Most shops are just landfill waiting to happen.

The idea that people on limited incomes shouldn’t be able to try on clothing and make sure they get the size and design that they want rather than be limited to what other people are getting rid of really annoys me.

I’m not sure that I agree entirely. Just because something is cheap and made of plastic or polyester doesn’t mean that it is necessarily going to break immediately or that someone will tire of it and throw it away any more than they would an object made of wood, or more expensive clothing. You are making a massive assumption that people who buy cheaply only do so in order that they can use/wear once and replace. It may be that their priorities are on doing things rather than having expensive things but prefer to buy new than second hand.

Morgan de toi is still going in France, and they sell to the UK on Zalando.

It was! Check my terrible French grammar lol

It was Morgan de toi, not Morgan et tui (but yes, it was trash!).

I don’t think you weren’t in the 90s- you said that clothing was much better cut and quality then. I was pointing out Morgan et tui was the same trash quality as todays landfill

Yes I loved Morgan especially £10 sales would run all the way from office to Oxford street and Shelly shoes and zoo to. Gutted about the massive top shop closing at Oxford Circus spent hours in there. I recently sold my buffalo spice girls boots on vinted for £150 and the original yellow bag was next to it the loft so I wrapped them up in it. There was also so many more boutique one off shops then too. I don’t understand why you think I wasn’t in the 90s I have 2 adult DD I would have thought loads of mums net users are early 50s? Unless on the baby threads

I’ve had the same issue, but the Ryman’s staff explained that they no longer have a contract with the recycling company that they used to use, hence the recycling points were taken away. but they are trying to find another company that will take pens for recycling.

I mean. This sound a bit patronising. It’s ok for black people/ people from low income countries to enjoy globalisation too. They don’t have to be killing sheep to make their own hats

I saw a sad programme about the vast shipments of clothes to Africa.
The local people had stopped making and wearing their own fabulous hand printed clothes with turbans and rushed down to each consignment of western clothes which they wore and were no comparison.

Nasty chemicals do not have to be used. There are natural ways of tanning leather.

I wonder if people had been stuffing any old crap in there and the staff hadn't realised, then when it was full they innocently sealed it up to be sent to the recycling place but the recycling people discovered it was full of dirty tissues, half eaten sandwiches and split drink.
So they weren't allowed to have another one.

What a sad, depressing, infuriating read this is!!!

Yep, individual items can be ££ with postage but bundles can work out very cheaply.

I'm in NZ and the thrift shops in my town accept most things, as does the recycling shop at the local resource recovery park. I worked at the recycling shop for a while a few years ago, and some of the thrift shops would send stuff they couldn't sell or didn't have room for to us. The shop was always quite busy and some people came every day to look over the new stuff.

Yes, and a lot of things made in China are most definitely not tat. Where I live practically everything is made there, both cheap and high end stuff, if we weren't buying from China we wouldn't be buying very much!

What about vinted, Ebay, etc.
I am on a low income myself that's why I buy quality stuff secondhand. It's a lot cheaper.

Tanning used to be done with dog shit. Maybe we should go back to that, it would solve the dog fouling problem at the same time.

@AquaPeer that was a great doc, very eye-opening.

I took a bag of at least 50 pens to ryman, making quite a detour, and I was told that they had "lost" the recycling point - not misplaced but she said it as though they had had it taken away. It was really odd.
I spent ages googling afterwards to try to find where to take the pens and got nowhere. Nothing on terra cycle or recycle now. I felt such guilt at binning them.

Do you think the chemicals used in making plastic are any better? And then there's the fact that plastics don't degrade like leather does.

I agree. All that made in China tat in the likes of Flying Tyger, Sostren Grene, Temu, Shein etc etc is an environmental disaster.

Wool jumpers, maybe, but the chemicals used in tanning are terrible for the environment.

I can't help thinking we'll soon go full circle and realise that the skin and fur from the animals we've eaten are the most environmentally efficient way to use our resources. Wool jumpers, leather strides, rabbit hats and gloves.

I don't shop on Shein or Temu. But thanks for leaping to that conclusion.

Natural fabrics are better than plastic ones - obviously. Processing for cotton is not great but again if you buy one or two pairs of jeans and wear them until they fall to bits then you're doing your best. Or linen, wool. Plenty of all those fabrics in existence already.

Second hand always better than new. BNWT from Vinted is better than new as that piece of clothing is being bought from someone who has bought it from the original vendor - you are not contributing further to the demand of shite from Shein.

It's not about "weaving your own hair" - patently ridiculous and the cry of someone who thinks shitty Shein is just fine. It's about being mindful of what you buy and at least thinking about your impact rather than not giving a fuck.