Fast Fashion - Are Charities Going To Drive Us To It?
Fashion is a form of expression and one that I have always looked to in order to express who I either wanted to portray myself as or now later in life who I am. From the age of 15 I worked in a fancy dress shop called Masquerade and I was surrounded by not just giant banana costumes but, beautiful vintage clothing and wonderfully individual people. I was instantly drawn to vintage like John McCririck to a deer stalker hat and a sexist remark.
Me aged 15 at Masquerade in said Banana costume
At high school you are in a prison of hormonal hell, feeling uncomfortable about every aspect of yourself. Body parts are either too small or not bloody big enough! I spent the majority of it trying to be invisible in order to fit in. In my last year around when I started at Masquerade, I decided enough was enough. Not to don Pat Butcher gold earrings. Not to wear puffer Puma jackets and not to scrape my hair back into a Croydon face lift. Vintage and preloved wasn't cool and it certainly wasn't going to make me any friends! However, it made me feel as though it was not just OK, but good to be myself and to be different. I am still friends with 3 people from high school and they are 3 beautiful people - it's quality not quantity remember! Back then charity shops were the only means of getting your hands on second hand treats but now of course it is everywhere. For me I am still an avid charity shopper. I give to charity and I buy in it, not just clothes but home wares too. However, I am slightly disheartened by recent ventures to snap up my next bargain in Brighton and Lewes. In this ever rising climate I understand that prices like everywhere have to rise slightly but, when I am buying pieces cheaper online, in vintage shops and flea markets one has to ask....are charity shops pricing themselves out of their market? Everything given to charity is donated which is free and a lot of charity shops are run by volunteers which is also free. So imagine my horror when I find something I love and check the price tag and it reads £30. I want to give to charity and spend my hard earned cash in there, i want the thrill of sniffing out a bargain and I want to shop in an economic way but, with the soaring price of brand clothes in these shops they risk alienating their loyal customers.
Just this week my Mum bought a cotton dress in a charity shop and it was £15.50. I could wander into a high street shop and pick up a summer dress for £14.99 new! Earlier in the day a woman in front of us at the till in another charity shop was also asking why the top she wanted to buy was priced so high and tried to haggle. Bartering in a charity shop has to show that the prices they are selling their products at are just unacceptable and instead of encouraging people to shop second hand it will discourage it.
My Mum in Lewes Martlets shop trying out a potential wedding number!
Later that day we found a room in a Lewes antique market dedicated to vintage and my inner magpie thought Christmas had come early. My mum found a gorgeous vintage dress for £12. We didn't have to endlessly trudge around shops sifting through clothes, it was there all in one place and still cheaper than the chairty shop. Vintage however is not everyones bag and many go to charity shops to by good quality preloved modern clothes. My fear is that people will give in and go for "fast fashion", not considering where it has come from or how it is made but, that it is a cheaper and easier alternative.
This "fast fashion" is where shops turn out on trend clothing on a budget quickly and have a high turn over of stock. However, even though the price doesn't hit your purse it does hit the economy. Whether it be unacceptable, dangerous working conditions to those making the clothes or poor quality which means it gets tossed out after a month and you are back in there repeating the cycle.
The recent #fashionrev on the 24th April saw people and shops such as The Fair Shop in Brighton, wearing their clothes inside out to really consider "who made your clothes. This was after a tragic 1133 people were killed and over 2500 were injured when the Rana Plaza factory complex collapsed in Dhaka, Bangladesh, the worst ever industrial disaster in the fashion and textile industry. The movement encourages people to ask were your clothes ethically made and to shine a light on big high street brands, so they can be held accountable if the answer is no.
Photo by The Fair Shop Brighton http://thefairshop.co.uk/
Preloved fashion is about being kind to the planet and your wallet and I doubt I'll hang up my charity shopping hat tomorrow....but if it keeps going this way....it might be sometime in the near future!
http://fashionrevolution.org/
