Why buying fast fashion isn't always a bad thing...

I know, it doesn’t make sense that a blog post about sustainable fashion starts off advocating for fast fashion, but we can actually make fast fashion work for us. Our society is so focused on buy buy buy, and we face lots of pressure as a generation to wear new outfits for every party and Instagram post, making fast fashion clearly the easiest and cheapest option. Whilst we now know the dangerous impacts of cheap clothing, it’s hard to stop buying it when we see influencers promoting it, big sale signs in shop windows, and scarily low student loans reducing our budget.

So, if we can’t always avoid buying fast fashion, how do we lessen its impacts? There are several easy ways:

Don’t buy too much.

Many of the issues with fast fashion are linked to overconsumption, so, if we buy as little as possible, we can make a huge impact. Maybe just buy two tops in the sale, not three, or buy a new pair of jeans for that social, but wear a top you already have. Just by reducing the quantity we buy, not only does it help our bank balances, but it can also help to reduce the huge waste problem that fast fashion contributes to.

Buy the most sustainable choice.

Although high street brands are frequently accused of greenwashing (and often rightly so), if you can buy a pair of organic cotton jeans or a recycled polyester top instead of a non-sustainable option, then go for it! The more popular sustainable options are, the more likely that brands will invest more time and effort to create them, as they will listen to what consumers want to see as it will help the brand make more money.

Wear as much as you can

Another key problem is that items are worn and thrown away soon after. If we can buy an item and keep it for as long as possible until it doesn’t fit or has broken, we can reduce the amount of clothing that is being made and sold by reducing the demand for it. Not only that, but it means we can get value for money out of our items. For trend-driven items, the craze might die down, but for items like jumpers and jeans, there’s no reason why we can’t wear them over and over again for years.

Don’t just throw it away

One of the major issues faced by the planet is the impact of textile waste, particularly items made from synthetic materials like polyester. The easiest way of reducing this problem is to simply not throw things away. If there’s nothing wrong with it, why not keep wearing it, or give it to a friend or charity? With the rise of apps like Depop and Vinted, throwing clothes away could mean a missed opportunity to make some easy cash, so think about your garment’s potential before discarding it. Maybe that extra money could go towards a vintage item that you may not have been able to afford before?

Fast fashion is all around us and it’s pretty much unavoidable. For those of us that can’t ditch cheap clothes, or don’t want to spend and search for vintage items, there are still ways to make positive impacts on the planet, by adopting a few simple solutions. Don’t buy more than necessary and when you do buy, choose the most sustainable choice you can. Once you’ve bought something, wear it as much as possible and then think about how to get rid of it in a planet-friendly way.

- Tegan