A plea: learn how to sew and check your labels!
I think everyone should learn how to sew. Truthfully, it’s one of my most fulfilling hobbies and it has deeply shaped how I think about clothing, fashion and the environment in such an impactful way. Knowing the effort and precision it takes to successfully make a garment makes me think twice on the occasion I have the itch to make a non-secondhand or small business purchase. I’m not a perfect consumer, no one is and that shouldn’t be the goal, but knowing about constructing a piece will force you to re-examine how you shop. Yes, I’m only one person with one tiny machine, but if it’s taking me a few hours to make a top and brands are pumping out hundreds within the hour, prices should reflect the effort that takes. A top being made for $20 shouldn’t have been normalized and yet, it is. Quality construction and materials should cost more. This doesn’t mean shopping only mid-to-higher end brands is the solution. Price doesn’t equal quality, and I wish more people would recognize that. Looking out for quality fabrics, such as cashmere in sweaters or recycled cotton in jeans, can become an easy way to assess the value of an item. COS, for example, and thousands of other brands sell 100% polyester sweaters and charge you a heinous amount for it. I urge you to start checking labels to see what you’re actually paying for.
Of course, it’s the fault of large corporations that buying cheap, shitty quality clothing has become the standard, but you can do your part! Don’t let people dissuade you from making incremental changes under the guise of “There’s no ethical consumption under capitalism” because duh, we all know that, and that shouldn’t be an excuse. Yes, corporations and our government are who we should hold accountable, but you should also hold yourself accountable. Until our entire clothing manufacturing system implodes and is rebuilt with sustainable and ethical practices as the foundation, there should be a moral obligation to those suffering under unethical workplace practices, the Earth which continues to suffer under the weight of climate change, and to each other- especially those of lower socioeconomic status who are disproportionally affected by the climate crisis.
While my machine can be annoying at times or a piece won’t turn out exactly how I want, I’m so immensely grateful that I have the skill to sew. My closet is full of pieces that I deeply cherish and wear the shit out of; not just the pieces I’ve made but the items I’ve curated secondhand over the years because I have a better understanding of the importance of quality clothing. If you don’t have a machine, start with sewing a button using a hand needle and thread. If you do have a machine, learning how to hem bottoms or take in the sides of tops will genuinely change your life. In the same way that we try to make smart choices about our health, let the clothes we put on our body hold the same level of importance. You try to avoid eating low quality food, so why would you settle for wearing low quality clothing? Strive for better.
