Crowded By Our clothing

This is the Fast Fashion mantra: Nothing to wear? No problem! Just go shopping.  

Yes, you went last week, but you can be pretty sure there’ll be something brand new on the shelves today. 

Fast Fashion is consumerism at its most conspicuous.  

Have you ever given your wardrobe a thought when it comes to your impact on the environment? 

According to Dr Jennifer Baumgartner in her new book You Are What You Wear, most people only ever wear about 20% of what they have in their wardrobes.  

80% of your clothing budget – wasted.  

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What is Fast Fashion? 

Fast fashion can be described as cheap, trendy clothing, mass-produced and usually sampling ideas and trends from catwalks that won’t stand the test of time.  

Fast fashion is one of the most toxic runoffs of our society’s growing demand for instant gratification and a never-ending stream of tantalizing “new” things to clap our greedy eyes on.  

Clothing retailer H&M, arguably one of the most successful proponents of this trend, have a business model centred around daily deliveries of new clothing to its stores globally. Yes. Daily.  

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You don’t have to go full minimalist to prove your point.  

Simply take a good long look at your wardrobe, be honest about what you really wear, and try to move towards a more limited selection. You’ll save money, you’ll save time dressing, and you’ll have less clothing clutter in your life. 

Try to buy locally produced clothing, to cut down on the carbon emissions from air freight imports.

Embrace thrifted, upcycled and handmade pieces.  

Buy one or two classic pieces each season and of great quality for a wardrobe of durable, wearable clothing. 

Donate or recycle that left-over 80% that you KNOW you’ll never wear.  

Think before you buy! Don’t impulse buy just to follow trends.  

Next time you want to spend money on clothing you probably don’t need, go for a walk and rather leave your cash in your account, for that inevitable day when petrol reaches R30.00 per litre…

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