This is a painfully bad situation. And what’s worse is that we shouldn’t even call it “fast fashion”, it’s really: “Shitty clothing that most people are stuck with because that’s all they can afford.”
Fast fashion makes it sound like bougie niche brands that 20 somethings put themselves into debt over to keep up with trends. But it’s also everyday people brands sold at Kohl’s, Walmart, Target, etc. I get the analogy intent (fast food, fast fashion) but it’s backfired in that everyone assumes the problem is uncontrolled selfish vapid people. The problem is all of us because we’re trapped without options.
(Bit of a terminology quibble)
The quality of the already shitty clothing is even worse now. Ex: a shirt I bought at Kohl’s in February had several small holes by the end of March - the dye hadn’t even started to fade yet. Same brand, same cut and style of shirt I’d purchased a year before (the bar was already low on quality), the likes of which I’d been purchasing year over year as replacements.
I have to shuffle my budget to find the money to buy higher quality – most people can’t.
I have to find a new retailer/brand with the style, material, and size options – online is fine for some things but most people aren’t like me, buying the same shirt on repeat, and frankly, I don’t enjoy buying clothing online as a non-man because no one uses a standardized measurement system for women’s clothing.
“Higher end” clothing is often garbage quality with a name that inflates the price – most people don’t want, nor should be expected, to become fabric and tailoring experts just to pick out their wardrobe pieces.
Don’t get me started on kids clothes.
Anyway, we can vow to shop used/secondhand all we want but this is a massive system problem that needs heavy regulation enacted quickly to force substantive change.