I was your typical fast fashion addict, a Primark loving
fashionista wannabe buying bags of new clothes from cheap stores every month
and throwing them away the next. I remember going to Primark or Forever 21
regularly in my first year of University and buying hundreds of pounds worth of
clothes – can you imagine how much £100 would get you in Primark? Yep, that’s
how much I was buying. Although my own style was forming and I didn’t really
follow the trends of the day I still bought into the idea that I needed
multiple new outfits every week. I couldn’t possibly wear the same thing to Uni
again and again and there was no way I would want to wear the same dress out
clubbing. I look back on my attitude towards fashion and I am completely
disgusted by my throw away behaviour. But I knew no better. I lived in a world
where clothes were cheap and disposable and everyone I knew was doing it. We
were students, we had to shop in Primark and own multiple dresses, it was the
way it was.
It wasn’t until I moved to Oxford and met my husband that I
really started to change my attitude. He showed me how much better it was to
invest in a few key pieces that were well made, classic and durable. Yes, they
were more expensive but in the long run it worked out much more affordable than
buying lots of cheap clothing regularly. It was soon after this change in my
wardrobe that I began learning about the horrendous effect the western world is
having on this planet. Our crazy consumerist culture was using up 30% of the
worlds resources and one of the biggest pollutants was fashion.
Fashion is the third most polluting industry in the world
underneath oil and food. Every aspect of the manufacturing process is effecting
the earth and its people. Right from the chemical dyes used in the fabric
polluting water, to the people working 15 hour shifts in the factories for
little or no pay, to the huge amounts of plastic packing the clothes arrive on
our shores in. Each step has some kind of effect and mainly on the developing
world. The chemical dyes are causing serious skin conditions for people in
towns and villages, garment workers are working 80 hour weeks and barely able
to afford food and shelter for their families, female garment workers are being
sexually assaulted regularly whilst at work. And this is all before we even get
the clothes in this country. Once they arrive we buy them for ridiculously low
prices, wear them once and then throw them in the bin adding to our
fast-growing landfill problem and demand more with no respect for the hours of
work and skill gone into each piece by some of the poorest people in our world.
The earth cannot sustain the rate at which we consume clothes and we need to
stop.
It is time to say no to fast fashion. Time to cut down our
spending habits and start buying what we need rather than what we want. It is
time we spoke out for those unable to speak out for themselves. We need to
change our mind-set. To say no to the marketing ploys that encourage you to buy
one more cute vest top, to say no to throw away fashion and to start investing
in a better world. I love fashion, I always have done and I enjoy creating my
unique vintage style but I refuse to do it at the cost of thousands of lives
and our planet. Luckily, I am far from alone in this fight against fast
fashion. Thousands of amazing women and men including big names like Livia
Firth and Emma Watson are all committed to seeing an end to fast fashion and
trying to make a change in the fashion industry. There are so many positive
things we can do and change in our own lives which will make an impact.
This is
something I want to talk about more and more on this blog and I will be sharing
my tips and tricks as I go through my own journey of becoming a conscientious
consumer. If this interests you and you want to learn more about how fashion is
effecting and our world and why we need to change then I would seriously
recommend you read “To Die For: Is Fashion Wearing Out the World” by LucySiegle. It’s an amazing book which takes you through everything from the
beginning of fast fashion to the effect it is having on the planet and how to
change. I really do believe that if enough people demand change in the fashion
industry it can happen and the time is now.
I admire you for writing about this in such a clear, concise manner. It's something I wasn't really conscious about until recently. I hate the idea of people suffering or the planet being destroyed just because we want some nice, cheap clothes. Looking forward to your tips on this. xx
ReplyDeleteCoco Bella Blog
Thank you Demilade! I think most people in our world would be shocked and appalled to know what truly happens and one of the best ways to fight it is by educating people on what fast fashion does to the world and it's people. Its great to hear other people are passionate about changing this as I am xx
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