To think this is why people buy all brand new clothes for holidays?

[Kittythepink]

We are going on a family holiday to the seaside tomorrow. I am so stressed under mountains of clothes to wash, iron and pack for five people.

AIBU to think this is why so many people go holiday shopping for brand new clothes? Put them straight into the suitcase what a brilliant idea!

Seriously though, does anyone buy all brand new clothes for going away? I used to know someone who bought all brand new underwear and socks for each holiday, so maybe it's a thing?

I always buy new pants and socks for holidays, not sure why🤣 I buy some new things if they’re a bit scabby to be in potential photos but not a whole new suitcase, my step mum buys all new for my little sister for holidays though

@squidwitch and carlywurly

Spot on.

Smartphones = child labour and child soldiers protecting territorries where raw materials are mined.

Swishing is good, but possibly not during a pandemic. Mind you, neither is a trip to Primark.

I tend to have a clothes collection based around charity shops, swish and very occasional trips to the nearest city. I do buy clothes in Primark as they are no different ethically to most high street brands who change more. They are not brilliant, but then New Look isn't sending that extra cash they make to widows in Bangladesh....

Just to heap on extra controversy, I never iron.

Recent BBC documentary on this

I do buy holiday clothes for when we’ve been to Disney or if we are going somewhere with a different climate and put them straight into the suitcases. Those clothes do then go into our normal clothes rotation and it normally works for them to be in the next size up anyway.

I like a new dress for holiday but tbh i normally buy it on holiday. I find the concept of buying bew to look good in photos odd!
We are screwed environmentally though.

We sometimes get some new items if we go somewhere very hot for example to Orlando or our Mediterranean cruise and see it as an excuse to update our wardrobe (we only go om holiday every 2 years) but tend to buy things we can also wear after the holiday. With Disney World if we go I might buy the odd novelty top or pjs but wear them around the house after that

A lot of my summer clothes are only worn when on holiday as it never seems warm enough to wear them in England apart from the odd record breaking day like today , so they feel like new clothes because they rarely see the light of day.

Omg this is me!!! Well, I don’t buy “all” new wardrobe but will buy new outfits for the kids and myself. Why? I’m clearly mad. But also because I find it easier than trawling through existing clothes, matching them up and ironing them and new clothes give a nice feeling.

I can see it is a waste of money and resources though and I agree with everyone that has said this here. I now have mountains of clothes - more than my house can handle in fact! And I hate throwing anything away! Should give more to charity but so much is nearly new!

I’m going on holiday for a week soon and I am really going to try hard to take only existing stuff. Since lockdown I have been trying to utilise what I already have and save money.

This thread has some great suggestions I will definitely write down 😊

However, for me Ironing is important so that everything fits neatly in the suitcase, it’s all well organised, stays in nice piles too and you don’t need to do it on the other side. Yup, I will be killed on this thread.

@Kittythepink Is one of the people you are packing for your husband? Something wrong with his hands? Anyone over the age of 14 can pack for themselves (@IceCreamSummer20s tip is spot on). Why on earth are you doing all the washing, ironing and packing? Are you going to do the same with all the dirty clothing when you return? Jeez that's miserable. On holiday, have a big glass of wine and plan out how to teach them all (husband included) how to do domestic tasks and be self sufficient. Your life is too valuable, too important and too short to be stuck doing that Shizzle.

So much woke here.

We always tend to go on holiday in June and both our children’s birthdays are in July/August so it usually times we’ll with the season/age change. I also love treating myself to some new bits, purely because it feels good. It’s always stuff that’s need with the kids but admittedly I buy it to feel good.

*i only buy it for myself because it makes me feel good. The kids items are always needed.

I tend to buy all new. I book my holidays in advance and so I buy little bits each month. It’s part of the excitement of going on holiday for me. However, I don’t buy really expensive stuff because of the suntan lotion. I then clear out some old wardrobe stuff when I get home and replace it with the new holiday things.

When I was in my 20's I always bought a new outfit for every night of the holiday. Loved it!
Don't do it now but do have certain clothes that are holiday clothes only.
It's part of the holiday getting dressed up, hair and make up etc then going out for drinks and dinner.

And when my DC were young they got all new clothes for their holidays too. I think they still do that themselves now they are adults.

I wear old, close to retirement clothes for my jollies, then retire them and buy myself new clothes that I can wear at home.

I hate the post-holiday unpack and wash slog. It just feels different to the normal washing slog.

Why would you think you are privileged? It’s all relevant to what you earn. Some might think you’re not going away enough.

When I was packing for 4 children their clothes used to get packed across the week before, meaning that by the day or two before holiday day they’d be wearing their scruffiest old things lol!

It's a marker of the class divide.

Someone upthread said 'oh so you don't have much money but can afford a holiday, but not clothes from sustainable brand' when talking about buying new wardrobes for holidays from fast fashion places.

If you're working class and you have limited money, for most, saving up for a holiday is the number one priority. It's a treat for everyone, it's exciting, it's an escape, it doesn't happen very often - it's a huge thing to look forward to.

No that doesn't mean they can afford to pay more for their clothes. It means they're putting all their spare money into a good holiday experience for their family and want to buy new holiday clothes to feel good while they're away. A lot of working class people's mentality is that they don't have much, they go all out on that one thing they've saved for. All the money is going on the holiday, no they don't have the money to also go and buy sustainable clothes from more expensive places.

They aren't thinking about the impact on the environment, because after all, that stuff generally costs more, and they don't have much - they feel hard done by. Often their work is manual and extremely hard and not well paid.

The middle classes preaching about sustainable clothes and not buying from places like Primark, buying bees wax lids as opposed to cling film, getting electric cars to help save the environment is obviously going to rub them up the wrong way!

Especially when many of the middle class people saying it have much larger homes, go on more holidays, bigger cars etc. The working classes are just going to think 'Where on earth do they get off trying to tell me what to do with my hard earned money when they have all that!'

I've made a lot of generalisations on this post and there are obviously exceptions to every 'rule' I've set out here. I'm just trying to give a general picture. And I'm not saying that any of this is right it's just how it is.

I grew up in a working class family and as an adult have a more 'middle class' lifestyle. So I feel like I lived both perspectives.

You are packing for 5 people? Why aren’t they packing their own?

I've made a lot of generalisations on this post

That just about sums up your post, yes.

Signed, working class, single parent, in a too small private rental, who hasn’t holidayed in years.

who hasn’t holidayed in years.

And when I did it was wooden hut glamping because I could afford the tent and all the paraphernalia to go camping.

@crushedfence agree with that. I'm from a working class family background and I look at the websites for ethical stuff and the astounding price tag attached and inside me something shrieks.

It means I go without things, and do a lot of mending.

People should get paid fairly and have good health and safety but I just can't afford those prices.

I may buy 1 or 2 new things for a holiday, but have never heard of someone buying everything new.

Re Bangladesh I hate the fact that so many clothes are made in Bangladesh and other sweatshops.

I'd love to be able to buy British made clothes, provide work for British people and cut the miles of transport costs. But I can dream on finding British made anything is a nightmare

I seem to always do clothes shopping around July so we usually have new bits but wouldn’t buy ‘holiday specific’ stuff... but then we’ve only ever had a holiday in the UK so I don’t know how weather appropriate our Summer Denim would be for the Maldives