Shein

[Touty]

Has anyone used them. They look like they have some lovely clothes for a good price?
quality?
any feedback?

Complaining about cost of living crisis yet no issue with absolute poverty elsewhere. And acknowledging that Shein is problematic is a moral high ground.

And now we have 'if it's so bad why isn't it illegal'.

So, if moral high ground is bad, what do we call this attitude?

OK, we'll start with Fatface as they've just obtained B Corp accreditation.

Standard office wear - 5 dresses, footwear, two cardigans.

Couple reduced to £35, full prices start around the £55-60 mark.

Pair of boots they might be able to get away with - £85.

Cardigans start at £42.

Cost before underwear & tights = £404

Bakujen preloved £57 frock, new around £150+ each.

Onto Vinted, ignoring the dishrags, maybe £30 if you're an 18. Or a 6.

Their knitwear's nice. £80 in sale to £100+. Vulnerable to moth, though, also a common issue with secondhand natural fibres. glares at holes in rug caused by a purchase from Scope

Rapanui, Finisterre, Eileen Fisher and the like aren't selling office appropriate clothing.

Vinted is FULL of Shein clothing

And so are some charity shops 😜

This 100%. I couldn’t buy anything from them, ever.

I've been using them for a few years now. I've had some really nice stuff from them,but also a couple of items that weren't what I expected. The sizing tends to come up quite small,I'm usually a 16 but I order an 18. The stuff can also take quite a while to arrive,none of your Amazon next day delivery here! More like 2 weeks in some cases.

Which you don’t need to buy!
I’ve bought 2 Boden blouses on there in the last month for £7-9 and both have been lovely.

NO ONE, not one person ever, is forced to buy cheap frocks made by slaves.

This notion really is the height of entitlement in society.

A quick google shows how shit BODEN are too

directory.goodonyou.eco/brand/boden

Impartial site dated Feb 2021.

I think you need to take more time over your googling.

@WellErrr it was literally the first result 😆 plenty more!

But I hadn't actually realised how dated, ugly and mumsy BODEN clothing has become!

Shein. Avoid avoid and continue avoiding.
Im poor, have been living on a very low income for years but Im not naked. Theres always an option that doesnt involve others working as a slave just to suit my need to have clothes to wear. Usually what is already in my wardrobe. Or in a charity shop.

I dont believe for a moment that anyone NEEDS to shop with shein.

I don't buy from Shein. I bought two items from there and one ripped so I wouldn't risk it again. But I don't go round judging others who don't always have a choice.

@Beezknees are you dense? I've said repeatedly I don't judge people for buying what they need.

I judge the attitude that it doesn't matter because they're far away brown people so who cares what happens to them and their country, and that your need for clothes means you can dismiss those issues.

That attitude is just shit.

We all do things that aren't ideal, it's impossible to avoid in a capitalist society. Paying people fairly costs more. Living sustainably costs more.

This idea of 'who cares, I need XYZ, ew I'm not wearing people's cast offs, if Shein is so bad to be why isn't it illegal teehee' is just awful. I don't care about bad things if other companies also arebt perfect.

I don't get it - do you disagree? This conversation is so repetitive. It's not a moral high ground to have a conscience and strive to do better.

Mumsnet, yet mums don't care about other people's children or the world their own children inhabit. Even if you can't DO anything, it costs nothing to care and aspire to do better.

We bought vegetables and fruit from workers here who were paid a pittance and lived in sheds. But that was our own slavery. So that's ok.

Who said I don't care? My issue is with all the people jumping on with comments like "oh I'd NEVER shop there, you're all awful people for doing so"

You're spot on on this thread, SideBob, thank you: "Complaining about cost of living crisis yet no issue with absolute poverty elsewhere." Quite.

I don't get the assumption that only well-off, privileged people aspire to some moral highground and thus shy away from unethical consumer choices. Like me, plenty of working class people have a very strong sense of solidarity with workers all over the world, and would not consider benefiting from this kind of exploitation just because it's cheap. It's cheap for a reason, and the true cost is shouldered by those with the least resources and privilege.

I've just finished buying DC1's birthday clothes on eBay: a branded hoodie which looks in mint condition and a pair of jeans they've wanted for a while. They're supposedly worn, but apparently 'as new'. It's what I can afford at the moment. But they'll love them. They'd definitely rather have pre-loved than a kid their age on the other side of the planet working for a pittance and foregoing a childhood and an education.

I've bought quite a lot from there initially for DD but got a few bits for myself.

It's been fine. Read the reviews to check sizing but the clothes are unusual and cute.
We have hardly any clothes shops here anymore and I don't want yo live in Tesco or asda so it's my go to for getting stuff now.
I can't afford the stuff people post on the Style & beauty board

No I didn't.

As I already said, in my now deleted response, that's not what I said (originally). I didn't "use the word hypocrite to dismiss ethical issues" at all. I pointed out that being judgemental because a person buys from company that uses slavery while justifying your own buying from companies that uses slavery is hypocritical. (The justification being it has less of a negative environmental impact.)

I pretty much said accept if you are using a smartphone, workers have been exploited, don't try to pretend otherwise. I suggested that instead of responding to buying from Shien by being (hypocritically) judgemental, response instead that whilst it's difficult to find companies that don't exploit people, there are ways to minimise your involvement. (Like not buying from Shien, which exploits workers and have a huge negative impact on the environment.)

Maybe consider your own advice of "calm down" and read things before rushing to respond. Not that anyone knows why you're telling me to calm down seeing my three short (unexcited) sentences have been deleted, for reasons unknown.

It's a horrible fact that it's extremely difficult to avoid companies that exploit works somewhere along the production chain. Saying that isn't dismissing ethical issues, it's recognising them (and so you can then make choices).

The Good Shopping Guide is a start in discovering different companies ratings.

I bought some summer dresses from them last year to wear on holiday. Good quality and still have them. Was surprised really. They were comfy. Please see the review before you buy though!

https://thegoodshoppingguide.com/subject/ethical-fashion-retailers/?search-match=Shein

Can anyone recommend any ethical clothing retailers or clothing companies that produce clothing that don't contain plastics? It's a minefield. I get pretty much everything on vinted these days but would like to get items from vinted that aren't primark, shein or fast fashion. Most of the cheaper items on vinted are fast fashion. Even though you aren't purchasing directly you're still contributing because in order to buy that item second hand someone else had to purchase it from those companies first.

Some discussion here are pointless. I don't know if the situation can be called 'slave'. I assume it is at worst offering low salary for a lot of work in return. It is not ideal but 1) are you as an individual or as a country offering them alternative work opportunity? 2) Are you or can you find enough workforce from your country willing to work as hard making clothes to meet the world's demand?
Come up with some suggestions to solve these 2 problems.

Exactly @Lunaloonytunes , users on MN are always so quick to point the finger at clothing shops, yet they could not care one jot about the 10 year old boy being sent down into the mines in the DRC for their latest must have touch screen phone and their cars. Why don't they say no to the phone companies who offer a new phone every season? Why don't they hold back on their 'Black Friday' deals for electronics and spare a thought for an overworked, mal nourished, poorly educated 8 year old down in the mine at this exact moment? Who possibly when he turns 18 will take the treacherous trek to Tunisia to seek a boat to Italy or Greece. On his way he will pass sites allocated for the disposal of waste from the EU and the UK who are keen on shipping off their crap to the economic south, including their E- car batteries at the end of life.