Fast Fashion: Are You Guilty of Consuming McFashion?

I went through a phase around age 9 when I would duck behind garment racks when my mother wanted to peruse the aisles of TJ Maxx. It wasn't cool to shop there and in my fourth grade mind I would have just died if anyone I knew had seen me.

It took me until I was a mother myself to fall victim to the siren song of the Sale. Now there are stores full of lower priced "frugal fashion" popping up everywhere, selling shoddy, badly made clothes.

I swooned when H&M arrived in Tyson's Corner, Virginia and a few years later when it opened in Washington, DC and the suburbs of Maryland. The maternity clothes were fantastic and for my rapidly changing figure, it was a relief to feel I was dressing in a way that didn't compromise my sense of "staying current" -- or bank account.

Back then, ten or more years ago, their kids' clothing was pretty decent too - if you took the time to really look and choose carefully, you could find well made clothing that would last more than a few washes. I remember adoring some of the little girls' clothing I found for our daughter when she was a baby -- I shopped there for her until she sized out of their little kids' line around age 6.

Now even once reliable and more affordable places like Old Navy and the Gap which have been Mom mainstays for clothing fast-growing kids, are falling into the category of the type of clothing I consider "throw away" pieces or as it has been chronicled, "Fast Fashion." Target also falls into that category. The clothes simply aren't made well, and don't wear well either. Furthermore, the clothing can't survive the laundry without shrinking (name your cotton fabric derivative) and pilling (name your knit). Forever 21 does not a forever garment make.

Is it too much to ask? Clothes that don't pill or crease too easily, well woven knits that don't snag after two wears, and separates that don't, as mentioned above, shrink one size after laundering. Things that are lined. Quality buttons and zippers. Fabric with heft. Stitching that stays and hems that don't fray. You can find this more in European brands and higher priced stores, but look closely and you'll see even those have started lowering their quality standards. So, just as I touch and smell the produce at the supermarket before buying it, I prefer putting my hands on a piece of clothing before deciding whether it's worth trying on. Catalog shopping is a no-no unless it's a brand I trust, with excellent customer service practices.

When I bought a few long sleeved t-shirts for my daughter at Nordstrom, the cotton jersey was softer and thicker than the Kleenex-ply feel of certain other stores selling similar-looking pieces. I was thrilled when it didn't shrink after a few washes! That being said, even in stores like Lord & Taylor one has to pick carefully, especially in the summer months when clothing tends toward being insubstantial and light. Most stores have sacrificed quality.

With this new yearning for things that last, however, you run into other issues: you must accept the relative hit to the pocketbook. As it's been said, "Buy once, cry once" -- but wouldn't you rather do that than cry every day arriving at your closet to see a mass of cheap pieces that won't last more than two years. Since kids are always outgrowing clothes it's a given that there will be constant turnover which I could accept if the clothes washed and wore well. I want to sincerely feel sad when a piece needs to be retired, mended, or donated. I want to love my clothes. I need to overhaul my wardrobe! Quality over quantity. A capsule wardrobe perhaps?

Maybe it's just a symptom of my getting older. Shopping isn't as fun anymore now that part of my brain is inventorying each item of clothing entering my home - because I am the one doing most of the laundry. I am also the manager of the clothing deluges that are the annoying consequence of buying cheap items that seemed like a "good buy" at the time. It can be a slippery slope: before you realize it, you have amassed way too many items and none of them really stand out as worth appreciating.

After reading this, I challenge the average American to find more American-made pieces of clothing in their closets than ones made overseas. Most tags inform the consumer the clothes have been made in Thailand, China, India, Malaysia, Singapore and other countries where we know the sweat shop garment industry employs large swaths of their population. While it can be argued that American companies are increasing the standards of living in other countries by employing what we think of as "cheap" labor, I still have to ask myself: when I consider the consequences in my own day to day life, what truly, is the cost?