Laura Kiely looks at ‘thrifting’ as a concept, considers its inception and how there is growing discourse related to consumer’s spending habits relevant to ethical and fast fashion.
If the current fashion trend of revamped, reused, and reworked is a game, then shopping at inner-city vintage shops is low-key cheating. The ‘vintage’ look has been popular since the 1970s. Today, there is a rising divide between inner-city vintage shops and charity shops, with the former becoming increasingly unaffordable.
Thrift shops date back to the late 19th century with the Salvation Army opening in 1897 in London to provide affordable goods to society’s less fortunate. ‘Thrifting’ as a fashion trend or style took momentum in the 1970s. Fostered by the 1960s bohemian spirit, personal style became a paramount part of the self and thrift stores were where you could find one-of-a-kind items to reflect it. Remaining relevant to this day, Irish influencer Keelin Moncrieff often posts both Instagrams and TikToks of her charity shop fits, tagging each item with prices as low as €2. The clothes she wears are an essential part of her brand.
Fostered by the 1960s bohemian spirit, personal style became a paramount part of the self and thrift stores were where you could find one-of-a-kind items to reflect it.
Today, Temple Bar is seen as Dublin’s cultural hotspot, and that is where you find most inner-city vintage clothing stores. Stores such as Badlands Vintage sell reworked vintage sweaters for €40-50. The difference between Badlands Vintage and Oxfam is, of course, their asking prices. Congregating close by are Nine Crows, Dublin Vintage Factory, Deadstock Vintage and more. ‘Deadstock’ was a very smart marketing tool, as if you cannot obtain ‘vintage’ clothes anywhere else. Indeed, Temple Bar is the spot for extortionate consumption where you can buy a “one of a kind” shirt for €50. The difference between the Badlands Vintage shopper and the Oxfam shopper is not just economic privilege, but a certain kind of zeal if you are willing to sift through railings bursting at the seams with second-hand clothes, of all different sizes, styles, and smells. This is where low-key cheating becomes a factor. The Vintage store is easier, clothing is coordinated by material or colour. If you really want something that bad you absolutely will find it in a charity shop, it just takes that extra bit of effort.
The difference between the Badlands Vintage shopper and the Oxfam shopper is not just economic privilege, but a certain kind of zeal if you are willing to sift through railings bursting at the seams with second-hand clothes, of all different sizes, styles, and smells.
Second-hand shops’ key attraction today is not just people’s desire for an authentic, seemingly effortless layered look but the growing awareness of fast fashion damage, both environmentally and economically. Today, the massive corporation Shein reportedly produces 6,000 new styles on its online store daily, keeping up with the relentless pace of fashion trends. We all love a Pinterest board, myself included, but it is undeniable that Pinterest, as an app for indulging your interests, the app has, in a roundabout way, catalysed fast fashion and ‘throwaway’ culture. When a certain look becomes popularised online, it is true that the cheapest way to achieve it is by shopping in fast fashion.
But who should we get mad at? The teenage girls who purchase clothing in their budget, or CEOs who earn millions on the exploits of, essentially, labour camps? Criticisms of Shein hauls for ‘unethical’ consumption, runs the complex risk of sounding classist. This moral high-groundesque confrontation is common, where the comment section of Shein hauls are rampant with similarly-aged girls, but often from different economic backgrounds, shame each other for where they shop the hottest trends. This collective aversion towards cheap brands like Shein renders the significantly more expensive and minutely less unethical brands to seem like the ethical option. The average price of a skirt from Zara ranges from €29.99-€49.99, whereas a skirt from Shein can sell for as low as €5. This price comparison makes the consumer feel better about shopping at high-end brands like Zara or Urban Outfitters; where the material is better quality, but the means of production remain unethical.
This collective aversion towards cheap brands like Shein renders the significantly more expensive and minutely less unethical brands to seem like the ethical option.
It is tricky navigating the fast fashion/ethical fashion discourse, an inherently complex and controversial issue. Everyone feels a certain way about these topics, especially when their spending habits are involved. It is difficult to advocate for more ethical consumption, such as shopping sustainably or thrifting, without sounding tone-deaf. It inadvertently places the onus on individual citizens rather than the actual corporations who sell the labour of their workers at astonishingly low prices. This issue does however denote that above all we are not thrifting today just for ‘the look,’ but as a collective effort to assert that there are affordable options outside of the fast fashion sphere, though the capitalisation of such a desire by larger corporations is something as consumers we must be aware of.