It's Not Me, It's You...

Have you ever grocery shopped all day to fulfill your dream of being a meal-prepping,

money-saving, health-nut just to order a pizza on the way home?

Well, thrift critics would say the influx in second-hand shopping has something in common with that pizza order: counter productivity.

An attitude is forming, along with some research, that the expanding commitment to thrifting, in response to high living costs and climate consciousness, is driving overconsumption rather than replacing it. This begs the question: are we focusing on the right actors in the world of fashion, footprint and frugality?

I don’t think so.

I understand a red flag on thrift carts of fifty items, low prices promoting buying more instead of less and the convenience of the new second-hand online market.

But, when you zoom out, isn’t the fact that it’s secondhand still better than the alternative? After all, thrift stores filled to the brim only exist because “wear it once” culture came first.

I agree with one main message of thrift critics: the end goal of sustainable fashion is to foster reduction, encourage quality material use and ethical labor practices rather than just reuse and recycle. At the same time, I think building a world of people who reject excess and respect the lifespan of belongings doesn’t start with second-hand consumers, it starts with the people on top making sustainable options affordable and taking unethical ones off the table.

Companies, like that of H&M, Shein and Zara, the VIP’s of media and lack of government

regulation are just as big a player in overconsumption as consumers. Blaming those who buy more, instead of those encouraging them to, might be a mistake.

Yes, it is up to the shopper to control their consumption. Ideally they’re only thrifting what they need and using items to their entirety. But if they aren’t very conscious of their footprint, wouldn’t we prefer them to be excessive with what already exists?

Buying second hand can’t solve textile waste, end unethical labor or cure people’s want for

more stuff, but it can be a step in the right direction, a stand against inhumane labor conditions and a reduction of waste by prolonging the items' life which, ultimately, is doing something rather than nothing. Kind of like knowing you’ll order a pizza but grocery shopping to avoid buying fourteen pizzas later on.

From where I stand, it should be like VO President Jack Norris said about veganism: if you want to go vegan but can’t imagine giving up cheese, go vegan except for cheese. In other words, if you want to practice more sustainable fashion but can’t imagine giving up your full closet, then start with buying second-hand.