On "second hand"-culture
This post is in no way meant to be some kind of boasting "holier than thou" type thing where I just talk about how good of a person I am for buying my clothes second hand, but rather just a chance for me to share some of my thoughts around this specific issue. It's hard to speak about subjects like this that often make people feel guilty, because it can lead to dislike towards the person who brought the issue up, even though I'm honestly just sharing my thoughts and I don't go around silently judging everyone for shopping in stores.
My mother and father have promoted specific values in our family since we were born. I've worn hand-me-down's since I was a little kid (it was free and I've always been rather small, so cousins and friends have gladly given me their old thigns), and we were given pocket money to teach us the value of money and that it is not a never ending fountain but that it can run out. We were taught about the Fairtrade system and we began making sure our tea, coffee, chocolate and bananas among other things were Fairtrade. We've always been educated about fairness and things in the world that are still unfair. I understand that some may not have been as educated, which is why I'm not judging you if you were not aware of these things from a young age.
One day my mother cut out a newspaper clipping and pinned it to our fridge with a magnet. It was a story of one of the clothing factory collapses in India. She told me what it meant, and how these people died making clothing for the Western world with illegally low wages and in poor conditions. After this I couldn't stop checking the labels in stores when I went shopping with friends. Every "made in Bangladesh" made me feel incredibly guilty and I stopped purchasing new clothes almost completely out of guilt. It helped that we had thrift shops near our house and in our town, and that thrifting is usually cheaper than buying clothes new. I've also always been a bit of an oddball when it comes to dressing myself and so it wasn't a huge problem to switch to thrifting. I know a lot of my friends had trouble with the idea of thrifting because the things that they wanted to wear were not in the second hand cycle yet, as they were only coming into new stores.
Something I've been happy to find in Scotland is that second hand culture is still alive and well in the form of charity shops. Because they aim to make money for charity, and their items are all donated, the prices stay low and affordable. As a student living on a budget this is good news for both my moral compass and my wallet. However, there is a side of second hand culture that I'm not very fond of. You may have noticed that thrifting and 90's style clothing is coming back into "fashion" or rather just becoming trendy. Because of this, stores have had to find a way to profit from selling second hand items, or things that look like they're second hand. While H&M straight up sells 90's fashion, stores like Urban Outfitters have a "used" section with "hand picked" items like t-shirts and stuff you could find at a thrift store if you're lucky, with prices that make you put the t-shirt right back down where you picked it up. This is one of my issues. Thrifting and second hand shopping usually requires some effort, going to different shops and looking around and trying to find something special. When Urban Outfitters does the job for you and then sells the t-shirt at triple the price I no longer see it as second hand clothing, rather just another way for companies to pretend they care about sustainability and working conditions while making big bucks at the expense of consumers who have enough money to spend on used t-shirts instead of looking for them themselves.
I've come across the same issue on some used clothing apps, like Depop. Depop is like Instagram for selling clothes. You post a photo, description and set a price. Transactions happen through the application and for a small fee you can sell your used clothing to people around the world. Usually the app works just nicely, and people contribute to affordable ethical fashion. But sometimes, just like with Urban Outfitters, people take advantage of specific labels like "vintage" and sell their old clothing or thrift finds at a much higher price. This makes me really angry, because the whole point of second hand culture is to be affordable so that more and more people can be encouraged to buy used clothing, and encourage companies to take sweatshops and child labour seriously.
It's really odd to see that the same shirt can be marketed in such different ways depending on the audience it is aimed at. Whereas hand-me-down's and second hand clothes used to be "embarrassing" and get you bullied at school, clothes from other eras (right now specifically the 90's) have suddenly become trendy, and the kids who used to bully you for your old t-shirts are now wearing them, having payed a significant amount more. This is not an opinion directed at anyone who might've disliked thrift culture before but gravitated towards it now, because people are allowed to change and I understand that. But it's sad to see what the popularity of used clothing is doing to prices.
I remember my anger when in 2012 my family travelled to London, and the second hand shops we visited were all extremely expensive, labeling t-shirts my dad had in his closet as "vintage". If old t-shirts are more expensive than new t-shirts, why would people spend money on the old t-shirts? Raising the prices of second hand clothing does a lot to alienate possible customers and make them turn back to fast fashion.
Just as a reminder, I don't dislike you or judge you for not buying your clothes used or your chocolate Fairtrade (though these days almost all chocolate in stores is either UTZ, Fairtrade or Rainforest Alliance certified, so you might already buy it without even realising!). I have a different conscience and a different set of things that are important to me, and that's just what I operate on and I don't expect other people to feel the same way. Shaming people in to buying second hand is not going to work, because you can't just make someone care about something they don't care about. I am in no way a saint when it comes to this either. Sometimes I need a specific item or new shoes or something I cannot find thrifted, or want to buy new. So I do. All we can do is try our best, and pointing out flaws in people who are trying their best is unnecessary. Sure, it is kind of odd when vegetarians and vegans who promote a cruelty-free lifestyle don't extend that ideology to fashion and the clothing industry, but we're all works in progress and people need time and space to grow. If we start to point out hypocrisy in each other we'll be here all year.
If you want to know more about the issues in the fashion industry in terms of both human rights and the environment, there's a documentary called The True Cost which is quite informative. Just googling the issue is also pretty explanatory. Though a lot of stores, like H&M do seem to care about sustainability and working conditions, it can also just be a way of shutting up the public and pretending like everything is ok. For example, compare this piece on the H&M website, and this article pointing out some truths of the situation. I often feel guilty for being so privileged and not doing enough to make the world a more equal place. Second hand shopping and paying attention to fair labels is my way of combatting that guilt and making me feel like a better person. I've also grown used to buying used so it's not like I go around feeling horrible, because I actually quite like thrifting and finding things that are one of a kind.
You're right, I'm hardly doing all I could, but it's something. And to those of you who roll your eyes at people like me, saying that the decisions of one person are not going to change anything, I want you to imagine that if everyone in the world refused to buy H&M clothes until they made sure everyone in their supply chain was working in good conditions and being paid a living wage, how long it would take for the company to make sure their production was fair. Believe it or not, even one person can make a difference when it's one person less supporting companies that benefit from the unfair treatment of others. I'm not asking you to completely change your ways, but maybe just consider some of the stuff you do without even realizing it!
Thanks for reading and I hope I didn't come off as too self-righteous, I really tried to be fair and not obnoxious.
Becks
My mother and father have promoted specific values in our family since we were born. I've worn hand-me-down's since I was a little kid (it was free and I've always been rather small, so cousins and friends have gladly given me their old thigns), and we were given pocket money to teach us the value of money and that it is not a never ending fountain but that it can run out. We were taught about the Fairtrade system and we began making sure our tea, coffee, chocolate and bananas among other things were Fairtrade. We've always been educated about fairness and things in the world that are still unfair. I understand that some may not have been as educated, which is why I'm not judging you if you were not aware of these things from a young age.
One day my mother cut out a newspaper clipping and pinned it to our fridge with a magnet. It was a story of one of the clothing factory collapses in India. She told me what it meant, and how these people died making clothing for the Western world with illegally low wages and in poor conditions. After this I couldn't stop checking the labels in stores when I went shopping with friends. Every "made in Bangladesh" made me feel incredibly guilty and I stopped purchasing new clothes almost completely out of guilt. It helped that we had thrift shops near our house and in our town, and that thrifting is usually cheaper than buying clothes new. I've also always been a bit of an oddball when it comes to dressing myself and so it wasn't a huge problem to switch to thrifting. I know a lot of my friends had trouble with the idea of thrifting because the things that they wanted to wear were not in the second hand cycle yet, as they were only coming into new stores.
Something I've been happy to find in Scotland is that second hand culture is still alive and well in the form of charity shops. Because they aim to make money for charity, and their items are all donated, the prices stay low and affordable. As a student living on a budget this is good news for both my moral compass and my wallet. However, there is a side of second hand culture that I'm not very fond of. You may have noticed that thrifting and 90's style clothing is coming back into "fashion" or rather just becoming trendy. Because of this, stores have had to find a way to profit from selling second hand items, or things that look like they're second hand. While H&M straight up sells 90's fashion, stores like Urban Outfitters have a "used" section with "hand picked" items like t-shirts and stuff you could find at a thrift store if you're lucky, with prices that make you put the t-shirt right back down where you picked it up. This is one of my issues. Thrifting and second hand shopping usually requires some effort, going to different shops and looking around and trying to find something special. When Urban Outfitters does the job for you and then sells the t-shirt at triple the price I no longer see it as second hand clothing, rather just another way for companies to pretend they care about sustainability and working conditions while making big bucks at the expense of consumers who have enough money to spend on used t-shirts instead of looking for them themselves.
I've come across the same issue on some used clothing apps, like Depop. Depop is like Instagram for selling clothes. You post a photo, description and set a price. Transactions happen through the application and for a small fee you can sell your used clothing to people around the world. Usually the app works just nicely, and people contribute to affordable ethical fashion. But sometimes, just like with Urban Outfitters, people take advantage of specific labels like "vintage" and sell their old clothing or thrift finds at a much higher price. This makes me really angry, because the whole point of second hand culture is to be affordable so that more and more people can be encouraged to buy used clothing, and encourage companies to take sweatshops and child labour seriously.
It's really odd to see that the same shirt can be marketed in such different ways depending on the audience it is aimed at. Whereas hand-me-down's and second hand clothes used to be "embarrassing" and get you bullied at school, clothes from other eras (right now specifically the 90's) have suddenly become trendy, and the kids who used to bully you for your old t-shirts are now wearing them, having payed a significant amount more. This is not an opinion directed at anyone who might've disliked thrift culture before but gravitated towards it now, because people are allowed to change and I understand that. But it's sad to see what the popularity of used clothing is doing to prices.
I remember my anger when in 2012 my family travelled to London, and the second hand shops we visited were all extremely expensive, labeling t-shirts my dad had in his closet as "vintage". If old t-shirts are more expensive than new t-shirts, why would people spend money on the old t-shirts? Raising the prices of second hand clothing does a lot to alienate possible customers and make them turn back to fast fashion.
Just as a reminder, I don't dislike you or judge you for not buying your clothes used or your chocolate Fairtrade (though these days almost all chocolate in stores is either UTZ, Fairtrade or Rainforest Alliance certified, so you might already buy it without even realising!). I have a different conscience and a different set of things that are important to me, and that's just what I operate on and I don't expect other people to feel the same way. Shaming people in to buying second hand is not going to work, because you can't just make someone care about something they don't care about. I am in no way a saint when it comes to this either. Sometimes I need a specific item or new shoes or something I cannot find thrifted, or want to buy new. So I do. All we can do is try our best, and pointing out flaws in people who are trying their best is unnecessary. Sure, it is kind of odd when vegetarians and vegans who promote a cruelty-free lifestyle don't extend that ideology to fashion and the clothing industry, but we're all works in progress and people need time and space to grow. If we start to point out hypocrisy in each other we'll be here all year.
If you want to know more about the issues in the fashion industry in terms of both human rights and the environment, there's a documentary called The True Cost which is quite informative. Just googling the issue is also pretty explanatory. Though a lot of stores, like H&M do seem to care about sustainability and working conditions, it can also just be a way of shutting up the public and pretending like everything is ok. For example, compare this piece on the H&M website, and this article pointing out some truths of the situation. I often feel guilty for being so privileged and not doing enough to make the world a more equal place. Second hand shopping and paying attention to fair labels is my way of combatting that guilt and making me feel like a better person. I've also grown used to buying used so it's not like I go around feeling horrible, because I actually quite like thrifting and finding things that are one of a kind.
You're right, I'm hardly doing all I could, but it's something. And to those of you who roll your eyes at people like me, saying that the decisions of one person are not going to change anything, I want you to imagine that if everyone in the world refused to buy H&M clothes until they made sure everyone in their supply chain was working in good conditions and being paid a living wage, how long it would take for the company to make sure their production was fair. Believe it or not, even one person can make a difference when it's one person less supporting companies that benefit from the unfair treatment of others. I'm not asking you to completely change your ways, but maybe just consider some of the stuff you do without even realizing it!
Thanks for reading and I hope I didn't come off as too self-righteous, I really tried to be fair and not obnoxious.
Becks
I learned about this subject through Kristen Leo on youtube (who you should check out!) an watched the true cost. Now I don't want to shop at places like hm anymore. And I feel you when you don't think you aren't necessarily "doing enough", I feel the same towards all the cruelty in this world. But like you said, consumer choices do make an impact and you writing this post is definitely a good thing :)
ReplyDeleteOh I'll check her out! And thanks, good to know I'm not alone in the whole "not doing enough" feeling.
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