Sorry for the hiatus, I had to speak at a conference and travel for some interviews.
In a previous post, I started talking about sustainability in fashion and mentioned some ways you can create a more sustainable wardrobe. In all honesty, this is a process I am currently in for a number of reasons. Instead of detailing those various reasons, I want to focus today on some of my favorite resell sites/places and why buying second is a more sustainable option but also some of the downsides. Just as a reminder there are many systematic issues within the current structuring of the apparel industry that also need to be addressed to reduce the apparel industry’s overall environmental and human impact.
The apparel industry is one of the biggest polluters globally and that is generally speaking entirely by design. There are literally liters and tons of water and waste used and generated as waste products from clothing manufacturing. When you factor in the intentional design of destruction of said clothing, specifically with fast fashion, you realize that clothes are (intentionally) not designed to last the wearer more than a few wears. This albeit crude assessment does not include the human lives that are required to create millions of garments. I don’t just mean the people sewing but also the people sowing. The materials that constitute our clothing are produced by people. That means the cotton is planted and tended to, in harsh and sometimes illegal conditions (these conditions are not even considered or mentioned on when we purchase clothing). Pesticides are used which are detrimental to people’s health and the environments.
I’ve spent a lot of time in thrift stores, partly because I’m shopping for myself but also because I find them to be an interesting social space which provide a unique insight into consumerism. Thrift stores are cool. They are from a sustainability standpoint pretty interesting. On the one hand, they reduce the amount of clothing that is sent to landfills, give some clothes a second chance, and provide affordable clothing. On the other, they (or USian consumerism) literally ruin economies and cultural heritage in other countries and communities because articles that aren’t sold are dumped in other countries. After working abroad, I’ve become even more cognizant of where I purchase second hand. That being said I’m not going to tell you don’t shop at chain thrift stores like Goodwill or Salvation Army, especially if that’s all that is available to you but I do recommend you check out some local places.
If you’re interested in more detail around the fashion industry, I would recommend reading Wardrobe Crisis by Clare Press. It is a great introductory book on fashion in general and the fashion industry. The True Cost is also a great intro documentary that used to be on Netflix but you could also check your local library to borrow a copy. I will also start posting more book/journal articles you could check out as well.
Anyway, my favorite resell/second-hand sites/places are the following by general price range. (prices do vary by site so you can find items for less or more depending on the site and the seller)
$ (most pieces under $50)
- ebay (prices vary greatly here, you can literally find stuff for $5 or $500, really depends. I absolutely love ebay, it’s the absolute best. I’m also in the process of selling a bunch of stuff on here which you can check out here.)
- thredup
- goodwill
- salvation army
- savers
- texas thrift
- boomerang
- buffalo exchange (I actually absolutely adore buffalo exchange)
- mercari
$$ (most pieces are under $150)
- poshmark (you can actually get some pretty decent deals here, plus the community is pretty solid if you’re looking for a specific piece)
- material world (which actually used to be a resell site but is now a subscription/curated resell company)
$$$-$$$ (pieces are generally over $150 but you can still find a number of pieces under $50)
- the real real (I love the real real. This site is the absolute best, I’m going to use it to buy all of my work clothes for my new job, because they have fantastic workpieces for under $50. I cannot stress enough how much you should check out TRR.)
- heroine (great site for streetwear/hypebeasty style clothing)
- vestiaire collective (great site for more European brands. Also they’re based in Europe so they have a lot of Europe based sellers)