Category: fashion

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)

Sustainability. It’s in the news throughout the day. Everyone has thoughts on how we, as individuals approach sustainability from giving up plastic straws and single-use items to going vegetarian to boycotting corporations and the US military. None of these are wrong or bad ideas, some of these suggestions refuse to acknowledge the privilege it takes to take certain actions or they refuse to acknowledge the root causes of climate change or environmental degradation. In a previous version of this blog, I focused on sustainable fashion but it’s counterproductive to run a sustainable fashion blog in the same way that people run conventional fashion blogs because sustainability isn’t about excess. But fashion (and art) isn’t either (at least not in the capitalistic sense that fashion currently operates). Fashion is a form of expression— a form of art— and I respect and support these characteristics. 

It is, however, important especially for Americans to be less wasteful; it’s equally and arguably more important to hold companies accountable for the waste they produce and the energy they use.  I try to be intentional about what I purchase. I went a number of years without buying anything that wasn’t necessary clothing-wise, but honestly, it wasn’t great because I wasn’t happy and I ended up wearing a bunch of outdated clothes. (I ended up feeling horrible about my clothes and how I presented myself so it wasn’t great). I’m still buying clothes since that decision, but I’m being extremely intentional about what I buy and who I buy it from because fashion is a huge polluter. Therefore, you will occasionally see fashion posts here but don’t expect them all the time, but when you do the brands and designers I feature will have been chosen with intention. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with my guidelines for curating an intentional wardrobe.

Guidelines to curating an intentional wardrobe:

            I want to preface these guidelines by saying these are my personal guidelines for buying clothes and they work for me because I have prioritized and am also privileged to make some of these decisions. Some of these guidelines can be generalized for other aspects of living.

1. Define your style.
   1. This is entirely up to you and requires a bit of soul searching.
   1. It also makes sense to consider what you actually do for work and hobbies and your body shape. In each case, I like to have intentionally selected items for them.
   1. It is pertinent that you also consider your body shape because clothes are designed for different body types and somethings will look better (i.e. your clothes won’t gather in certain places or be tight in other places).
      1. Try using Pinterest to define your idealized style/wardrobe. It’s totally okay if this changes over time, you’re human and fluid!
2. Go through your closet, keep what fits (both your new style and your body), and toss what doesn’t.
   1. You have a few options with the clothes that don’t fit, you could donate them or you could resell them. There are a number of issues with donating clothes mainly that many of them end up in African communities and are a drain on the local economy. It’s better to donate with intention and if you find communities in your area that would actually use the clothes, that’s would infinitely better.
   1. If you opt to sell them, Mercari and eBay are great sites to sell your stuff on. Poshmark is okay but they take a larger percentage out of your earning. These are also great sites to shop on.
3. Buy clothes from thrift stores and online resell websites (post about my favorite sites coming soon). Reusing and recycling are still important. If you’re looking for new clothes, I have a whole map of brands that are sustainable or ethical in some way. I’m currently in the process of updating and streamlining it so it’s down for the time being.
4. When I look at individual articles of clothing, I look for natural materials (think cotton, linen, leather {especially if it’s preloved}, wool, and silk etc.//contrary to what most people think about me, I’m actually not a vegetarian so I try to buy natural fibers and materials). These materials are safer for the environment as plastic-based fabrics produce microplastics in waterways, which is detrimental to the environment. I also look for good stitching (this is a bit difficult to do online but if you can look at some stuff by that brand in person you can get a feel for the quality).
   1. It’s important at this stage to ask yourself if you truly love something

Repeat as necessary.