Vices

I live on $400 a month and I have clothes from all over the world.

OKAY! No more spending starting NOW...

Wait! Okay maybe after I this:

Southwestern style backpack from Santokivintage. Price $199

I've been into vintage rug/tapestry purse lately of the IKAT Kilim style ever since I found this one from Dusty Rose.

And I really love bonheur's shop on Etsy. She's made some beautiful pieces over the years.

The Evolutinary Psychology of Shopping

"Here's a woman,
she's shopping again
there's no point
trying to understand this"

When I was riding the bus home one day I saw this quote on a shopping bag someone had. I can't, for the life of me, remember what store the bag was from; I do remember that the words were white and they were imposed over an image of a woman from the shoulders down with a multicolored striped dress. I do remember being disgusted by the quote and I do remember why. I would of course feel more comfortable talking about this if I remembered the brand, but since I don't, and I'm not incriminating anything, I shall progress. 

The company might for all I know be an okay company, though the chances of this being the case I think are slim. (and by okay I mean have Fair Labor certified clothing, have eco-friendly sustainable manufacturing processes, maybe be worker owned, etc.) I know for a fact that it was a big brand located on the Mag Mile. I do remember thinking that it wouldn't have been so bad if it were a company like Patagonia, at least something that I could relate to, but I felt that the words were first both enabling and encouraging mindless consumerism and secondly that they were an opportunistic copout for feckless humans (that most of the time cannot help themselves when it comes to pretty things).

I felt that it was enabling the belief that shopping is an accepted habit that one doesn't have to understand. That the Patagonia retailer tries to be socially responsible is something that I can relate to. In the unlikely event that one of their shopping bags were to feature words such as these I would perceive them as an acknowledgement of peculiar human characteristics. 

Please humor me because most of the time I feel like I'm beating a dead horse by talking about this stuff. Most people know about what is "right" and what is "wrong" so to speak and once they know the difference it feels redundant and preachy to speak about any particular issue. But even though I hate redundancy, I like to write and it is part of my character to write about these things, so I shall continue to do so.

Where Is My Money Going?

creative commons photo

In a recent post I wrote about vintage shopping and the potential of it to be guilt free. In the same post I also mentioned that buying pre-owned clothing could mean buying things that are without dirty externalities. As you may or may not know, an externality is an unintended "cost" or "benefit" which is not factored into the price of a purchasable good. If an entity (let's pick on the big-bad-wolf, a CORPORATION!!!), as a result of doing what it has to do to make money effects something or somebody negatively or positively (esp. negative) it is not paid for. Externalities are the effects on things that are undervalued.

So, when buying pre-owned things you would think that you are not contributing to the psycho/physical effects of sweatshop labor or to the effects that manufacturing has on the environment, among other things.

I might have continued to hold this belief had I not had this niggling fear that my efforts of buying pre-owned clothing were not guilt free. The loophole or catch I realized is the merchant.

So, my question was and is:
What do the sellers do with the money? Do they use it to buy new things? Are my buying practices only enabling those that have no ethical compass? So I decided to create a little survey to send to the shops that I buy from on Etsy (an online marketplace).


Yesterday, I sent out the survey to some 50 shops (In the survey introduction I originally said 100 but that estimation was a bit overblown since I had not factored in that my feedback rating - which is over 100 on one account - includes feedback from sellers that I I bought multiple items from and some things handmade i.e. not vintage and some from suppliers and I did not send the survey to these shops). I am still collecting responses and I will be writing an article which I will share the survey results.

My motivation for writing a survey is because I want to get an idea of where my money goes.

So Where Is Clothing Going?

So, for me a noticeable habit of wanting to buy pre-owned clothing really took hold back in the spring of 2008 when I was overseas on a study abroad program for college. I don't think I was disillusioned with "capitalism" or whatever kind of system we have now a-days I think I was more concerned about the environment.
In trying to remember who I was back then I look at what I have now in my closet. I did buy a lot of vintage things and things from outside markets which are very plentiful in London. I remember making a promise to myself that I would buy one thing from a thrift store. One day during my stay I honored that promise by purchasing a beautiful lustrous silk pencil skirt in the loveliest shade of green. I can't remember the name of the shop but I do remember it was an antique store which sold clothing once owned by the upper class and aristocracy. The tag said it was owned by a member of the court (picture coming soon). I think I paid like 10 quid for it (this was a lot more back then).
In 2009 I still had a soft spot for vintage clothing but I was not committed to buying it 100% of the time; I think I might have been living ascetically because as a result of my of spending habits while abroad. As far as buying pre-owned clothing I mainly had purchased things online from Ebay and from local thrift stores. I can't remember whether I was frustrated about the dearth of places to buy clothing from. In the winter I got my second wind and I haven't looked back since.
Nowadays I am fully committed to buying vintage clothing 100% of the time. I think it is a very sustainable way of buying because it has the potential of being guilt free. Buying used clothing has fewer externalities as well and if you buy from a thrift store you might be paying for those externalities because some thrift stores function as charities. The vintage clothing industry has the potential to be a real contender in the global economy.