Fast Fashion. We’ve all heard of it and we’ve all chosen to discreetly look the other way because recognizing it means having to take responsibility and nobody has the time for that. Well, now you’re 2 sentences in so there’s no turning back. It’s time to face the music and realize we all need to stop shopping at Forever 21.

For me, a college student who is trying to look good but is also knee deep in student loans, my problem with not buying fast fashion was that I simply didn’t think I could afford it. I had this misconception that the brands were separated clearly into 2 categories: the fast-fashion (i.e. H&M, Zara, Forever 21) and the high-end designers (i.e. Givenchy, Helmut Lang, Alexander Wang) when in reality there are tons are brands that you can find in department stores like Macy’s and Lord & Taylor that make their own ORIGINAL designs (ya, I’m looking at you Nasty Gal) in an ethical way. It is more than possible to buy ethically made clothes without buying a tee shirt that has a 3-digit price tag. The truth is, $14 blouses are not what we should expect, it is just what we have gotten used to and no good pair of jeans is going to cost you $27. There is nothing that feels good about putting on your new Forever 21 sweater for the first time and having it snag within the first 20 minutes. On top of that, when things are being sold this cheaply it is because they’re being made cheaply by women and children in developing countries who are not being paid even close to enough.

Balmain on the right, Nasty Gal copy on the left

Zara copies St. Laurent footwear

Bangladesh is where so many of our clothes are made today and surprise, it is also where hundreds of factory safety violations and labor laws are broken daily. This became pretty apparent after a factory in Bangladesh collapsed in April of 2013 killing over a thousand people. The people killed in the collapse were getting paid on average $10.58 a week and a standard shift was around 14 hours (they were allowed just 2 days off a month), and while it got a lot of media attention we are still running into the same problems. 3 years later, not much has changed and nobody has taken any real responsibility for the collapse or for their illegal policies. To upgrade these factories and make them safer would only cost an extra 10 cents per garment. Also, the carbon footprint that the industry's factories are leaving is definitely not a Christian Louboutin one and this past year, the clothing industry was named the second dirtiest industry in the world, only after Big Oil, making it not just harmful to the people working directly in the factories but to just about everyone.

I’m not going to pretend I don’t have a few trusty Forever 21 shirts in my closet or that I’ve never shopped at Zara before, but after the reality of where my clothes were coming from was brought to my attention it just didn’t feel right spending my money there. So next time you want to blow your paycheck, invest in some quality items that will look better and last you longer than 3 weeks, instead of buying all “trend pieces” that you wear once and then throw in the back of your closet. You’ll thank yourself later and the women and children making your clothes will thank you too.