College of Charleston students seeking sustainable, thrifty fashion options
By Tess Ricker
Walking across the College of Charleston campus can feel like thumbing through a fashion magazine -- so many different looks and so many different fashion choices to both covet and critique.
With King Street and its endless line of boutiques, there is an abundance of options for CofC students.
Those new colorful Brandy Melville capris? You can have them in minutes for a cheap price, and you’re sure to be twinning with a stranger in Cougar Mall.
But at what cost?
The clothes are cheap and certainly stylish. But are budget-friendly college students aware of where their clothes come from, why they are so cheap, or what happens two weeks later when the trend is over?
For Giordie Baker, a senior art history and arts management major, being stylish and sustainable has come easily to her.
Baker, who has been thrifting from an early age, hadn't shopped at a "real" store until she got to college.
Now, she doesn't shop for many big brands. As a college student she doesn't really have the money to, and she prefers shopping sustainably.
“I learned that I could find unique pieces by shopping sustainably. I had a little bit of an individuality complex growing up. I didn’t want to shop at Brandy Melville and wear the same things as everyone else, so I started thrifting and became really interested in it”.
Baker's desire to separate her personal style from what everyone else was wearing reflects a larger challenge within fashion.
Trends are constantly changing, and keeping up with them often means constantly having to buy something new.
“Trends come and go so fast,” said Ellis Dillard, a senior at the college and member of CofC's Sustainable Fashion Club. “With all the trends, it is force-fed to us that we need the new pants, the new whatever it is.”
Fast fashion refers to a business model characterized by the rapid design, production and marketing of inexpensive clothing.
These companies focus on low-cost garments that replicate the latest fast fashion trends- pushing them into stores to capitalize off of. Offering a greater variety of products in large quantities at low prices. The term was first coined by the New York Times to describe Zara’s mission to allow garments to go from the design stage to being sold in 15 days.
This accessibility to new trends has only increased as social media connects consumers around the world.
“Because we’re so interconnected, trends spread around the world instantly”. Baker said. “In the past, we wouldn’t necessarily know what people were wearing in England. Now, we know immediately.”
We have constant access to new styles which means fashion trends spread quickly, and fast-fashion retailers can respond even faster.
“Right now, a new trend comes out, and companies such as Shein or Edikted recreate it almost immediately,” Giordie said.
Environmental effects continue long after those trends disappear. The industry dries up water resources, pollutes rivers and streams , 85% of textiles go to dumps each year, and washing clothes releases 500,000 tons of microfibers into the ocean each year.
Baker was raised in a very environmentally conscious household and city.
“I was raised in Los Angeles, and a lot of my curriculum growing up focused on the environment," she explained.
Her city was always in a drought, so they learned how to conserve water, protect the environment, and minimize their footprint on the earth.
“One of my earliest science memories was taking a greenhouse gas test. We entered information about our daily shower usage, food intake, trash and how much we drove, and it calculated what our carbon footprint could be by the end of our lives.”
As consumers move from one trend to another, unwanted clothing contributes to the large amount of textile waste.
Ellis shares the pressure of feeling like we need to keep up and consumers feel like they always need something new.
But for both Ellis and Giordie, staying stylish does not mean buying a new piece every time a trend emerges on social media. One alternative starts with looking at clothing that has already been worn.
“Renting clothing does not end micro trends, but it helps prevent people from adding more clothing to the pile,” Baker said.
Avoiding fast fashion does not mean students have to completely stop partaking in trends. The first step is determining if the item has to be purchased new.
In recent years, the popularity of renting clothes or buying second-hand has increased, helping the industry improve its reputation as , a significant contributor to environmental pollution.
Rental outlets like Nuuly or Armoire, or second-hand platforms like Poshmark and Thredup are great resources for sustainable fashion that promote recycling and reduce waste.
“Think about what they are trying to buy and see whether they can find it sustainably before purchasing it firsthand," Baker says.
She shares “You can shop at thrift stores or learn which keywords to search on Poshmark, eBay, Mercari, Depop and other resale apps. There are so many resources now”.
Baker was using various resale platforms long before they became popular among her own everyday shopping habits and habits of many college students
In seventh grade, she became obsessed with Poshmark and her friends would make fun of her on the playground for buying second hand clothing.
She even became a top seller on Depop.
“Now, that is what everyone does.”
Many people stray to sights like SHEIN and H&M strictly for its affordability, even when being aware of the quality, how it’s made, and how it affects our environment.
“One issue we are seeing with secondhand shopping is inflation”
Baker explains sometimes we only see a small price difference between a used item and a new one.
“Prices are increasing, so people ask ‘Why would I pay only two dollars less for used gaucho pants when I can purchase them new at Brandy for two dollars more?’.
But for CofC students, obtaining sustainable clothing does not always mean spending more money.
The Sustainable Fashion Club provides students with opportunities to trade, sell and purchase clothing already in circulation. They offer clothing swaps, sales once a month, workshops to upcycle clothes and classes to learn how to sew.
Baker also participates in the club’s clothing swaps and regularly sells her own clothes at its pop-up events.
“I love selling at the pop-ups," she says, "It is beneficial in two ways because it allows me to make money while also giving people an opportunity to shop sustainably”.
The Sustainable Fashion Club on campus is not the only resource where students can access clothing.
“For college students that might not be able to afford new clothes, the Cougar Free Store is great resource”
Located just behind the Addlestone Library "the store is stocked with donated clothing, dorm supplies, school supplies, housewares and books".
The first step to sustainable shopping is to shop sustainably.
But it doesn’t end there.
Baker believes changing habits also means retiring from the pressure to follow every new trend and finding personal uniqueness.
“You have to grow out of the herd mindset. To be truly sustainable, you have to develop a sense of personal style," she says. "You have to know who you are as a person, and that requires inner research."
Baker’s own personal style has been tremendously shaped by pieces that existed before today’s micro trends circulating on social media.
After Baker's grandmother died during her freshman year of high school, she inherited most of her grandmother's clothes from the 70s and onward. Her grandmother believed fashion was cyclical and held onto some of her clothes for decades.
“That does not mean you have to throw your old clothing out," Baker says. "Consider whether there is a way to incorporate older pieces into new outfits or layer them differently."
For Dillard, developing a personal style can also come from finding new ways to use the clothing that already exists.
She enjoys finding pieces at thrift stores and turning them into something new.
“It’s just really fun and makes me feel like I’m doing something while also being stylish,” Dillard says.
Creating a sustainable personal style doesn’t automatically mean every piece needs to be found at your local Goodwill.
Both Baker and Dillard believe some wardrobe basics are worth investing in because they can be worn repeatedly and styled in different ways.
Dillard said having a closet filled with versatile basics can reduce the need to buy new pieces constantly.
“We would just stick to basics and then pick our own accessories, like jewelry, scarves, bags, and that can make our closet go a long way," said Dillard.
Baker takes a similar tactic to pieces she knows she will wear for years. She said she has owned a pair of jeans that cost around $200 since around her sophomore year and believes certain staple pieces are worth the higher upfront cost.
Investing more money, sourcing at the thrift store, or even picking it up at your local Sustainable Fashion Club swap does not necessarily mean its better quality.
For Baker, what is on the fabric tag can be equally as important as the cost.
After years of thrifting, Baker has learned to recognize different materials simply by touching them.
“I could go to the Goodwill bins blindfolded, and as long as I wasn’t wearing gloves, I could pull out the items that are good quality based only on how they feel,” Baker said. “I have been doing it for so long I know what 100% cotton, silk, and polyester feel like.”
Knowing what clothing is made of matters.
“Slow fashion” is the widespread reaction to fast fashion and its environmental impact with the goal of slowing down fast fashion's excessive production, overcomplicated supply chains and mindless consumption.
But even then, most shoppers do not have Baker’s experience of identifying fabrics, so she recommends checking the fabric tag.
“Realistically, not everyone walking down King Street is going to stop and research Free People’s labor practices,” Baker said. “It is much easier to check the fabric composition by looking at the tag.”
Inevitably, fashion trends will continue to change, and new styles will always continue to appear on King Street and across social media.
But, keeping up with fashion does not have to mean constantly buying something new.
From shopping secondhand, participating in clothing swaps, investing in versatile basics, there are many ways for College of Charleston students to be stylish while being conscious of their purchasing decisions.
Being sustainable doesn’t mean not partaking in trends it means learning how to be an intentional shopper and finding your own personal style
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