In recent years, online shopping sites have risen in popularity due to their outrageously low prices. In a society where prices seem to rise, the need for inexpensive clothing only grows more necessary. What most students don’t realize is the true cost of buying from cheap online stores.
Fast fashion companies, such as Shein, rely on the labor of people in less developed countries like India, Vietnam, or Bangladesh. These workers are necessary because of the difference in currency, which allows companies to pay less for the same amount of work. Companies that promote mass consumerism often violate labor laws as well.
Most students are not made aware of the conditions factory employees are put through in order to make any money. An investigation conducted by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre in 2022 showed that Shein factory employees worked 7 days a week, making at least 500 items daily. The payment for the workers, when transferred into US currency, was only two cents per item.
Sydney Sheldon, a freshman at Wilsonville High School, shared her reaction to the investigation, “It’s astonishing to learn of the labor that is expected of Shein workers and that they are paid so little for their efforts. I think that an informational page in the school newspaper would locally help people understand the severity of the problem.”
The thought of purchasing from corporations using underpaid labor can easily make cheap online clothing less appealing. Still, not every student has the privilege of buying clothing at a higher cost. As prices continue to rise, the need for new clothes can become a nightmare for teens across the country. That’s where thrift shopping plays an important role in the affordable apparel industry.
Thrifting has been a popular outlet for cost-effective clothing since its first surge in the 1960s and 1970s. Since then, it has slowly become one of the easiest ways to find high quality clothing without paying impossible prices. Not only are thrift shops giving easy access to clothing for less cost, but they are also keeping unwanted attire out of landfills.
Another downfall to fast fashion is the accelerated process of deterioration. Mediocre fabrics made with speed instead of quality leads to clothing from the fast fashion industry lasting much less than regular clothing. The cheap price also motivates buyers to purchase more while throwing away previous apparel when it’s no longer relevant.
These bad shopping habits contribute to large amounts of clothing waste accumulating in garbage dumps. Which is why thrifting gives recycled clothing a chance to be worn for longer instead of going to waste. Wilsonville High School has even opened its own temporary thrift shops in the past, allowing students to find affordable clothing through their own school.
Axel Lauthner, another freshman at Wilsonville High School shares his thoughts on the school’s thrift shops as well as second hand clothing stores in general: “I think that having thrift shops allows students to make affordable clothing choices, while still finding things that are specific to their own styles. Our school having pop up thrift stores is a great way to help students get more connected to their school and allow our school to connect and help its students.”
With the lack of coverage showing the conditions of fast fashion factories, as well as encouragement from online creators to buy large ‘hauls’ of clothing from these companies, it is growing more necessary for young people to become educated. Purchasing clothing that does not exploit foreign workers can still be taunting to teens with a smaller budget.
Thrift shopping is an easily and accessible way for people of any age to find clothing that suits their tastes without benefitting from abusive labor. It’s important to spread the idea of sustainable fashion because the price tag is not the only cost that comes to cheap clothing.