Vintage Trend Aids Sustainable Fashion

jacket & skirt GIANNI VERSACE FALL 1992, boots FALL 1994, jewellery FALL 1992

I’ve never been a fan of trends - a statement I can only loosely make as I’m sure I’ve fallen (and continue to fall) victim to many – but it’s true. The fashion panel(?) sets the scene and standard for the season and it trickles down into the Highstreet where they follow suit. Without fail, this creates an influx of “one-hit wonder” wears as a result of fast manufacturing and production, and negatively ends in us furthering our contribution towards greenhouse emissions.

Let’s think back through our lifetime catalogue of outfits over the years and try to pinpoint all those dresses we wore once or those jeans that hung vacant in our closet because we gambled and thought they were “in”. Think of how many times we thought it was necessary to re-brand ourselves and change our look because let’s face it, the teenage goth rarely lives on.

And assuming not everyone is a goodie goodie and deposits their unwanted clothing at charity stores, clothing banks or extends their lifespan to friends (which doesn’t undo the initial wrongdoing), they just end up decaying in landfill. And I believe that trends should share a portion of the blame, and not just our admitted consumerist nature.

But not all trends are bad (early noughties Bohemia, this excludes you), and one that we can all applaud where sustainability is concerned, is vintage clothing.

Thrift and vintage shopping aren’t by any means a new concept and throughout history, people have always thought highly of items of age that signify something admirable of the past, of culture. If you happened to be breathing in the second Indie-Rock music movement (circa 2009-2013) you’d easily recall the recycled curtain-like skirts, paisley silk shirts and, unfortunately, the high volume of men in leather loafers (eek!). But in today’s society, it seems to be much more prevalent and spread across mainstream markets and it seems the majority own a pair of the oh-so-durable ‘80s Levi 501s at the very least.

Now shopping vintage clothing – strictly speaking, items that are and above twenty years of age – has obvious sustainable advantages in that firstly, we are giving a new life and new purpose to an old piece rather than investing in another new one. In doing this, we are choosing to consume consciously and weighing out our impact ahead of adding to the problem – a much-needed step towards more sustainable fashion.

By choosing vintage, we are shifting the demand for overproduced products and choosing to ignite our creativity by scoping out the good pieces from the bad, rather than caving in to the temptation of what’s already directly marketed at us. There’s definitely something to be said for the appeal that scavenging through racks of creased and odourful clothing brings. A sense of our old, primitive behaviour resurfacing as we hunt for something that screams potential.

Opting for vintage is also beneficial where packaging waste is concerned, too. Vintage clothing is often shipped in large quantities and often using minimal packaging, as opposed to most retailers who produce new products who often store pieces separately in individual, often non-recyclable packaging. Meaning, if you choose to invest in the vintage market, you are also eliminating the need for single-use materials that are one-by-one adding to global pollution on a very fast and large scale.

Another pro worth mentioning is that it actually promotes an element of individuality and encourages people to re-gain authenticity, eliminating sheep-like tendencies and the fear of wearing “the same outfit”.

When you look at the fashion industry, and its environmental screw-ups, it’s not an easy road to recovery. We are still battling to produce in-house rather than overseas, environmentally friendly dyes and fabrics can be scarce and expensive, and generally, it’s hard to sway people to invest in quality over quantity. But one thing we can do is take responsibility for our purchases and be conscious and aware of our impact in every decision we make.

Vintage clothing isn’t a perfect substitute, and we could, of course, argue that it still stamps a carbon footprint. But simply buying second-hand, used products represents a positive shift in attitude towards our environment. An attitude that will hopefully, in time, take us to where we need to be.

Words / JESSIE PINK