How to reject fast-fashion on a budget

Being sustainable and broke doesn’t always go hand-in-hand, but here are some tips to make it easier this spring.

Words: Felice Southwell. Images: iStock.

It’s nearly time to “Spring Forward” into a new season on Sunday, when we all give up an hour of sleep in exchange for longer, lighter days.

Naturally around this time, we tend to look for clothes that match the happier vibe outside. We start to get our vitamin D from the actual Sun instead of supplements and we can start to venture out of the house without a coat on. 

However, the spring closet purge can be stressful. Especially after a hard winter of going in and out of isolation and quarantine, many of us are different shapes and sizes than we were last spring. 

By now, hopefully most of us are used to donating old clothes to charity, or selling them on a second-hand app like Vinted or Depop.

But how many of us replace those items with fast fashion?

Fast fashion refers to the industry which produces cheap clothes quickly, at great cost to labourers and the environment.

We’ll look at the different ways you can be sustainable in your fashion choices this spring, and how you can reject fast fashion on a budget.

Make do and mend

Don’t have a sewing machine yet? It’s okay. This sub-editor living in a one-bed flat in Brighton barely has space to swing a cat, let alone the patience to wind a bobbin. 

There are so many ways you can utilise a little wartime “make do and mend” spirit without too much fuss. 

Old jeans lying around? Those are your new shorts, and all you need is a pair of scissors.

Seen those sewing hack videos about adding elastic or stitching to the waistband of your favourite trousers? Maybe now is the time to give it a try.

Tie-dying is a great activity for the Easter holidays, and it easily breathes new life into stained white garments you thought you’d never use again.

If you can do a little stitching, old “grandad shirts” make brilliant t-shirt dresses for kids: cut off and hem the sleeves and then just add a little belt around the middle. 

If this is all seeming a bit too intimidating, don’t worry; we know not everyone has the time to constantly be mending and altering clothes. If you don’t, there’s tonnes of other suggestions for you.

Online second-hand shopping

Thank god for apps, honestly—it can be hard to fit in time to do some charity shopping, as it requires a special dedication of time and effort to peruse and find something worth saving and buying. 

Although it's obvious that you can find some great items in charity shops, and you’re helping out the community too, you can also find some incredible steals on second-hand apps like Depop, Vinted, ebay and more. 

If it’s jeans you’re looking for, Clothes Before Bros resell old Levis at uber cheap prices. 

If you’re a diva on a budget who’s looking for luxury brands, check out Rebelle, especially their sale section. 

Also, there may be buy-and-sell pages and groups on Facebook for specific brands. For example, Lucy and Yak (of dungarees fame) and Bravissimo (who do bras and swimwear) both have engaged unofficial communities who resell items on social media.

Looking for second hand clothing online is super convenient. The apps are on your phone where, let’s face it, we spend way more time than we should. 

Favouriting items means you can save them in a library until payday and buy what’s not already sold in one go. If the item doesn’t fit when you receive it, you can just sell it on or donate it. 

Look for detailed descriptions of the item, filter down your search to exactly what you’re looking for, and see if you can find some free delivery deals while you’re there. 

It’s a great way to set your parameters so you don’t go crazy, but it’ll also save you time and effort. 

Renting clothes

“But how on earth can I possibly be sustainable with kids?” I hear you ask. Well, people have been trying to solve this issue for years. 

According to Forecasts suggest that in 2021 we spent 23.9% more on children’s apparel and footwear than we did in 2011, demonstrating the rising costs associated with raising a child.

While for some families part of the fun of fashion is letting your kids pick outfits and develop a sense of style, for most of us the bigger issue is cost—especially with the increased cost of living squeezing all of us even tighter this Spring. 

You might be surprised to hear that there are now some innovative solutions for fast-growing kids in the clothing sector—and there are even some that are affordable.

Did you know you can rent clothes for the little ones? One of the hardest things to do is part-ways with your kid’s entire wardrobe just 4 months after you bought it all. 

It feels wasteful and it gives us the gnawing feeling of guilt that we’ll have to turn to fast fashion to replace it all.

What if you could just swap those clothes they’ve grown out of for ones that did fit? Oh, and don’t worry about what happens when the kids ruin the clothes—you’re covered for any that you can’t send back by paying a subscription, like you do for Netflix or Paranting.

Places like “the little loop” have tiered subscriptions for rented clothes that you can swap out for new ones whenever you need to, and the plans are flexible monthly or quarterly payments you can cancel at any time. 

Dressing your kids should be fun, and getting rid of their clothes shouldn’t make you feel guilty or stressed. This attempts to simplify the process, and for those of us who are time-stretched already, it seems like a brilliant idea. 

The Paranting Conclusion

Obviously, cutting down on clothing consumption and choosing fashion for your family carefully has benefits for the environment and your finances, but the key to all of this is looking for clothes with longevity. 

Whether you go ahead into springtime with one finger on the Depop-pulse, or whether you start a rented-clothes journey for your kids, make sure that you’re confident in the quality of what you’re getting. 

When we feel the pinch of the financial environment around us, spending less on clothes is one way money-management can help.

However, as the Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis said recently, the cost of living situation is not one we can budget our way out of entirely—so try not to worry if you have to prioritise.

Rejecting fast fashion on a budget is undoubtedly hard, and we shouldn’t feel guilty for circumstances outside our control. 

If you do try any of the tips we’ve mentioned, let us know how it goes at hello@parantingmagazine.co.uk.