If you’ve heard people talk about “fast fashion,” you probably know that it’s a phrase that carries a negative connotation. But what is “fast fashion,” and what can you do to change it? Read on to learn how to avoid fast fashion and invest in a better, kinder world — starting with your wardrobe!

Our Great-Grandparents: The Sustainability Experts of Yesteryear

If you asked your grandparents or great-grandparents “what is fast fashion?” they probably wouldn’t be able to tell you. There’s a simple reason for this, clothing in the early to mid-twentieth century revolved around buying (or making) pieces that were made to last. 

Before the advent of mass-production and the globalization of the workforce, lower-income families would sew their own clothes while the middle and upper classes typically paid a dressmaker or tailor to create custom pieces. Because each item of clothing involved a significant investment of time and money, it was more economical to choose quality fabrics and continue to repair any damage accrued rather than discard the garment entirely. If you had to sew or knit all of your clothes yourself, you would probably find that your fashion choices would start to “slow down,” too!

What is Fast Fashion and How Did it Start?

While the sewing machine was patented in 1846, it wasn’t until World War II that mass-produced, functional clothing became the standard. For the majority of the previous century, local dressmaking businesses had been employing “sweaters” to work from home for very low wages to lower costs and increase profit margins; however, by the time that standardized, factory-made clothing became the norm for men and women of all social classes, garment manufacturing had moved into factories that employed a population largely composed of young female immigrants. 

Garment Manufacturers Move Abroad in What is the Largest Move Towards Fast Fashion

With the globalization of trade in the 1960s, the demand for ever-cheaper clothing eventually moved these factories overseas to take advantage of lower labor costs — creating what we know as “sweatshops” and the problem of worker exploitation.

Buying clothes at cheap prices started to become fashionable with the “savvy shopper” trends of the late 1990s and early 2000s. By 2014, shoppers were buying 60% more clothing per year than they did only 14 years earlier but had become more removed than ever before from their clothing’s production source.

What is Fast Fashion’s Impact on the Environment?

With increased consumer demand leading to higher rates of production, a sickening 85% of all textiles are now ending up in the dump each year — a statistic that should shake our fashion sensibilities to the core. The fashion industry also accounts for 10% of humanity’s carbon emissions and is the second-largest consumer of water resources in the world.

So if fast fashion is leading to worker poverty on the one hand and huge amounts of waste on the other, how can we avoid fast fashion and turn the situation around?

Making the Change

The good news when becoming aware of what “fast fashion” (and why it’s not sustainable) is that many fashion brands are taking steps to create a fairer, more sustainable system from the soil that grows the cotton to the factories where the garments are sewn. It is possible to find eco-friendly men’s and organic women’s clothing!

A Gold-Standard Example of Slow Fashion

Maggie’s Organics is an example of a clothing brand that has re-designed its concept of fashion from the ground up. Keeping a focus on organic cotton, Maggie’s Organics works with small-scale farmers, paying their sowing costs ahead of time and purchasing the entire crop when it is ready for harvest.

Continuing to run against what the fast fashion industry is doing, Maggie’s then processes the cotton themselves at a 200-year old spinning mill in rural Massachusetts — passing the financial benefits of smaller batches of the processed material to their knitters and investing in the continuation of appropriate technology. 

Commercial Brands Are Changing Too

As more and more customers start asking “what is fast fashion?” and wonder how to avoid fast fashion while staying stylish, mainstream brands that were not traditionally “sustainable” are finding new ways to incorporate eco-friendly fabrics and ethical treatment of workers.

A prime example, Swegmark of Sweden, started producing women’s intimates in 1937 and soon became known for their ultra-comfortable bras. More recently, this European designer has added organic, fair-trade cotton bras to their line, and we’re excited to be able to feature a selection of these styles in our curated collection of women’s ethical and organic lingerie.

If You Want to Take Slow Fashion All the Way…

After asking the question “what is fast fashion?” and discovering the high cost of mass-produced trends, you might be wondering if it’s possible to turn back the clock and return to the days of local, handmade clothing.

Unless you have a large property to grow you’re own cotton, space at home for a spinning wheel and a sewing machine, and a lot of free time to sew, hand making your own clothes is probably not the answer!

But switching to sustainably and ethically made clothing is possible.

How to Avoid Fast Fashion in the Modern World

For those of us who simply don’t have the time to sew our own clothes or the money to pay a seamstress, there are a number of steps you can take to reverse what is known as the fast fashion trend and minimize your environmental footprint:

1. Look through your wardrobe and identify the items that could be worn again next year with few (if any) repairs or embellishments.
2. Source any items you genuinely need from second-hand dealers and clothing swap parties.
3. Repurpose worn-out clothing by turning them into cushion covers, sock puppets, and cleaning rags.
4. Donate any unwanted clothing in good condition to a friend, a local charity such as a homeless shelter, or to a Goodwill or local thrift store.
5. Source basics like intimates and socks, as well as any items you can’t get second-hand, from fair and eco-friendly clothing brands such as the ones that we stock at Faerie’s Dance.

By becoming more aware of what “fast fashion” is and changing our habits for the better, fashion can be transformed from one of the most damaging industries worldwide into something that unites us in building a fairer and more beautiful world.