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7 Truths About Pre-Loved Shopping
Do you hate shopping for clothes? I do. There are more options than you could ever sift through, more brands than you can keep up with, and labels full of marketing slogans that you don’t know if you can believe or not.
The shops are fully of “fast fashion” where the latest styles are available for low prices for just a few weeks before being replaced by new items. It makes my head spin!
If you’re looking for a more sustainable alternative, pre-loved clothing might be the way to go.
Here are seven reasons to consider shopping pre-loved.
1. Recycling
Because of fast fashion, many items, still in perfectly good condition, end up in landfills. There, they just decay and contribute to the earth’s pollution.
Instead of participating in this wasteful cycle, you get to save that lovely royal blue dress from its dreary fate for a few more years of glory. Shopping for pre-loved clothing also inspires you to give away some of your own unworn clothing for others to enjoy.
This way, the virtuous cycle of recycling continues. Pay it forward.
2. Less Packaging
When you want to be environmentally friendly, the extra packaging that comes with new clothes (especially when bought online) can really be a frustrating aspect of your shopping experience.
Many people struggle to recycle all the wrapping, cardboard or polystyrene. It often just ends up being tossed in the trash. This is an even bigger waste of resources than buying the new clothes themselves, and can be avoided when buying second-hand.
3. Supporting Local Economies
I don’t know about you, but I like some idea of where my money goes once it’s out of my wallet. Retail stores in the “fast fashion” industry often rely on overseas labour from developing countries such as India or Pakistan.
In order to produce high quantities of clothes at truly low prices, they need to cut costs somewhere, and that ends up being worker wages and conditions.
Consignment boutiques and second-hand clothing shops, on the other hand, are usually owned and run by small business owners, or charities. The money spent at these shops stays in the community and helps local families.
Instead of making the super rich even richer and giving your dollar to globalisation and exploitation, make a difference through pre-loved shopping.
4. Better Quality
Modern retailers who focus on profit and expendability, do not devote attention or resources to creating works of true craftsmanship. Most clothing available in department stores and shops today is low quality. It’s stitched together hastily, and neither fits well, nor lasts long.
Pre-loved shops are often filled with expensive, well made clothing that are a few years older, so you can find items made with care from quality fabrics.
5. Lower Prices
Most people shop at globalist retailers because of the staggeringly low prices. But the prices really reflect the quality of the clothes – and the many injustices of the system used to produce them.
Pre-loved shopping costs less simply because the clothes are second hand. You can often find new and even designer clothes for bargain prices.
6. Saving Resources
Every pair of trousers, every cardigan, every sparkly bracelet needs to be made from something. The materials used in these items have to be gathered, farmed or extracted through processes such as cotton farming, oil pumping and tree felling.
This all puts a strain on the environment, stripping the Earth of precious resources. On top of this, the raw materials then go through manufacturing and shipping processes, which also use energy.
When you shop for pre-loved clothes, you use no resources (unless you consider the gas in your car to get to the shop). Now that’s environmentally sound!
7. Better Choice
One of the most annoying aspects of modern retail shopping is that variety has disappeared from the shelves.
Clothes are rapidly churned out to conform with the latest trends, only to be replaced just a short while later. If you’re not interested in the current trend, or the latest colour doesn’t suit you, you’re out of luck!
Pre-loved shopping, on the other hand, exposes you to all kinds of types and styles of clothing. Browse through racks filled with colourful and mismatched items and discover older styles and timeless pieces, like diamonds in the rough.
Conclusion
It’s easy to overlook the option of pre-loved clothing among all the advertising aimed at the modern consumer. From charity shops to designer consignment stores – the best opportunities are hidden, ripe for the taking.
Pre-loved shopping can revolutionise your relationship to clothing, for the sake of the environment, the community, and your wallet!
Watch Jess from Wanderess Beauty overhaul her “mum wardrobe” with pre-loved clothing.
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