The Conscious Consumer

What would it take to change the way Americans see shopping?

As an avid shopper for many years, I have created every fashion faux pas known to man. I have shopped impulsively, shopped for something specific, shopped for something specific and ended up with something else, done a large shop at a mall or outlet, gone bargain shopping to find anything for a good price, shopped for someone else, bought things just because they were on sale, gotten so attached to something I bought it even though it doesn't fit and done the whole thrift store thing. Now that I'm older and a little bit wiser, I'm sick of shopping. It's hurting my paycheck, it's stressful. I find the salespeople insincere and the other shoppers pushy. No, I DON'T want to open a credit card, thank you and no I do not want to buy two and get one free.

This is all WRONG, very wrong. Not only is the nation going through a recession, we are living on a very polluted planet. Starting as far back as textile production, we are not engaging in processes that respect our environment. Cotton,

one of the most commonly used fabrics, requires a ton of pesticides in it's growing process. This is how "organic cotton" came to be. Pesticides pollute our water and hurt surrounding farms, which in turn hurts you and me. Currently, there is no solution to this problem. That is because a lot of the time we are lied to. That's right. That cutesy label that reads "99.9% organic cotton" is often a blatant lie. Genetically modified organisms doesn't just apply to food. It applies to fabrics as well. Not only does organic cotton make up less than 1% of the total cotton production in the United States, it is often conventional or simply GMO fibers. Another way of looking at it, bamboo is a natural material but when you extract cellulose from bamboo and modify it, it can become RAYON.

(pic source: 100percentcotton.com)

Now, if this wasn't bad enough, we live in a "throw away" society. Ever buy a $10 pair of leggings? Ever brag to your friend, "this whole outfit cost me $40?". Not good. The average person doesn't own a sewing machine or even have the interest to sit down a mend a pair of ripped pants. The average person also feels excited by a cheap find. We need to start educating

ourselves about art and design. That $10 pair of leggings could not be more distinctly different from a painting made over time by a trained artist and sold in a gallery to another person. That is because the creator had a say in what was being made. They used their expertise to make something beautiful for someone else. They did not let the patron tell them what to paint and stick it on a wall, determining price exclusively for profit. (There are always exceptions to the rule but you get the idea.) That is what mass production has done to fashion. It is all about what the consumer will buy.

If you knew what a garment was doing to the environment when you bought it, you might

second guess the "bargain" you hoped you were getting. Water pollution from pesticides is just one example of a harmful side effect of buying clothing. Air pollution from the transport of the garments is also very detrimental. Imagine we all purchased domestically produced garments. It is true this might hurt the economy of another country involved, however, should we set up our own country to fail by making it almost impossible to make affordable clothing over here? Can we create an international standard for factories that will enable the consumer to buy a certified product?

(pic source: fibre2fashion.com)

Contrary to what I believed, much of the machinery used to produce wovens and knits was not exclusively made in Asia for the Asian textile industry. According to Sara Beth Kane, a research technologist at the Laboratory for Engineered Human Protection at Philadelphia University, machines used in the production of textiles and garments could be found in mills and factories in the southern US. These mills sold the machinery to Asia and then shut down, moving the technology overseas. Next, we lowered the tariffs on imports from Asia, making it even easier for countries like China to monopolize the industry. While you can still buy couture garments made in Italy and the US, mostly everything in a person's closet is made in China or India, or in a third world country. According to Kane, " these factories are under pressure to provide speed, quantity and price by companies like Walmart". "The labor that garment production involves is not that difficult to learn. We could easily train Americans to work in manufacturing, which would create jobs and prevent worker abuse abroad."

I don't need to interview an expert to know there is a huge problem. Just go overseas to Italy where fashion was born. Italians love fashion. They allow the designers to make choices for them which supports the industry. In the US we could care less. We mock the idea of owning anything expensive. We complain about mark ups, stating we are being taken advantage of unless it costs X amount of dollars to buy something. Honestly, the cheaper something is at retail value, the more you are being taken advantage of. A higher price point is expected to produce a higher quality garment. While I find "The North Face" brand to be slightly excessive for everyday wear I bought a lightweight jacket and was promised that if anything ever went wrong with it, I could bring it back for a new jacket. That is how we should treat our wardrobe, like it is meant to last a lifetime. (pic source: refinery29.com)

Instead of allowing other countries to produce cheap knockoffs and treat their workers like robots, we should be making a conscious effort to buy things as we need them and to wear them as long as we can. You can compute the sensibility of a garment by dividing the cost by how many times you will wear it. How much are you paying per wear? It's that simple. Are you fretting about things in your closet you no longer need? Donate them to a charity, bring them to a consignment shop and ask for store credit. Use the money to buy something already worn. Have a clothing swap with your friends but don't simply throw them out. Many fabrics do not break down in a landfill, for example polyester. The last thing we want our throw away clothing to do is sit in a land fill.