We were blown away by the frank, to-the-point tweet thread by Cora Harrington about avoiding fast fashion and being responsible about our clothing choices.
“The response to the fast fashion question isn’t Go naked, (which is such a hyperbolic reaction, it immediately reveals how disingenuous the responder is), it’s the same things I’ve always said,” tweets Cora Harrington (@lingerie_addict):
1) Wear what you have until you can’t wear it anymore. Yes, that means repeating outfits. It means resewing buttons. It might mean alterations at the dry cleaners for hem repair. But the point is to wear your clothes…then repurpose them in other ways (houseclothes, rags, etc).
2) Take better care of your clothing. Follow the care instructions on the label. Handwash and air dry if possible. If you machine wash, don’t use too much detergent, and run the gentlest cycle you can. If you machine dry, avoid the highest heat setting. DON’T USE DRYER SHEETS.
3) Be more deliberate and thoughtful about your purchases. Overconsumption is real. No one needs regular hauls of clothing. It’s fine if you give yourself a day/week/month/etc before moving forward on a purchase (fast fashion thrives on FOMO). Resale sites are great resources.
I very deliberately avoid couching this conversation in “Lists of ethical places to buy that aren’t Shein” because 1) there is no ethical version of Shein and 2) the point of the conversation isn’t to keep the same buying habits just not from Shein…it’s to buy less overall.
No one is saying you have to throw your entire closet away. What we are saying is…okay, moving forward, what are steps you can take to do better, and “Wear your clothes until they wear out, take better care of them, be more deliberate about buying,” are all accessible things.