SUSTAINABILITY 101: Slow Fashion > Fast Fashion
If it is within your means, a great way to help the environment is to support environmentally friendly, ethical brands! Instead of shopping at stores that dont put an emphasis on sustainably sourcing and making their clothing and paying/ treating their employees well, these companies/clothing outlets put a lot of effort into being transparent and eco friendly.
VOCAB (definitions from Wikipedia and Study New York)
Fast Fashion: an approach to the design, creation, and marketing of clothing fashions that emphasizes making fashion trends quickly and cheaply available to consumers
Slow Fashion: designing, creating, and buying garments for quality and longevity
Many times in fast fashion, corners are cut in order to make sure that the garments remain cheap. This may mean that the fibers used to make cloth are sourced unethically, harmful chemicals may be used, factory workers may not be paid very much, child laborers may be used, and/or one type of clothing may be mass produced to a hugely wasteful extent. This is not healthy for the workers or the environment.
Why is Slow Fashion Better?
Slow fashion is better in the long run because, while you may be paying more money for the garment, the workers will be paid well, the company will focus more on their environmental impact, and you will have a piece of clothing with much better quality and longevity. Having higher quality clothing that lasts longer is good for the environment as well, as it decreases the need for new clothing items.
Abercrombie & Fitch (unethical)
The Gap (Old Navy & Banana Republic) (unethical)
Stores to Look Into/Fast Fashion Alternatives
Everlane, Patagonia and PACT are a few slow fashion clothing brands that I have heard some very good things about!
Since these are price-y, some other alternatives are: reusing clothing you already have, buying off DEPOP, buying from thrift stores, making your own, maintaining a capsule wardrobe (there are lots of great vids on YouTube) and upcycling :)
Overall, it is not yet in my means to shop at ethical stores. Some ways I combat fast fashion are: shopping for clothes infrequently (I usually only buy things I really really love or that I really really need), looking in thrift stores before looking elsewhere, and altering clothes I already have
