Offering stylish clothing at low prices, affordable fashion is favored by many, but when does it cross the line? Shops like Temu, Shein, H&M and Forever 21 are known for their wildly inexpensive options and have amassed tons of positive attention for it. But in the pursuit of maintaining these prices and keeping up with unpredictably changing internet trends, these stores ultimately end up with more disadvantages.
Trends change quickly and drastically; every month there seems to be a new fashion obsession magnified by social media and people often feel inclined to follow them. Fast fashion companies feed into this phenomenon, putting out new trendy clothing as fast as possible, then kicking it out to make room for newer styles. As more and more people buy from fast fashion companies in order to follow ever changing trends for low prices, the aforementioned companies manage to make a hefty profit.
“I don’t agree with everyone following one general direction, each body and each personality is different. Fashion trends in general are stupid, and everyone should be allowed to be themselves,” junior Amrei Greer stated.
The term cheap is also normally linked with poorer quality products. Shops like Temu and Shein are widely known for extremely low prices at the cost of poorly made clothes. For some students, when it comes to worn fabric, quality matters greatly.
“The jacket I purchased from Shein was bad quality, tore easily and was irritable on my skin. It wasn’t good and I haven’t gotten anything else from Shein,” Fashion Club president and senior Jacob Riggs stated.
Even for stores that aren’t Temu or Shein, most affordable clothes still add up to be around 20 to 60 dollars, and buying all these different things can add up.
“The problem with H&M and Forever 21 is that everything is pretty expensive [for fast fashion],” Riggs continued.
Because fast fashion comes with severe downfalls, a logical solution would be to remove it entirely, but that can’t be done without creating other setbacks.
“It depends on the context. You can’t remove all fast fashion because then it’s going to be too expensive for lower income families,” Greer explained.
With how quickly fast fashion companies dispose of style clothing then jump to produce more, the large amount of resulting waste ends up being incredibly harmful for the environment. Clothing dumps can dry up water sources and pollute rivers and streams, and with one of the most common disposal methods being incineration, these trashed garments end up releasing harmful greenhouse gasses into the air.
“It’s really unfortunate how many different types of waste are formed from producing fast fashion. Nothing can be worth the impact that fast fashion has on the environment,” senior and Fashion Club vice president Matthew Won expressed.
The way someone dresses themselves can be seen as expressive and personal. Cores or aesthetics are terminology that is used to specify a certain mood or style. These greatly influenced people’s closets and now almost anybody can fit under a category. With uniform trends that get people to dress the same, uniqueness is muddled out. However, some students might see these trends as a good thing,
”I think following some trends are worth it if you haven’t found a personal style yet. It may help with figuring out what you do and don’t like,” Won said.
In allowing people to explore their styles and toy with expression without having to spend too much money, fast fashion can prove to be beneficial for people that can’t afford pricier clothes.
Fast fashion trends, while sporadic, are diverse and can be an easy way for people to get into fashion at a reasonable price range. Despite some problematic downfalls, there are many alternatives for people to pursue their dream closet.