Shein

 

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Dress: Shein ribbed jersey, jacquard

Belt: HellBunny via That Shop patent, elastic

Ankle Boots: Wittner leather

Bag: Witchery leather, natural woven straw

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Let's talk about fast fashion. I know, I know, you're probably groaning internally when you read that first sentence & to tell you the truth, for the most part, I am as well. Currently, talk about so-called low-cost "fast fashion" brands is absolutely saturating the sartorial world with buzz words like privilege, morality & environmentalism tossed around for good measure & it can be absolutely EXHAUSTING for designers, producers, consumers & bloggers to try to get their points across both for & against, particularly during a global pandemic when tensions are running high everywhere anyway & virtue signaling is rife on both social media & in the real world. I understand that the fashion industry is one of the world's largest polluters & that the production of many items (particularly denim) is utterly devastating for the water supply in many nations; that a multitude of companies use "sweat shop" or underpaid labour to sew their clothing; that the creative genius of designers is their intellectual capital & should be treated as such; that many trend-based items are worn once & disposed of at an alarming rate but here's my two cents on the matter...

There are many people in the world who live, eat & breathe fashion & love it with a passion but are completely unable to afford to purchase the designer items they adore & therefore, their only option is to purchase "like" pieces (or dupes) at a reduced price. Now I know that in an ideal world, we would all have the capacity to plan ahead & pay off expensive designer purchase after much careful consideration & cost-per-wear analysis but the reality is that this just doesn't (or can't) happen in a lot of cases. An example of this might be if a certain dress is needed for a particular event, say a wedding, & might be worn once or twice at best & is more than the person attending can reasonably afford. If the dupe dress they purchase is worn mindfully, washed carefully & kept for potential other occasions in the future or even passed on to someone else, I believe that mitigates some of the ill-effects. Even if someone just wants to purchase something "trendy" or "of the moment" to feel a sense of happiness in these turbulent times & after they've either worn it multiple times until it falls apart or passed it on, I think this falls under the category of being acceptable. We all need a little outlet sometimes. In all honestly, it's such a difficult issue with many facets, including that fact that in some cases, the reason the item is expensive & therefore not classed as low-cost, fast fashion is because of the name of the designer & is in no way indicative of the company's commitment to eco-friendly production methods or living wages for employees. I have even had experiences where a cheaper, fast fashion item that I have tried on is made with EXACTLY THE SAME material as an expensive dress that I have seen/purchased; something that I have believe happens from time to time with man-made or woven fabrics like jacquard & brocade; fabrics that I adore for their body-sculpting qualities, firm hold & sumptuous appearance - more so than natural fibres like linen or thin silks.

Take the amazing purple floral jacquard empire-line midi dress with oversized puffed sleeves & a black ribbed jersey bodice from online "fast fashion" emporium Shein that I'm wearing in these pictures, cinched in with a vintage-inspired, wide black patent belt from HellBunny via That Shop & styled up with a pair of black leather ankle boots from Wittner & a black leather & natural woven straw handbag from Witchery to carry all the essentials. The dress cost under $50 & is a clear dupe for that AMAZING little number called the "Monika" by a certain Danish label my fellow fashionistas will all know & love (cough cough Stine Goya cough cough). 

As a fashion blogger, I devour the blogs of other like-minded individuals & have spent hours drooling over this dress on a myriad of my favourite Scandinavian sisters in the hopes that it would eventually be marked down/go on sale enough that it would become affordable for someone living in Australia who has to purchase things in Aussie dollars but to no avail... as soon as my wallet could afford it, my size was gone... When I saw that this VERY similar item was available online at Shein, I decided to go for it even though I know that it's a "fast fashion" item because much like with all of my dresses, I'm not swayed by what's currently "in" this season, using magazine "trend reports" as suggestions for things that I might be interested in purchasing at some point. I look at each dress as being able to be worn for years to come with proper care or something that can be passed on either to friends, family or thrift/second hand shops if need be. Obviously, an ideal wardrobe would be one comprised of entirely environmentally-conscious, natural fabric items from the original fashion label, manufactured in the country they were designed in, proper cost-per-wear analysis done as well as research on the moral & environmental imprint of the company but this isn't reality for the vast majority of people & it isn't for me. All I can do is make the best choice I can as a consumer & a fashion blogger & aim to take care of & wear the pieces filling my wardrobe as mindfully as possible while continuing to learn more about ways to make fashion & society just that little bit more equitable. It's such a nuanced debate that a person could literally talk/write in circles for hours, so I'll just leave you with these gorgeous photographs of a dress I mean to cherish beyond this season...