Second Hand September
Currently we are in the middle of #secondhandseptember – who knew?
Well some of us knew because either we live in the UK or we’re British and we read/listen/watch the BBC or other UK based publications. On a side note you know mine – The Week and House & Garden!
This movement is as you might imagine all about trying to temper our seemingly insatiable appetite for new clothes, specifically fast fashion. Cheap, cheerful, surprisingly not too badly made and throw away.
There is a statistic that about 58 million pieces of clothing are disposed of each day in the UK. Ok so maybe that’s a slight exaggeration, but it’s not far behind …. Apparently it’s 11 million each week which is still tons!!
The face of this campaign which is the brainchild of Oxfam is the British model and mother Stella Tennant. I include Mother in her description because aside from being the most valuable job in the world, she is including one of her children Iris in the campaign because it seems the generation of 10 to 20 somethings are far more on board with this type of thing than their parents!
Whether from a wastefulness, human working conditions, environmental perspective or all three the young’uns really seem on board with not buying new clothes each week. Now whether the 15 year old niece is as onboard as I might hope … well the jury is still out on that one?
Fast Fashion, whilst we’ve all seen it, bought into it sometimes literally, I think we all know it’s a rubbishy thing. Quality counts, appreciation of one’s garments means more and anything that has less impact on our environment and the people making the clothes then surely that’s better.
I’ve been an advocate for buy less, shop quality as you know, but my actual habits have been a disgrace! You’ve witnessed the bags of clothes being donated in previous blogs. And yet one of my best items of clothing (which I know I’ve mentioned to you) is a classic, mole coloured, suede, long line jacket that I bought off ebay from Goodwill in Seattle for a steal, I might add – no I couldn’t believe it either!
Some “influencers” across the pond have been joining the pledge and buying only from charity shops and then proudly displaying what treasure they found on Instagram. And when you think about it I remember feeling slightly concerned about the ick factor when I was young, but these charities and consignment shops have really stepped up their game to counter that. After all I remember when our Mother popped her clogs I took a full size suitcase full of cashmere sweaters and cardigans to the Red Cross charity shop ….!
I will always be tempted by new styles I think but then so much gets regurgitated maybe even that’s not a valid point?
Do you shop second hand, would you admit it if you did? I’d love to know?
Look Gorgeous, Feel Fabulous – Sophie