Styles change, and our bodies change, and those two realities don’t always line up. What do we do when Pantone announces the “colours of the year” and you don’t like coral, taupe makes you look like death warmed over and mint is the colour your baby is wearing? How challenging is it for a body conscious teenager with a G cup bra to buy a couple shirts when all she can find is crop top after crop top, because that is what is in style? How does that affect her self image? What jeans do I buy when apparently skinny jeans are out, but they actually suit my body? Remember when low rise jeans were a thing?!
Fast fashion dictates many of our clothing choices based on trends that fade quickly. Fast fashion is primarily founded on profit. It doesn’t care about our evolving body shapes or how our clothing can make us feel and it certainly doesn’t care about the environment or sustainability.
Outside of the real ethical quandary that fast fashion puts us in, it sneakily tries to convince us that we need this in order to be “cool” and that we’re “getting a great deal!” Why does this matter so much? Because it’s a lie. It’s a really big lie that damages our thinking and we are so used to it, that we believe it. Like everything around us that changes and grows, we need to readjust this thinking.
Our globe cannot support the amount of waste we create. We know this and we need to start living it. Even though it isn’t in the interest of sales, how many pairs of jeans do you really need? Do you know how many litres of water it takes to produce one pair of blue jeans? About 3000! Humanity cannot sit back and know that vulnerable people are making our new “cute” top, while living and working in sub standard conditions. Suddenly that top doesn’t feel so cute anymore…
Slow fashion is a process based on values and ethics. Values and ethics that take into consideration the environment, the employees and the customers. Slow fashion is helping us to redirect our understanding around consumption and waste. It doesn’t want us to spend our hard earned money frivolously, it wants our clothes to last longer than a few months. Annnnd, the added bonus is that since it is based on intention, it also considers how our clothes can help us to feel beautiful, confident and empowered!
So, while we sort the recycling, plant a garden, save a bee, ride our bike to work, use reusable containers and weigh whether our next vehicle will be electric, we need to consider, who made our clothes? How did they make our clothes?
One of the great things about humans is that we are individual and unique. We all get to have our own style! Our personal style doesn’t need to be dictated by anyone other than you! And, sometimes your teenage daughter…. It’s your body, it’s your choice, and slow fashion can help.
At Swish, we are proud to produce our own line of clothing in a small, ethically run factory in Vancouver. We love showcasing other Canadian and European brands that uphold similar values as ours. We believe that your clothes should not only look great, but be comfortable, and make you feel like the amazing human you are! See you soon!
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