In her new book, Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion, Elizabeth L. Cline explores fast fashion in relation to the economy, environment and “and our souls.”
Cline says that:
“Cheap fashion has fundamentally changed the way most Americans dress. We buy a new garment a week on average and make regular pilgrimages to outlet malls, cheap chains like Forever 21, and the sales racks of department stores and off-priced retailers like TJ Maxx. Retailers are producing clothes at enormous volumes in order to drive prices down and profits up, and they’ve turned clothing into a disposable good. But what are we doing with all these cheap clothes? And more importantly, what are they doing to us, our society, our environment, and our economic well-being?”
Fast fashion is basically mass fashion consumerism. Going into a mall and being surrounded by clothes, going into a store and seeing twenty of the same t-shirts. Knowing that when you are getting dressed to go out, there are twenty other girls throughout the country who just put on the same outfit as you.
One of the questions that Cline asks is, do you have a “real relationship” with the clothing you own? Or are you a “free-for-all shopper?” Do you buy clothes because you love that item or do you buy because the price is right or it fit you, you couldn’t find anything you liked more at that exact moment, etc?
Cline makes a great point about how we should make a point to shop more for the love of clothes and be more creative. We should aim to have a relationship with our closet. Its key to looking and feeling great about yourself.
Cline regularly talks about the culture on fashion on her blog.
