How To Break Up With Fast Fashion

Looking at shopping better and consider your impacts when buying? I think everyone can agree to spending a little here and there on clothes, but people are now becoming more conscious on where they buy products and are thinking about where it came from and who made it. When making these changes, more often than not, shoppers are seeking to quit fast fashion after the overwhelming amount of issues many of these brands are having on people and the planet.

To start, here is a list of things to consider on your journey to breaking up with fast fashion. These will be explored further throughout this post:

1. Unfollow any accounts promoting fast fashion

2. Experiment with styling the clothes you already own to create new looks

3. Unfollow any influencers who heavily promote fast fashion

4. Unsubscribe from brand email listings

Fast fashion is present across all socials media channels, which can become overwhelming at times. If you think you're seeing too much from the fast fashion brands you follow, simply unfollow them to avoid coming across their recent sale promotions and latest new arrivals.

Email marketing is a technique many brands will use to communicate with their consumers without them even intending to check out their website. These are commonly filled with discount codes, latest styles and any upcoming special offers for you to use on their website. People usually subscribe or receive these once a purchase has been many on a brand website. But if you're tired of receiving endless marketing emails, simply unsubscribe to their email listing (this is usually displayed at the very end of an email).

INSTAGRAM AND FAST FASHION

Now we now Instagram is the centre of influences showcasing their latest fashion finds, which are more than often from fast fashion brands. If you're trying to avoid buying into that market, this can be rather distracting and so perhaps unfollowing these account may help.

Social media can create a negative environment on many levels. So, if you're feeling overwhelmed with the hundreds of looks and perfect snapshots, taking a break may be a factor to consider. From scrolling through your feed and clicking through stories, an advertisement is sure to pop up on your screen. Taking a break from social media platforms may help with any persuasion you're feeling when seeing this content.

If you find it difficult to avoid social media, turning off notifications may help. Or perhaps you can delete the apps, such as fashion brand and social media apps for a short period, and later re-download when you wish to get back into the thumb scrolling.

WHERE TO SHOP

If you are searching for a new outfit, maybe you have an upcoming event and are searching for something new to wear. Why not dive into the realm of second-hand and vintage fashion for your next purchase? If you're lucky, you may find a golden ticket when shopping vintage and happen to find a designer labelled item.

The first pit stop to shopping second-hand are your local charity shops. These can be a goldmine to finding some special items of clothing, from vintage to designer labels. If you're lucky, you may just find a completely new item with its original labels, but shopping in charity shops tends to require some luck.

If you'd rather shop in the comfort of your own home, second-hand buying can also be done on apps such as Depop, Vinted and Re Thread, where you can also sell your own clothes if you've got plans for a spring clean this season. When shopping second-hand clothes online, it is definitely useful to know what you're looking for as you could spend hours finding nothing that catches your eye.

TAKING A BREAK FROM BUYING

If you're taking a larger step and avoiding buying anything new for a period of time, you may be wondering how you're going to create new looks overtime. One thing to consider is experimenting in styling the clothes you already own in alternative ways. Organising your clothes into different piles to see what you have available will help you experiment with the colour and textures you have available. But, don't forget to accessorise! Adding accessories to your outfits can create a completely new style and transform your look.

FINAL MESSAGE

Remember, ditching fast fashion doesn't have to involve you getting rid of all fast fashion items in your wardrobe. A message to think of is that the most sustainable items are the ones you already own, and so keeping them is more sustainable than getting rid of them to possibly end in landfill.

Hopefully this post has got you thinking about how you can ditch fast fashion, or even stop buying anything new for a short period. If you have any other tips or would like to see a blog post on anything else relating to fashion, please comment below.

Sabrina Cowper