Benefits of { slow fashion } // a concept describing the opposite to fast fashion, which is an approach to fashion that considers the processes and resources required to make clothing. It advocates for buying better-quality garments that will last longer, and values fair treatment of people, animals, and the environment.
This includes things like thrifting, swapping, up-cycling and outfit repeating. For me, it’s all about buying less, choosing well and making it last.
The intent of this post isn’t to blame or instill guilt, but to make you more informed and aware of the impact of your clothing. Unfortunately, fast fashion is usually affordable clothing – and it’s a privilege to be able to have a choice.
I want to remind you that to have a more sustainable wardrobe, you don’t have to completely cut out purchasing from fast fashion brands – to me, it’s more about taking better care of what you already own, buying less on impulse, and making more conscious choices before purchasing. Simple questions like “will I wear this at least 30 times?” or “how can I style this with other items I already have?” can make a great difference, and also save you money.
For me, I personally choose a slow fashion approach for a few reasons.
I like wearing quality items that reflect me and having my own style instead of solely following trends.
I’m passionate about human rights. “Cheap” clothing may be cheap for us, but someone else is usually paying for it (which is usually an underpaid or forced worker).
I would consider myself eco-conscious and unfortunately from the landfill impact, water consumption, to the mass amounts of chemicals used in growing textiles, that are also making their way into the water supply and affecting the health of those in the supply chain, it’s a real problem.
Sometimes once you know something, you can’t unknow it, and that’s why I think I consistently make more conscious choices.
If you have any recommendations for online vintage shops to support or other suggestions on how you support slow fashion, please drop them in comments
