I do think we MUST start looking at these problems on a global SCALE. Meaning it isn't just about you or people at your intersection. It's literally the whole planet. This has ALWAYS been the problem with the fast fashion convo. "Affordability" isn't just about people in the global North when folks in the global South are literally dying to make our clothes and living with trash heaps in their backyard from the spoils of a system of donation where we trick ourselves into believing people want our trash.

Before anyone chimes in with "but what about" of course there are some situations that require air con. Hospitals. Elderly. Disabled. But guess what ... that's not the entire population. Let's get right here about what's a need and what's a "but I'm comfortable".

https://twitter.com/hannahfearn/status/1668207765473439749

My sis' ex used to pump the A/C in their house year round. Everyone else was freezing their tits off bc he's an inconsiderate prick and a one man walking climate hazard. That's the sort of behavior that needs to be curbed. Now that he's gone she's enjoying no longer freezing.

How does fast fashion bottom out and drag everyone down with it? Happy to explain! Shein is slowly but surely putting everyone around them out of business. This is why ASOS is doing so poorly for example. In many ways they’re ten fold beating fast fashion at the game they invented and profited from for many years and we can’t pretend like a lot of these brands always had THEE BEST ETHICS. Most didn’t and could only turn a profit from cutting corners but no one does it like Shein.

Let’s talk climate solutions. Styrofoam packing peanuts. I shudder when I think how many of them exist, how many are floating in the ocean, how they used to put it in soil a lot in the 80s. It’s another product the fossil fuel industry sold us that is killing our environment (us) I do believe they are something that we should ban. Ban importing them, ban businesses from using them as packaging. Because there is already a solution that’s biodegradable! Corn packing peanuts. Brands like @LushLtd were VERY early into this but others are catching on.

People like the account featured here really blow the “classism” argument in fast fashion straight out of the water. Hermés sandals, Jacquemus bags, Louis Vuitton all paired with A PRIMARK HAUL. This person is more common than folks want to believe. dailyrecord.co.uk/lifestyle/prim… A lot of people CAN afford ethical clothing. Because they can afford luxury. Buying fast fashion for many is a choice. It’s choosing garments where you know someone wasn’t paid because then you can buy a lot and save for luxury items 🥴

I'm going to do something I'm probably going to regret on Twitter. I'm going to share every eco friendly swap I've made that's saved me money. There's a misconception that sustainability is EXPENSIVE and I hate it because it keeps people from trying new things. The reality is our grandparents were incredibly "sustainable" and they were working with a lot less. Moving towards a more sustainable lifestyle is more about mindfulness and slowing down. I've greatly enjoyed it to be honest.

Today we got out in the streets. And I gotta say it’s pretty shocking to me how much people hate protest. Anyways it’s the 10th anniversary of #RanaPlaza and if you don’t know please read up about what happened there. 1134 innocent lives lost.

#RanaPlazaNeverAgain I stuck a fake London Blue Plaque on the window of Primark’s greenwashing scheme. Whoever came up with the blue plaque’s is a genius.

Reminder: Primark still cannot guarantee they pay fair wages to the people who make their clothes.
#RanaPlazaNeverAgain
#RanaPlaza10YearsOn

I want to share something I wrote about in my book “Consumed: The Need For Collective Change”. (Please buy my book this month, that would be cool). It’s in reference to the price of clothes and how a lot of what we see on the high street is severely exploitatively underpriced. I’ve always understood the need for organizing. My Dad was a union President so I got that that was how higher wages were achieved. I feel lucky to have had that education from a young age. Anyway in 1995 I bought a pair of Osh Kosh overalls. I wanted them for months and saved.

Today because of the #IPCC report (it's isn't good news), I feel the need to remind you that participating in sustainable and ethical fashion is a crucial part of fighting the climate crisis. I get new people every so often so it's always a good time to revisit the facts. Mitigating the climate crisis sounds scary and hard. But that's only because we have poor leadership. Many of the solutions to this ALREADY EXIST! We just need the type of leadership that will implement. This is an opportunity to create a revolutionary moment for humanity.

I think this is why we need to really talk to kids early about what good honest jobs mean to our society. Because we’re devaluing that and it causes this impact and others. Also garbage men are always the nicest people. They always wave at kids and shit. Make toddler’s days.

https://twitter.com/thechosenberg/status/1636741279945031680

In our society we push everyone towards high paid jobs (which sometimes aren’t even that tbh) and when we do that as a whole … our society devalues the labor which keep society running like janitors, sanitation workers, people who make clothes … see where we’re going.

I haven't watched the Prince Harry stuff or read the book but I've caught little snippets of it about his relationship within his family and I think that's interesting because I relate a lot. The thing about being perpetually single and the third wheel is that people start to get used to you in that position "good old dependable so-and-so" and the minute that changes they act really weird!!

You are always closer to the person working in the factory for pennies than the billionaire at the top that pretends not to see any of us. Remember that every time someone you know tries to justify a system that harms other humans. There’s a reason there’s a strike every single week in most occupations lately. It’s because we are desperately in need of change and more equal distribution of wealth. But that looks like recognising the ways in which we play our part in this too.

You know what's a really interesting way to research how people spend and buy fast fashion? @Refinery29UK's Money Diaries. You see no one who buys a load of fast fashion is ever super honest about it unless it's like their whole platform (even then there's dishonest). I have found with Money Diaries that they're so eye opening as to who is doing the damage with fast fashion. It's totally not uncommon for six figure earners to spend three digits on fast fashion within their time of diary keeping.

Let's talk about the fashion industry we could have. Let's talk about if we start banning the more exploitative practices and regulating companies. What does that world look like? Well first and foremost the cost is gonna go up. You can't get around that so settle there. But what if everyone was paid a living wage and things were more regulated. If we ended the race-to-the-bottom, there'd be a baseline for fair pricing. To be honest, I could see a world where this looks like $20 - $25 for a tshirt. Because that's the price of many ethical tees.

Right? Did y’all see all that?

BRING BACK SHAME! Also the masterful goalpost dodging of never answering a single one of my questions while I single handedly smashed every last one of theirs.

See if that person felt a tiny amount of shame they would have packed it in. Did they? NO.

Shame has a place in our society.

Yesterday I went @BBCRadio4 #BBCAntiSocial to discuss fast fashion and to be honest I wish I hadn't. The conversation left me feeling drained and angry. Every single person on the show was white except for me, largely missing the race element of the conversation. @BBCRadio4 Today I have a lot of thoughts about going on #BBCAntiSocial. I felt bullshitted from the start especially when the show opened with one of my tweets taken completely out of context. Like if you're going to use the tweet, explain the context or pick something with nuance.

Like meritocracy doesn’t exist in our society. But listening to white cis, straight size people tell me ethical fashion is only for the “privileged” (insinuating that I have ALWAYS had more privileges than them) will never not make me want to put my head straight through a wall. If you're white and making this conversation (ethical fashion) only about CLASS it's because you really don't want to see that at the heart of this conversation is racism and colonialism. The people who suffer to most are largely brown and Black. You're ignoring that.

I fucking hate the “effortless” trope about anything to be honest. It’s the reason people act like it’s somehow “unfair” that they don’t have the resources to have a wardrobe they really love immediately at their finger tips. It’s the quiet overlooking of other people’s labor. People LOOOOOOOOVE to pretend like I have an awesome wardrobe ONLY because I have a platform and am a freelance editor. That way they can tell themselves I have those things because I’m more privileged than they are, not because I’ve worked hard at this for 22 years 🥴

So here me out, I was thinking this about ethical fashion. There is ethical fashion that is not luxury or even luxury price point. But people always jump to luxury each and every time.

It’s like it’s gotta be that … or the other doesn’t exist.

https://twitter.com/mxmsworld/status/1560907540245921792

But I think it’s because those men secretly want the woman who wants designer items deep down inside. But they also hate her for liking and enjoying those things for herself. They want you to look luxury but pretend it’s effortless and NOT luxury.

I agree. I never got into Abercrombie because I saw through it as a teen. Meanwhile for a while VS was the only place that made underpants that weren’t Fruit of the Loom or Hanes so they deffo nabbed me in my teens and twenties. Never again!!!

https://twitter.com/harleyshah/status/1560599968708038656

These brands don’t deserve our support just because they rebranded. Especially because that rebranding NEVER includes being entirely ethical in their manufacturing. It’s all looks, no substance.

Today I want to talk about why you buy the way you do. Did you know that WE collectively buy five times more clothes than we bought in 1990? It’s hard to understand that I think if you were born a bit later.

We simply didn’t always shop that way. That’s why when people learn about ills of the industry but shout

“Now where do I shop from??”

I know they’re not really understanding that there’s a high possibility that you totally don’t need to be buying the way you’re buying and could probably be happy on a lot less.