Worth a ‘second’ look…
Whilst scrolling on my phone I read with interest that “second-hand fashion is set to surge in coming years” and “could overtake fast fashion”, hello? have they not seen my blog??! LOL! With environmental concerns it’s the obvious choice and anything that puts fast fashion in its place has to be a good thing…but to exceed it even by 2029 would really surprise me…(hope I’m wrong…).
it doesn’t have to be new to be good…
Though whilst I was away on an autumn break I spent some time browsing second-hand furniture and found a shop selling the retro Gplan style that I love, and was chatting away to the owner when she told me that a lot of the ‘younger generation’ were taking an interest in it and opting to go second hand instead of new. Though when you actually see some of the newer style furniture a lot of it is totally bland and unimaginative…to my ‘ancient’ eyes…so for me it’s a = Yuk! (Well in my humble opinion..). So reuse, review and recycle at the same time, wow! I been ‘trending’ for years even before I knew I was ‘in fashion’…!
without scouring the second hand you’d never find such gems as the beaded head piece (very Abba..esque..)
To me and the time I grew up in it makes total sense, I was brought up with clothing having to be altered and mended before you ever thought of throwing it away (god forbid..!). For goodness sake I was used to wearing my cousin’s ‘hand-me-down’s’..though as I got to be a teenager things changed. It wasn’t ‘fast fashion’ as such but clothing was becoming more affordable and second-hand was not ‘the thing’ to wear any more, in fact you were really rebelling if you wore something new instead of something patched up and repaired!
some items might need a bit of TLC like these shoes but top fairs well
Fashion is always evolving and ‘revolving’, but fast fashion is not helping the planet at all and causing a huge amount of environmental damage (though I’m no expert) but the fact that a lot of these types of clothing last barely a few washes means they can’t be reused and sold as second-hand or if they can be will probably have a very short and limited life. Therefore the only option would be to fully recycle the fabric but how feasible that is and at what cost I do not know. I’m definitely for this ‘second-hand trend’ but taking on the mighty beast that is fast fashion will be a mammoth task..(no pun intended..!). Affordability is key as long as it doesn’t exceed it (except like in rare vintage pieces) it may well have a chance, also the concept of buying less but buying better quality is worth pursuing. I guess though the proof will be ‘in the pudding’ much further down the line…I therefore await with ‘bated breath’…but I know where my heart is and I’m not changing any time soon so let’s see what happens…
It might be bland but it is second-hand…