I walk into a store with a number representing an age I have long surpassed. I stroll through the groupings of clothing; touching, observing, and taking in the jumpsuits, teeny tiny floral dresses with cut-outs, graphic tees and crop tops. I estimate there are more pieces of clothing in this store at this moment than I could wear in a lifetime or maybe even ten lifetimes. I look around and see girls as young as 13 with their moms. I see young women sifting through the racks and then I see a sprinkling of women well over the age represented in the name of the store, myself included, looking for something age appropriate that might (fingers crossed) actually fit. I walk out, purchase-less and head to a coffee shop to write and calm myself from the sensory overload.
Stores like the one I mentioned above offer ‘trendy’ clothing at an extremely low cost. Their goal is to turn out new trends as quickly as possible to get consumers to buy as many garments as possible in a short amount of time. Instead of four seasons a year, some in the fashion industry are churning out 52 micro-seasons a year. It’s called fast fashion and for you math people out there that’s a new season every week.
Forever 21 and H&M get shipments of new styles daily and TopShop introduces 400 new styles each week on their website. The fashion industry is capitalizing on the fact that we want to stay in style and ‘keep up’ with our peers and not be off trend. Are leggings still okay? Skinny jeans or wide leg? Crop tops and overalls? High waisted, cropped, frayed, dark wash, chambray? On trend can mean something different to us all and yet many of us are trying to keep up with this ever-changing 52 week fashion cycle.
In 2014 on average, an American household spent $1,786 on apparel and related services. Each year the U.S. spends about $250 million on the fashion industry. And I will raise my hand right now and say I have spent more money than I care to think about on clothing and accessories in my lifetime.
Is there a need for change? Does it matter if I buy another $10 shirt or those shoes that pair perfectly with a new floral dress? I am starting to think it does.
If there is only one reason to slow down my clothing consumption, it is my kids. Teaching them to consume wisely is important to me. I want to raise humans who understand and believe their actions, even how they purchase their clothes, matter.
My hope is my kids will know about needs and wants and understand that just because we can doesn’t mean we should.
My hope is my kids will be generous with the resources they have been given and look for opportunities to give instead of always purchase.
My hope is my kids will someday learn about debt (before they get into any) and understand going into debt for purchases like clothes just isn’t smart.
And my biggest hope…
I pray my kids will realize the newest pair of sneakers or cute top won’t make them any cooler or smarter or funnier or more important. I pray they will grow up knowing they are children of God and no piece of clothing will give them any more worth than that.
Now, let’s get real…
I buy clothes, lots of them. I have four humans to clothe after all. I shop at many labeled ‘fast fashion’ stores because they are reasonably priced and we are on a budget. However, I am attempting to educate myself on how we can better use the resources we have to dress well more responsibly. For us that looks like trying to shop secondhand and locally more and simply buying less. It also means searching for higher quality items for Kevin and I and only shopping when we absolutely need to. It will be tough because we need to slowly change our habits and routines and rhythms when it comes to clothes. I think it can be done (with a TON of missteps along the way), but I know it will take time. Lots and lots of time.
I would love to know if you have any tips or tricks for shopping and dressing responsibly.
Let’s end with this shall we…
I’ve been shopping my whole life and I still have nothing to wear. -Courtney Carver
#truth