With one simple search on TikTok, the word ‘haul’ brings up a plethora of videos showing an array of new clothes, jewellery, and shoes from popular brands such as SHEIN and Zara. ‘Hauls’ can be anything from a succession of snapshots of each item, to unboxing videos with the users’ live reaction, to try-on videos.
These videos encourage viewers to go on their own hauls, and have potentially already increased fashion consumption globally, as several viewers have reported making more retail purchases since downloading TikTok. This speaks to a larger issue of overconsumption.
The trend cycle, ushered in with fast fashion, goes by incredibly fast. It’s so quick, that once the new top you’ve ordered arrives in the mail, there are five new things on your wish list. This creates a hungry ghost situation, where someone feels pressure to keep up with what’s in style and buy more and more.
There’s the sense that you’re never fashionable enough. That your clothes are cute, but they’re falling just short of what’s really on-trend. One is constantly bombarded with videos and images of what should be worn, and what is supposedly objectively fashionable. These images are often of wealthy celebrities or influencers who have the budget to drop a good portion of their income on clothes.
Certain TikTok users have been criticized for encouraging overconsumption, especially among people who are watching from home who are not as wealthy. A popular trend on TikTok is for users to film themselves getting ready in the morning and picking out an outfit. The outfit details are posted by the user, which drives up sales of these items from viewers who immediately want the look, even causing a specific item to sell out.
Even though wealthy influencers can afford to keep up with trends (or set them) they may struggle with a shopping addiction as a result of the fickle trend cycle. 20-year-old YouTuber Emma Chamberlain, known for her colourful, cool outfits and owner of her own coffee company, noted in a recent video that she often combats boredom by shopping, and as a result, she has too many clothes and “doesn’t know what to do with them.”
This hungry ghost mentality is felt by everyone, even the influencers whose style we covet. But would we want the items worn by influencers if we discovered them on our own? Is personal style a thing of the past, as everyone struggles to look like everyone else?
The mental and emotional impact of overconsumption that results from this pressure to be fashionable is just the tip of the iceberg. Frequently buying from brands such as ZARA, ASOS, or SHEIN contributes to tons of textile waste, creating a lasting negative impact on the environment. The trend cycle on social media is reflected and sustained in fast fashion brands’ rate of production.
For example, roughly every 2-6 weeks, ZARA comes out with a new collection. SHEIN offers suspiciously cheap clothes, with many items under $10, leading consumers to buy whatever’s currently trending without breaking the bank. The issue is, if this is done often, closets become stuffed with clothes the buyer only wore once, or never even wore at all.
Between 2000 and 2020, clothing production doubled and is predicted to do so again by 2030 if the fast fashion industry doesn’t change. People bought roughly 60% more clothing between Y2k and 2014, only keeping it for half as long. This is a direct reflection of how quickly the trend cycle turns over in current times. The EPA reported that in 2015, 10.5 million tons of textile waste ended up in landfills. These clothes take up to 500 years to break down, thereby causing unworn garments to pollute the Earth in a constant cycle. It’s staggering to think about how many clothes are mass-produced every day, only to be barely worn and ultimately contribute to carbon emissions.
Most cheap clothes are made with polyester, a type of plastic that doesn’t break down as quickly as cotton. The process of making or incinerating clothes with these microplastics releases C02 into the atmosphere. Even washing the clothes releases the microplastics into the ocean. Plenty of clothes that we donate to places such as GoodWill end up as trash because they are not in good condition or because they are no longer in style and will sit collecting dust on the racks.
The possible solutions to overconsumption
Liz Ricketts, co-founder of the OR Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness about textile waste and working directly with textile recyclers in Ghana, says of the fashion industry: “We’ve completely devalued what clothing is. Clothing is now disposable, and I don’t know how we come back from treating it like a plastic bag.”
It’s safe to say that things look bleak when it comes to the current fashion industry. But it’s not completely hopeless. H&M has invested in technologies that recycle used clothing into new garments. The process is new, and it involves taking old fibres and refining them down into new material to make an old, out-of-fashion item into something fresh and trendy.
The issue remains that H&M still contributes to overproduction of clothing and the consequent waste, as they are still producing new clothes with polyester every day. Perhaps clothing should be made with more sustainable materials, rather than be recycled into new clothing by the same brands that contribute to the pollution in the first place.
These issues aren’t at the forefront of the minds of the average consumer who just wants to look stylish. Shopping at thrift stores is an alternative option to fast fashion. Many influencers post massive thrift hauls rather than massive SHEIN hauls. Thrifting hauls potentially encourage sustainable consumerism, but it causes “thrift store gentrification,” a phenomenon of thrifted clothing prices increasing in the last decade (despite inflation) as more middle and upper-class people shop second-hand.
People who can afford to thrift lots of clothes at once do it so often that the clothing becomes less affordable for lower-income people who rely on second hand clothing out of necessity. At the same time, stores like GoodWill have a surplus of clothes, many of which get tossed in the dumpster. So, wealthier people aren’t exactly ‘taking clothes away’ from poorer people. That being said, those who can afford to do so should choose to thrift at more expensive vintage stores or in higher-income neighbourhoods to combat this issue of gentrification.
This dilemma harkens to the idea that there isn’t a completely ethical way to consume under capitalism. Buying cheap clothes from fast fashion brands is bad for the environment, thrifting isn’t foolproof, and buying from sustainable brands is expensive.
The idea that lower-income people should only shop second-hand because fast fashion creates pollution normalizes a classist view that financially struggling people don’t deserve new or well-made clothes. Being environmentally conscious is a privilege on its own. This doesn’t mean that people who can afford sustainably made clothing are necessarily consuming more ethically. In the long run, buying cheap, new clothes infrequently and wearing them often is more sustainable than going on a thrift haul every few weeks.
Overconsumption of thrifted or sustainably made clothing is still overconsumption. The root of the issue is buying too many clothes and not wearing them (or wearing them very little) and wanting to keep purchasing because no matter how many options you have, you don’t have that one item that everyone is wearing. And on top of that, the trend cycle goes at lightning speed, making it frustrating to know what to buy, how much, when, and how often.
But what about the aesthetics of fashion? What about finding a personal style and expressing oneself with clothing? Is it possible to have trendy, stylish looks without overconsumption? How does one find a ‘personal style’ anyways?
Nothing can be wholly unique with the current fashion industry, but the main goal is finding items that really speak to you and that contribute the least to waste and carbon emissions. This can feel impossible when faced with endless images of new trends and the constant production of clothing.
People should work on building their closets with durable items that they love and know they will wear regularly instead of blindly following trends and buying clothes that they know will receive compliments. The process that happens on social media is a viewer sees an outfit or a singular item that looks amazing on an influencer and they hunt those pieces down in order to stay on-trend. As a result, a lot of the items people own are of poor quality or lose their trendy appeal in a very short amount of time.
The biggest change one can make to jumpstart the process of curating their style is avoiding social media. When you step away from the overload of opinions and ads and ‘hauls,’ you can discover what trends or items you are drawn to (and the ones you aren’t drawn to). It’s also a good call to not buy the trending item everyone is wearing, knowing it will no longer be popular in a few months. Having a collection of basic and staple items in your wardrobe is more important than having several miscellaneous trendy items.
You can still buy trendy items that can be fashioned in several different ways or used as layers, such as the popular sweater vest, and thrift for unique pieces and shop from small businesses. Splurge at sustainable brands such as Everlane for staple pieces like a warm cardigan and a winter coat. If shopping from fast fashion brands, the key is: less is more. It’s important to seek out items that a) you absolutely love and b) will and can be worn for a long time or as a layering piece.
By experimenting with the clothes one already owns and making more conscious decisions regarding purchases and trends, it becomes clear that there is no singular look that is objectively fashionable over all others. Despite what brands will have you think, there are no rules when it comes to personal style. Something that’s stylish for a few months might never be fashionable ever again, and something that was cool 20 years ago could come back in full swing. The trend cycle is wishy-washy, but the styles themselves feel rigid at the moment.
The only way to break from the cycle 100% and be completely unproblematic is to never shop at all, ever again. Shopping the least possible amount is something to shoot for, but the blame shouldn’t fall completely on the individual consumer for wanting trendy and affordable clothes. If and until the fashion industry makes a conscious effort to be less exploitative, more sustainable, and less driven by greed and power, these dilemmas will remain. As individuals operating under a deeply flawed and exploitative fashion industry, there’s only so much one can do to be part of a positive change.
This isn’t to say that going on a $1000 SHEIN shopping spree is totally fine because ‘the clothes will be made anyways.’ Boycotting brands that worsen the issue and getting the word out to others is a good move because it begins the process of defamiliarizing our bizarre reality of overconsumption and waste production. It’s not normal for textile waste to pollute the earth every day while some CEO makes millions.
At the same time, fashion is fun, creative, and can be used to express oneself. Why should that be sacrificed? The short answer is, it doesn’t have to be. Wearing what inspires you and makes you feel comfortable is still possible, keeping in mind that quality always trumps quantity.
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