do these types of actions. Whether it be thrifting, reusing grocery bags, reusing containers for food, and many other ways. Now, with clothes, they either get hand-me-downs or shop at thrift stores. Of course, some people do shop in fast fashion since it is so cheap. It seems everyone is practicing environmentalism because they are more knowledgeable about the way we produce and consume products every day.
However, there seems to be an issue in the way environmentalism is conducted. People in middle or upper socioeconomic status have begun to thrift. With this increase of thrifting, prices have begun to spike. While clothes are abundant since they keep being made, where does that leave lower SES people? Where can they shop while also being ethical and environmental? How can they when fast fashion brands are cheaper? These nuances of being environmental affect the impoverished. For the upper classes, it is a commodity to shop second-hand or resale it. For the lower class, it is a necessity.
Lastly, thrifting is inherently good. People are allowed to do what they want. These clothes they buy are just more clothes that won’t end up in landfills in foreign countries. Somebody will also be willing to buy these clothes from a vintage shop for hundreds. That still leaves us with the question of, is this ethical? Is reselling clothes for a considerable profit right? And is it right for thrift stores to inflate prices due to popularity?
“Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor” by Rob Nixon explain how violence is slow and gradual. My fieldwork has presented slow violence in the fashion world, from companies and clothes to donate those clothes to thrifting and now to the reselling and inflation issues. There has been one encounter to another throughout the whole process of people buying clothes. There are more issues than what meets the eye. The environment and people are affected by this whole system; this slow violence.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpaZgz72hjY

Realizations

Ultimately, throughout all my research, I know that companies export their business for cheap labor. This means cheap products made by people who get paid a non-livable wage. I know that fast fashion is environmentally destructive. I know these things. What I only now realized is the nuances of it all. How people becoming aware of fast fashion leads them to buy second-hand and sometimes to resell, and how this affects the lower class in modern societies. So, I still stand with individuals being aware of all problems that anything can cause, even those closer to home. If we don’t realize them, we will stay in this vicious cycle of consumerism, all while affecting different communities worldwide and our environment.

References

Michael Pollan,The New York Times Magazine, N., The Washington Post February 5, 2., The New York Review of Books May 12, 2., & The Atlantic March 15, 2. (2011, June 23). Weeds are us. Retrieved from https://michaelpollan.com/articles-archive/weeds-are-us/

Nixon, R. (2013). Slow violence and the environmentalism of the poor. Cambridge (Mass.): Harvard University Press.