Be Green Week 4

Vrinda Gupta

Week 4

Be Green

The dress I was going to buy on Thredup.com
(please excuse the poor quality) 

This week I caved and bought a dress for graduation pictures. I went to a thrift store in Sacramento and scouted out the place to try to find something I would like, but nothing fit my taste or aesthetic. I spent a couple hours, picking up and trying on old dresses, skirts, blouses, anything that I thought I could finesse for my upcoming photoshoot. I did find a cream colored dress on an online secondhand store called Thredup.com, but it wasn't in my size. I thought about trying to tailor it myself, but if I was being honest with myself I just didn’t have the capacity to take the time to alter it and the money I spent would have gone to waste. This week really helped me reflect on our Week 4 discussions on fast fashion and how the constant supply of new and trendy clothing makes things extremely accessible for consumers. However, this type of high speed manufacturing exploits workers in developing countries. According to the article we read earlier in the quarter, Santa’s Workshop, corporations that make up the fashion industry offer poor working conditions, low pay, and general disregard for worker safety and satisfaction to make their products. As an extremely busy college student, it is easy to rely on a click of a button and order clothing for convenience and immediate gratification, without considering the lives that have been involved in the process of making my clothing.