- A look at public opinion on second-hand clothing
Social media last week was abuzz with one main topic: Second-hand clothing. Whether it was regarding thrifting or hand-me-downs, conversations took place across social platforms after a video of politician Vraîe Cally Balthazaar was shared online. In the video, Balthazaar talks about thrifting, sharing that she has never bought brand-new clothes for her children, the oldest being 3 ½ years old. Balthazaar talked about sharing systems with friends and the community they have built over time, where clothing is shared among each other.
The video led to an important conversation about fast fashion and the way in which we consume clothing. While some said they enjoy thrifting, others shared that they are used to sharing clothes with siblings, with clothes being passed down from the oldest to the youngest in families.
The conversation comes during a time when global discourse is taking place on fast fashion, with a recent investigation commissioned and written by Changing Markets Foundation (CMF) discovering that the European Union (EU) dumped more than 37 million items of plastic clothing in Kenya in 2021. Europeans also throw away about 11 kg of clothing per person per year.
Considering this, The Daily Morning Brunch reached out to its readers in order to better understand how we approach overconsumption, pollution, and wastage, especially within the context of clothing.
Thrifting
Tara shared that she challenged herself to not buy any new items of clothing for a year in 2021 and is now the founder of a sustainable lifestyle brand named Derana by Tara. Tara added that she is currently on a hunt for thrift stores around Colombo.
Shay said she thrifts mainly for environmental reasons, adding that she prefers second-hand items, and often seeks out Facebook groups or other forums in search of people giving away items they no longer need.
Saritha shared that she thrifts and also shares clothes with her family. “Since I was a kid, we would regularly exchange clothes with cousins, and we still do this. There’s a pair of jeans that’s been in circulation since at least 2005 and I believe this is the fourth cousin currently to have them. I also thrift. This started as a habit in the UK where winter clothes are expensive and second-hand winter wear was just as good (if not better because you can find some cool vintage finds!).”
Saritha explained that while sharing clothes with family is something she has always done, thrifting has been a conscious decision. “I can count on my two hands the number of brand-new items I’ve bought in the last two years,” she added.
She went on to say that the pandemic played a role in pivoting her towards thrifting, with many thrift stores popping up online. In addition to this, the economic crisis makes thrifting far more economically feasible.
In terms of the benefits of these practices, Sarith shared: “You don’t fill your cupboards with things. It also helps you declutter because you give away what you don’t wear/need. Generally, when I declutter once a year, I give away things I have not worn in the last two years.” She explained that, on a larger scale, it helps reduce overconsumption and hyper-consumerism as it teaches one to value their clothes in a way that we increasingly don’t. This, she added, was something that her mother instilled in her since she was a child.
Family practice
For most people, sharing clothes with family, especially as hand-me-downs, is a practice that they have always followed. Hannah said that since her teens, she has been wearing clothes her cousin outgrew. “I also give clothes that I’ve outgrown or don’t wear anymore to a cousin, friend, or whoever needs them. I’ve also bought stuff recently from thrift stores. And honestly, it’s been better on my wallet,” she added.
Hannah added that her mother taught her to always give something away when she buys something new, unless she is buying something absolutely necessary.
Swapping clothes was a default practice for Schezarnie, who is the eldest of three sisters. “We also grew up within a culture of hand-me-downs. We would receive clothes from aunts/cousins, and pass on our own clothes to those younger than us. And it would not just be clothes, it would include stuff from baby cradles to old furniture. We would both give and receive, and it was a very normal part of our life.”
She added that she also finds thrifting exciting, saying there is a sense of joy in the whole serendipity-ness of it. Schizarin said that finding a branded piece of clothing for Rs. 200, for instance, shatters the “preciousness” around big brands and their exorbitant pricing. “I quite like it.”
While adding that she doesn’t thrift enough to make much of a difference to her current spending habits, Schezarnie said: “Personally, it affords me the luxury to curate my own wardrobe without over-accumulating or overspending. Also, it’s just a lot of fun.”
Cost-effective
Sharing her experience with sharing clothes, Janani said she and her cousin wear each other’s clothes all the time to the extent of not knowing who the original owner of an article of clothing is. She added that when she buys a dress, she always divides the price by two and considers that as the real cost since two people will be wearing it. “She does the same, so we don’t feel as guilty buying expensive stuff.” This practice has also been cost-effective for the cousins as well as their parents.
Mohamed shared similar views, saying sharing clothes is something he and his family have always done because it saves a lot of money. With fast fashion, he also finds that they lack durability, which is an issue since he walks 10-20 km a day and thus expects his clothes to withstand some wear and tear.
“I prefer buying thrifted stuff because they’re cheap so I don’t really care for their lifespan as much and use them till they’re worn down and no longer patchable. Then we downgrade them to rags before we finally toss them or add them to compost heaps if they have a significant organic fibre content in them, i.e. < 60% cotton.”
His sister, who likes the cut of men’s clothing, also uses any clothes he doesn’t wear anymore, making alterations as needed. “After my dad died, we both raided his wardrobe and took what we could and gave the rest to a few people who we knew would make the most of it.”
Mohamed added that if they didn’t thrift or share clothes, they would definitely end up spending more on clothing. There is also the environmental factor, he said but added that he wasn’t quite sure how big a difference it makes scale-wise, considering the individual consumer is competing with entire nations to offset the environmental cost of fast fashion. “It definitely helps me maintain my low-carbon lifestyle, but that’s just something I do personally for my own conscience.”
Mohamed added that it would be nice if this practice became more mainstream.
Responsibility
When asked about the importance of thrifting or sharing clothing, Shazna said: “It’s more important to be conscious of our consumer choices – it’s not about affordability but responsibility.” She has been sharing clothes for years and added that it was the norm for her to lend or borrow from family or friends, especially when it came to expensive and, often, one-off outfits, like a sari.
“And when I do take things out of my wardrobe, I always offer them to a few people I know are the same size as me. I have a policy of clearing out anything I’ve not worn for a year – not because they’re in bad condition but because I’ve just not gravitated towards it for some reason – in this case, my point of view is that someone else may as well wear it. So I first offer it to a few with similar taste and size and if they don’t need it, then I find someone through my domestic help (usually donated for church sales and the likes).”
She added that she is fortunate to have friends and family who have kids around the same age and size as her, allowing them to share kids’ clothes, shoes, and toys often.
Meanwhile, Sanjee said that she has been doing this since she left Sri Lanka three decades ago, and added that she raised her kids with used clothes given by friends and cousins. “They both are into thrift fashion now. We recycle everything and also use them in crafts.”
Need for a change in mindset
While many clearly thrift for second-hand clothing or don’t think twice about sharing clothes with friends and family, there is also a certain stigma attached to wearing hand-me-downs. “Sri Lankans seem to have a stigma attached to sharing clothes and especially purchasing second-hand. You would think that maybe some of the Colombo hipsters would’ve picked up on this, if not for anything, just for the hype, but no; the elitism has been too strong,” Rehana* shared.
She was of the opinion that it was ridiculous how there was shame attached to sharing clothes or wearing something that was second-hand for a country that barely has a middle class, with so many people living well below the poverty line.
“The world already has an overconsumption issue. Fast fashion has ensured that we drown our world in terrible clothes, and with TikTok and capitalism, clothing hauls and pure excess is taking over our lives,” Rehana went on to say.
Due to this, there is no thriving second-hand clothing culture, which she said was unfortunate for those who do engage in it. “Although there has been a minuscule glimmer of hope with the few Instagram stores popping up here and there, where people seem to be selling some of their used clothes – and one can only hope this becomes more of a thing – people will have to be more open about thrifting and wearing second-hand stuff, which is yet to be the case,” Rehana said.
She also pointed out that celebrities’ recycling looks could have a positive influence on our attitudes towards second-hand clothing. Since we rarely see celebrities in the same outfit more than once, society itself has begun to attach a certain level of shame towards repurposing outfits. Ever-changing trends only contribute to this further, as does fast fashion, with clothes that are typically made of low-quality materials, thus making them inexpensive but also short-lived.
However, Rehana pointed out that actress Cate Blanchett continued her habit of re-wearing past looks at the BAFTAs this year, wearing the Maison Margiela dress she first wore to the 2015 Oscars. She also wore the same tiered Givenchy gown at the Berlin Film Festival this year that she wore at the Cannes Film Festival in 2018.
As celebrities tend to influence people, there is thus some hope that more people will turn to repurposing outfits, thrifting, and adopting other sustainable practices in order to reduce the negative impact the fashion and clothing industry has on the planet.