Thoughts on fast fashion brands like SHEIN?

[tessa grace]

I recently read an article about SHEIN: https://studybreaks.com/thoughts/shein-unethical-practices/
any thoughts? personally i try to stay away from fast fashion, especially really harmful mass production types like SHEIN, and just keep thrift shopping. it's really difficult when i see everyone i know getting clothes from there and i don't know what to say. i was curious about what other people thought about it, though. post your questions and comments here.

 

[your local goomy]

I can't really vote in the poll as I've never shopped there, but my friend likes to browse. Not sure if she's ever bought anything though. My sense of fashion is still kinda forced upon me by my family, so in one of my efforts to break free, my friend was gonna buy me some cute skirts from there, but right around that time they went through a data leak and apparently credit card info was being stolen? Needless to say, she didn't buy them. If their practices really are unethical, I'd like to call that divine intervention.

 

[Corrie]

I've never purchased from that company and have no interest in doing so in the future. Fast fashion is terrible for many reasons and despite the attractive prices, the clothing quality from stores like that aren't great so it's not even worth the cheap price.

 

[oak]

I've never shopped at Shein but I have bought clothes from other fast fashion places like Old Navy and H&M. I know it's not the best but I work outdoor labour so I need cheaper shirts that I don't have to worry about destroying or staining with oil. I wear the shirts until they are super stained and not cute anymore if that makes anyone feel better and then I bring them to a clothing recycling place. When it comes to winter jackets and boots though I try to buy better brands. I try not to judge others about where they buy their clothes and just focus on myself.

 

[UglyMonsterFace]

I've definitely been tempted but I've never actually gone through with it. Ethics aside, I feel like getting disappointed is just inevitable. You get what you pay for after all. Plus I have a very strange body proportion. I doubt things will even fit me well lol

 

[your local goomy]

Also, another thing I noticed was that with a lot of these stores, especially China-based ones like Wish and AliExpress, the clothes run SMALL. I'm plus-sized, and when I ordered a Persona 5 hoodie off of Wish, it told me to get a few sizes bigger than what I wore. I just opted for the largest size, a whopping 5X on me, and it was still too small. It wouldn't zip. Now, on my weight-loss journey, I check in with how much I've lost by occasionally trying the hoodie on to see if I can zip it

 

[.: Meri :.]

I don't buy new clothes all that often, but I stay far away from fast fashion whenever I do. The horrible working conditions are more than reason enough not to buy from them, but I also definitely don't want clothes that aren't going to be wearable after just a few uses. The concept itself seems unappealing and wasteful, and I don't really keep up with runway/celebrity trends either.

 

[Hat']

I almost exclusively shop there because... I'm poor. I wish I could shop anywhere else but I just can't afford a $35 tee. Mind you, I even think spending $10 for a shirt is too much.
I never buy clothes though, my last order was a year ago and I bought a lot of things for $200, which I could've never gotten elsewhere.
I'm now using Vinted though, but I'm too poor to even consider buying new clothes.

 

[maria110]

I have never shopped at Shein and had never even heard of it until recently, but I have shopped at Target and Old Navy. I'm trying to buy fewer clothes and wear them longer.

 

[deana]

For Shien specifically I don't think I would ever shop there because I really don't like to buy clothes online. As for fast fashion in general I do try to avoid it as best I can, I also like to stick to thrifting. I don't wanna say I NEVER buy anything fast fashion though because I do sometimes but I usually try to limit how much I'm buying and only stick to things I really need. I'm lucky that at the place where I work the dress code is really chill, so it doesn't matter if my clothes look slightly worn out from the thrift store. Slightly worn out is more my style anyway honestly

 

[TofuIdol]

While I've never personally shopped at Shien before, I've shopped at alternative sites like YesStyle years ago. I thought they had a bunch of cute clothes for practically next to nothing, and being a broke high school kid who needed clothes I bought some. For me I didn't think their quality of the items were bad, but now knowing about the conditions of the workers I've tried more over the years to buy more from stores near me.

 

[Xara]

i’ve only ever purchased from a fast fashion brand once (not shien), and the quality was absolutely terrible. clothes that were supposedly XL fit like a small, and the material itself sucked.

i’ve also learnt that my mother ordered from a fast fashion brand about a month or two ago, and while her credit card was charged for the purchase, the clothes have yet to be shipped, and my mother doesn’t have any idea where the company is even located, as their website offers little to no contact information.

all of that, plus how these brands treat their workers, has ensured that i spend my money elsewhere.

 

[Alienfish]

Fast fashion is terrible for many reasons and despite the attractive prices, the clothing quality from stores like that aren't great so it's not even worth the cheap price.

This.

Also I more or less only buy slow fashion/second hand unless it's like undies or jeans (or just cheaper things I use for work) but then I try to pick more ethical stuff than that.

 

[Pintuition]

I really don't like fast fashion, I think from many angles it contributes to a lot of bad things- waste/environmental issues, poor labor practices/abuse, etc. That said, as someone who is plus size, there are very few options out there that will fit my body. There's really only 5 or 6 stores I can buy from that aren't for older women and out of style. These stores tend to be very expensive compared to straight sizes as well. I'm in a position now where I can afford it, but in the past I couldn't afford much and had to buy fast fashion. I've been in a situation before where I needed an outfit for something and had to go with a fast fashion option out of necessity because nothing sustainable from the thrift would fit me as well.

Couple that with needs related to my disability, I have very few options. I have to wear a lot of braces so I need to be able to pull things over or under them- that makes it extremely difficult to find clothing. 99% of the time I can take my time to find what I'm looking for and will not engage with fast fashion- that small 1% almost always has to do with my disability and being plus size. I hate it and over time I've looked for more and more ways to be sustainable with my clothing and am systematically eliminating stores from my shopping list that have poor practices. It's a process, like many things, but I feel good about how far I've come over the past few years on this issue! I'd be interest to hear if any other plus size or disabled folks had the same journey!

 

[nyx~]

I have bought a skirt and shirt from shein that were pretty good quality in the past but won't buy from there again. I mainly just wanted to try it out since a lot of people I know get clothes from there (I think even one of my teachers mentioned shopping there). The amount of art and products they steal from artists and small businesses along with everything stated in everyone's posts above just make the cheap price not worth it.

 

[justina]

I have not heard of or shopped at that particular store. I will say that I am unfortunately guilty of shopping at stores with unethical practices, and that is because in my opinion there is no way to avoid it. Pretty much every clothing brand uses sweatshops and abuses workers sadly. I’m definitely not ok with it, but I have no idea how to change it. The only way I feel really to avoid it is to make your own clothes. I lack the time of skill to do that sadly.

 

[kayleee]

I’ve never bought from Shein, but I do buy “fast fashion” occasionally from other stores like Zara, Target, Old Navy, etc. However, I avoid buying “trendy” pieces and try to only buy things I can get a lot of wear out of. I also take really good care of my clothes - I literally have $5 basic tank tops from Target that I’ve been wearing routinely for probably close to 10 years now and they’re in great shape. Point being, I know one of the complaints around fast fashion is overconsumption and how wasteful it is - I even saw a stat that the average person throws away 80 lbs of clothes a year - but I literally never throw away clothes, and I always fix clothes if they get a hole/etc. basically I know buying fast fashion isn’t the greatest (for reasons beyond overconsumption/environmental impact,) but as an individual I feel I’m not doing too terribly.

 

[neoratz]

i stay away from places like shein, aliexpress, etc but i wouldn't get mad at someone for shopping there as long as they're not one of those people who do the "$1000 SHEIN HAUL??!?!?" videos or get literally all their clothes off there.... sometimes it is all someone can afford

though, similar to what kayleee said, i do occasionally buy from stores at the mall. i haven't done any research on the companies i buy from but i get the feeling horrible work conditions will exist in some form at MOST stores and we can't change it unless there's some sort of mass movement (like most things involving big companies - which sucks)

 

[Princess Mipha]

I didn't know that it's called "Fast Fashion Brand".. however, I don't think I have ever purchased anything from it and now that I've read about it I won't anyways. I like to try and buy from brands that I know are not awful, but sometimes I have to accept my faith of not having endless money to spend on clothes and have to go to cheaper brands that are (most likely) not good to their workers, etc. :/

 

[SublimeDonut]

i rarely buy actual clothes in online stores because i can't feel the fabric, try it on, see if it fits, if it's too warm or not warm enough, if it looks good on me etc etc etc. i feel relying on a photo is recipe for disaster.
accessories and stationery on the other hand, i'm always buying them on ali express and shein. i did feel a bit guilty at first but independent artisans on places like etsy are simply too expensive. if i were rich i'd only support small shops, but since i'm not, i can get 10 cute shein earrings for the price of one on etsy. sorry not sorry. (taking to consideration the way the dollar price in my country is skyrocketing, i'm probably never gonna afford anything from etsy ever lmao)