It seems like everyone has a horror story from shady sites, like Temu or Shein, that directly produce and ship fast fashion pieces. These vary in intensity—some people receive the wrong order, or the fabric or size is not right, but some get their card and bank information stolen. It’s a risk many are willing to take to get their .99 cent accessories.
With pages and pages of options, plus size fashion wearers are opened up to a whole new world. Instead of there being two or three racks of options tucked away in a dark and desolate corner of a department store, plus size options are displayed just the same as the rest of the site’s stock.
Maiti defines fast fashion as “cheaply produced and priced garments that copy the latest catwalk styles and get pumped quickly through stores in order to maximize on current trends.”
With these seemingly neverending new options, comes the unfortunate reality that these clothes being produced so quickly and cheaply are not good for the Earth.
“Fast fashion has a significant environmental impact. According to the UN Environment Programe, the industry is the second-biggest consumer of water and is responsible for about 10% of global carbon emissions – more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined,” Maiti said. “Unfortunately, the industry’s problems are often overlooked by consumers.”
Maiti goes over some of the history of fast fashion in the United States but also simplifies the problems with the industry so many can understand. She said, “The fast fashion model is so-called because it involves the rapid design, production, distribution, and marketing of clothing. This means that retailers are able to pull large quantities of greater product variety and allow consumers to get more fashion and product differentiation at a low price.”
Maiti doesn’t bring up the positives of fast fashion—but does bring up some of the actions being taken to slow down the negative effects. Slow fashion, designers purposefully developing personalized clothes, and political pushes for reform in the UK are all brought up. They propose a call to action—stop the fashion world from being a lead polluter and get back to clothes that last more than a few washes.
However, this would lead plus size friendly clothes back into the dark.
It isn’t convenient to find plus size stores. Depending on the area one lies will determine what style options are available to them again, with pricey boutiques online being one of the few options. Going from low priced clothes to high priced purchases will affect a lot of people’s budgets and may not be an option.
Fast fashion is a complicated problem with complicated answers. Even though it is known that fast fashion is a hinderance on the environment, it offers up its own positives that shouldn’t be overlooked. It opens the door to people who can’t find what they need due to a mix of factors and solidifies that fast fashion isn’t pure evil. Claiming the industry is all bad is a wild oversimplification of the problems.
As consumers trying to find an ethical stance, we must find a balance between supporting consumption habits that hurt our planet, but also not dismissing people’s needs as we do it. We can start by purchasing staple pieces. We can look for items made of 100% cotton instead of plastic fabrics. We can cut down on the number of repeat purchases to slow down the rates of emissions from the deliveries.
Fat people have always existed and, even with the rise of a new age of diet culture, medication backed this time, they aren’t going away.
The dismissiveness from anti-fast fashion activists, lack of representation in high fashion, and pullback from major retailers will not stop people from being fat.
They simply just won’t be afforded the same opportunities as thin or midsize people unless they have access to a lot of cash.
It is also worth noting that no matter how many consumers change the way they consume, if industries don’t change their practices, the problems of lack of representation, the failings of the fast fashion industry, or availability of clothes won’t change. That falls onto the producers and designers. They have the true power to create real change, but everyone has their own role to play. Advocating for positive change should be an inclusive conversation.
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