Aibu to really dislike Primark?

[Nomoet]

Tbh i tend to steer away from these discussions with my friends as I'm very much in the minority and well if people want to do what they want to do and you're not going to change their mind then what's the point?

But I was having a chat with a friend this evening about Primark who loves it and it's made me feel so uncomfortable. I think the main reason I dislike it so much is because it's ultra cheap fashion and I just don't buy that you can get stuff made that cheaply without huge compromises on standards of how people are treated in factories - whether it's child labour or working hours and working conditions or pay.

And what makes me feel cross is how many people buy willy nilly stuff from there all the time just because they can just because it's cheap when really they could go without it or get it from somewhere else and it wouldn't hurt them or certainly not as much as the person making their clothes is being hurt by these practises.

I’m currently wearing pyjamas from there that are 15 years old. I have other items like dresses that are over ten years old. The stuff can last, yes, it’s worse quality than in some other shops but it’s a lot cheaper.

My job is the equivalent of an Ethical Sourcing Manager- not for the high street. Ironically, it's not the big retailers like Primark, M&S etc you need to be wary of. Have a look at the ETI (EthicalTrading Initiative)website, Primark are full members and M&S were founding members- this organisation is focussed on improving workers rights and conditions all over the world.
It's more likely to be small boutiques etc that end up unknowingly sourcing from unethical factories as they don't have the audits etc in place.
Factory conditions in China now, for example, really aren't that bad anymore, and actually some UK factories have been found to be guilty of modern slavery- less than minimum wage etc.

H&M has to be the most overpriced for the same quality as Primark! £35 for a shirt jacket that was £11 in Primark. Not even lined! The Primark one is still going strong a year later!

So the majority on here don't cate about the exploitation of the fashion individual of adults and children but I have just read a thread where posters hate porn for its exploitation.

I'm sure you are on a fully ethical laptop/phone/tablet?

• There is definitely a sense of entitlement to cheap food

I do agree with your post. You're right it's the entitlement *

I think the fact the poster you've agreed with has said 'there's a sense of entitlement to cheap food' sums up all we need to know about your argument.

Some very high end labels are made in the same factories as Primark clothes. They're much more reprehensible because of their obscene mark ups. I really like seeing teenage girls' glee when they spot a high fashion item for next to nothing in Primark.

It's killing the planet

So are cars, mass farming, buying products with palm oil, burning coal, endless plastic use, I could go on and on. I very much doubt anyone here is a vegan who walks everywhere, makes their own clothes, grows all their own food and lived in a heating-free eco hut. We all do things that are ‘killing the planet’, you can’t moan about one whilst indulging in others.

Thanks theres that's good to know, shall carry on Primarking!

I’m not a fan of Primark but I’m probably too old for it. However you’re seriously kidding yourself if you think that clothing sold by other shops is made in better and more ethical factories. All they do is charge more for the same thing.

Primark is not the worst of them.
It has smaller mark ups than many. Surely the ones that make more money out of throw away fashion are worse?

Primark is the name that most people know. Particularly those people who don't need to shop in there. Primark is surprisingly easy to boycott if you wouldn't dream of shopping there in the first place

There is most definitely a huge issue with fast fashion but tis always Primark that gets targeted.
Pretty sure most of the other chains, producers and outlets are just as bad, worse, only marginally better.
But people don't want to stop buying their clothes, they want to stop the ignorant masses buying their ghastly tat.

Oh, unless they have teenage daughters of course. Their own teenage daughters get to spend hours in Primark on a Saturday. That doesn't count.

That mum with four kids to clothe should try harder though. Poverty is not an excuse for going to Primark. She should budget better. Boden do some lovely cargo trousers for around £30.

Wow. Walking barefoot to the food bank because they can't shop in Primark.That's a bit extreme!
I hate Primark too, mainly because the clothes are shit, made with shoddy fabrics and badly fitting. And because I hate the layout and always feel trapped in there. Plus the cattle truck experience of the checkout queue.
I was bona fide flat out skint for YEARS, so I don't have an ivory tower to shoot peasants from, but even then I didn't shop in Primark. I got kids basics from Asda and Morrisons and my own clothes from charity shops.
I don't think Primark are any worse to their workers than other shops-posh brands are probably made in the same factories in China, but their pile em high ethos does encourage disposable fashion, which is very damaging to the environment.
I find most high st shops have MASSIVELY worse quality than they used to though. I have items from the 90s, from H&M etc that are great quality. Now it's all shoddy.
It's all also still really cheap.
I was reading Bridget Jones the other day, which is what? 20 years old? She mentions an H&M jacket as being 39.99. Well, it still would be the same price! There's something thing really not right about that.

Read hired by James bloodworth and it will open your eyes to be appauling working conditions in the UK too.

I hope you never by anything from Amazon sports direct or use Uber or deliveroo or any company that employs staff on zero hours contracts!!

some UK factories have been found to be guilty of modern slavery- less than minimum wage etc.
This is very true. Be wary of "made in UK" being a garauntee of ethical provenance. We have sweatshops too.

Nike, Victoria's Secret, Tesco, Walmart (therefore Asda), M&S, Next, Forever 21 (plus a tonne more) all use sweatshops. Don't tell me you've never shopped in Tesco before? You can't say you don't want to shop in primark because they are 'the worst for encouraging it'. A sweatshop is a sweatshop, you're either against it or you're not. There is exploitation everywhere. Do you drink coffee? Do you have a ring with a diamond in? Do you eat food which has been sourced from other countries (often extremely cheaply and then sold in the UK for huge profits)? Your argument is null and void unless you stick by it wholeheartedly, which I am presuming you do not.

thereareworsethingsicoulddo that's really helpful info, thank you. I do think the posters that simply say "other stuff ruins the planet too" are a bit depressing - as if the fact we are deep in the shit means we have totally given up.

I don't use any of those things blankscreen, but I don't really Internet shop or get takeaways so its quite easy!

Your argument is null and void unless you stick by it wholeheartedly, which I am presuming you do not. This isn't strictly true. Making some small shifts in your purchasing can make a difference.

I understand the point you’re making but I think all high street fashion chains and supermarkets are equally bad. Primark is no worse than peacocks or new look or hm or any of the other high street retailers. This is more to do with consumers treating clothes as consumables to be worn once or twice and discarded than about people who can’t afford to spend at expensive shops. The rise of social media has a lot to do with this. In the past you would buy a going out outfit and wear it to loads of events because they’d all be with different people and it would still seem new and special . Now with everyone photographing their every move once youve worn something once and put it in SM it feels like everyone has seen it and people feel like they have to have a new outfit for every night out otherwise people will judge. It’s the culture not the shops really. Fwiw I do shop at budget shops for Dd because I can’t afford to do otherwise and she needs clothes all the time. For myself I try to buy either second hand or buy one well made slightly more expensive outfit that I can wear for years. I’m also old enough to have eskewed fashion in favour for a style that suits me so I dont have to worry if it’s last seasons shape or colour.

Echoing PP, OP, where do you suggest people who have hardly anything to spare (which is a lot of us) buy clothes? Trawl round second hand shops for your cast off ethical stuff? Where are they to find the time to do this? How many shops do they go in to find something that fits? Do they have to accept the first thing that fits even if it is green and they hate green?
Or maybe school has demanded red top and trousers at the last minute and I have £5.00 to spare and even less time. Do I send my kid in in green and explain to teacher that I don't want to exploit people by shopping at primark so green is going to have to do? My first concern is to my DC tbh.

I don't think primark is especially 'nice' or fashionable because I don't want to look like a clone. But for kids clothes and basics it's great. I buy what I will need for a messy preschooler in bulk. I recycle the paint stained fabric by using tops at cloths. I might even pass them on if they have been outgrown.

There is no way I can justify buying a t shirt for £10 that may get stained beyond repair, and have you tried demanding to a child not to get paint on them? Even with a pinny some paint seeps through ime.

Of course it is horrible for people in bad conditions making clothes and shoes for our consumption. All clothes manufacturers do it. I simply have neither the resourse or money to fix it. No one does. I am too busy trying to make my family presentable whilst feeding us all and having at least a bit of leisure activity.

From the cotton picking to the sewing of buttons the process is exploitative, but unless I sourced my own cotton plant, picked it, prepared it to be woven, wove my own cloth, designed and sewed the clothes myself, then I might be less grubby. Would I OP? And please tell me, do you do this, considering your excellent standards?

@longestlurkerever I disagree. If you come on here arguing that you don't want to shop somewhere because they use sweatshops, but are happy to shop in other more expensive places which use sweatshops and make a higher profit than primark do, how can you possible be taken seriously? It's like a vegan saying they don't eat any meat products apart from chicken, simply because they don't think killing a chicken is as bad as killing a cow. It doesn't work as an argument. You're either for or against.

Your argument is null and void unless you stick by it wholeheartedly,

Really? You're only allowed to raise concerns about ethical practices and disposable fashion if you're a cave hermit who lives on leaves and berries?

Nobody's perfect. It's practically impossible to live a life which is 100% ethical and environmentally friendly. But it's all about choices - choosing to use less plastic, walk to the shops and not drive, buy locally sourced produce, have a UK holiday and not fly, avoid Primark. If everyone did a little bit, that's a lot better than one person living in their cave and everyone else cracking on regardless.

Berating Primark is just snobbery
But its capitalism that's you're problem OP, not just one retailer.

Just out of interest, where do you buy your clothes Nomoet?

I have noticed the quality deterioating of many high street chains over the years, not just Primark, the prices are higher.

Or maybe school has demanded red top and trousers at the last minute and I have £5.00 to spare and even less time. Do I send my kid in in green and explain to teacher that I don't want to exploit people by shopping at primark so green is going to have to do? My first concern is to my DC tbh.

This is a practice schools could do well to curb. Our school asked everyone to come in green for "eco day". What a load of bollocks. I did actually send my child in another colour and said that we didn't have anything green and I wasn't going to buy something we didn't need for eco day. So did many other parents actually so she wasn't the only one - thank goodness for common sense. But on sports day she needed orange and another time she needed spots. And 5 minutes later they wanted them to dress up as people from the great fire of London for the class assembly. I cobbled something together from what we had, which was a token nod at best, but lots of other parents had ordered kit of Amazon and those were the kids that got to be in the school paper. They have this assembly every year - why not have a costume library and ask parents to donate things for future years if costumes really are needed?