Helping Fight Fast Fashion Problems

In my last blog post I highlighted the damage our fast fashion habit is having on the planet, not least the drying up of what used to be the worlds 4th largest inland lake due to the water being taken to irrigate cotton fields.  The Aral Sea has now been renamed the Aralkum Desert. With so many articles and blogs online, including 2 that linked up to the #GoingGreen linky last month,  I did not list various ways we can all make our clothing habit less wasteful.  However something struck me after I wrote this and I remembered hearing on the news, many years ago, the "shock/horror" that Princess Diana had worn the same dress twice - albeit a few years apart.  Twice?  How dare she?  Someone famous wore a dress twice and it makes the headlines.  REALLY?

And the same continues for celebrities today who can hit the headlines for exactly this wrong reasons - for wearing the same outfit twice, not for what they are actually famous for.  This is especially true of actors at the big award ceremonies.  I have used the word actor but in reality it is only women actors who are called up n this. I am not sure any male actor ever gets berated for wearing the same thing twice.  From the magazine Bright Side:

"Celebrities are under constant public pressure and commitment and this fact forces them to always look a certain way. There is an unspoken rule saying that public people shouldn’t wear the same clothes twice — it’s considered bad manners." *

The article quoted above, then goes on to say:

"However, there are people who ignore this rule and don’t find it shameful to appear in the same attire in public several times. If you like a dress and feel comfortable wearing it, why not put it on again?" *

Thank you Bright Side for pointing out the obvious in this second statement because you are up against the likes of fashion publicist, Elizabeth Tuke.  In Harpers Bazaar she wrote an article with the headline - Why I've never worn the same outfit twice  further fueling the myth that women cannot be seen more than once in public in the same outfit and that it is clothes that make a woman, rather than her personality on its own merits:

"Putting on a new outfit makes me feel like the best version of myself."

All these types of article pedal the myth that women should constantly be adding new items to their wardrobes.  "Clothes maketh the woman" is what the fashion industry is shouting out.  But our world cannot cope with the amount of clothes we are producing especially as more of these clothes are becoming single-use items.  If you agree then it is time to use your voice.

Head to social media ...

• If you see something that berates anyone for wearing the same clothes twice, call them to account across whatever social media platform you use. Tell them we need to change this mindset for the future of our plant

• If you see something that praises celebrities for wearing the same outfit again then give them (and whoever wrote the piece) a great big positive shout-out.

We all know many people are massively influenced by what celebrities wear so we need to show them how to lead the way.  We need a change in the way we ALL view clothes.  No-one should feel they cannot wear the same clothes more than once, where-ever they are seen and whoever they are and no-one should ever be scolded for doing so.  The clothes we wear should not be responsible for the drying up of water sources, polluting our environments and clogging up landfill.

 * Source Bright Side