By Elisabeth Reed
How many pairs of jeans do you have in your closet? What about shoes? How many sweaters? What about free t-shirts from attending an athletic event or for donating to a cause? Was a walk-in closet a MUST for your home? Our shopping habits and consumption of clothing has changed dramatically over the last decade.
In the world of fashion, there have traditionally been 2 seasons. Designers attend New York Fashion Week twice a year, to showcase either fall/winter or spring/summer looks. Today though, instead of just two seasons of fashion, there are about 365: one for every day of the year. Retailers here in Bloomington-Normal receive packages almost every day with new pieces to replace the old…. One week old, that is. Fashion is moving faster than it ever has before: we are buying clothing at a rapid speed, but wearing the items for a far shorter length of time.
A recent study done by Barnardo’s Retail in the United Kingdom, surveyed 1,500 women ages 16 and up. The study revealed women have adopted a “wear it once attitude” when it comes to our wardrobes and only wear items a handful of times before retiring them to the back of the closet. The majority of women surveyed considered clothes ‘old’ after wearing them about only 7 times. 33% of women reported that they were ready to retire a piece after wearing it fewer than three times. Many stated that the social media community was a strong influence for this behavior. My college students have confessed to not wanting to wear the same outfit again in fear of being pictured twice and “tagged” in the same dress on different nights.
What happens to this enormous amount of barely worn clothing when we are done with it… is a topic for another day. For now, I think it’s time for us all to go on a diet.
A Clothing Diet.
Just like monitoring and restricting your food intake and behavior on a traditional diet, let’s monitor and restrict our clothing consumption intake and behavior. Start by refusing the free t-shirts. Wear the clothing you have. Next time you go shopping, make a list of what you are looking for, just like you would at the grocery store and stick to it. Shop local. Buy a product with a story, and find out who made it. Treat it with care. Fix it if its broken or ripped. Wear it for 30 times or more.
Our buying behavior is unsustainable and irresponsible at this pace. Let’s s–l-o-w d-o-w-n fast fashion.
Elisabeth Reed teaches fashion merchandising classes at Illinois State University. She grew up in Bloomington Normal, graduating from Normal Community High School in 1996. After receiving an undergraduate degree in architecture from the University of Cincinnati and a master’s in fashion design from the Savannah College of Art & Design, she realized that there was no place quite like home and returned to Bloomington in 2008. Elisabeth lives with her husband, Matt and their two wild little boys in historic Founder’s Grove.
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