to feel uncomfortable to shop on SHEIN?

[erhsla14]

I really like the styles but just don't understand how it could possibly be so cheap without being very unethical.

Does anyone have alternative suggestions, happy to pay a bit more for similar styles (but not loads more, I often see on MN people paying £100s for a top/dress etc).

i placed an order a few years ago - took ages to arrive, the stuff looked reallt cheap and nasty, and the sizes were way out. (if you're mad enough to place an order, go at least two sizes up)

Yes definitely, out of concern for the workers but also the huge volumes that must go straight, or very quickly, to landfill. Mosy of the fabrics are plastics too.

They have been sending me suggestions for such unbelievably awful clothes (and I used to dress quite outrageously as a teen so am not narrow minded) that I can't believe many would buy or get much wear of. For instance a clear plastic pencil skirt and a pair of neon leopard cycle shorts with the thigh bits cut out to look like knickers/ chaps. You don't see people
really wearing things like that. Uncomfortable and really unflattering and ultimately wasteful.

I also buy second hand. Ebay and charity shops. If asked, I say it's off Ebay but XYZ brand. I'm happy to promote second hand shopping so don't hide it. Net a porter's sale site the Outnet has some good quality ethical brands. Not super cheap, obv, but you can find some big savings.

I fully agree. I wouldn't buy anything from them.

I’ve just bought my daughter a dress from there (we were instructed to do so for a dance show she is in so we all bought the same dress). It was 10 pounds including shipping and I must say it is gorgeous. Quality is also good.

Will not be purchasing any more clothes though, this dress was a one off.

Will never use it. Trying to reduce what we buy from Chinese companies all round and shifting to better quality second hand stuff and British brands wherever possible.

Aside from the ethical concerns , their stuff is so badly made. My daughter ordered from there and the skirt she bought wasn't even hemmed , I had to finish it for her before she could wear it. The shirt she ordered was made from the kind of fabric you'd expect a cushion cover to be made from , really odd.

I've been sewing for a little while now as the likes of primark and Shein made me hate fast fashion even more then I already did.

This is a great article that came out today coincidentally: www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/fashion/2022/apr/10/shein-the-unacceptable-face-of-throwaway-fast-fashion

I ordered once, terrible quality, one of those should have known better.

Trouble is that paying more doesn't necessarily mean that the clothes are more ethical, it just means the company is turning more profit or has a more expensive business model. I haven't ordered from them but if I didn't have much money I'd be very tempted.

I don’t think the manufacturers who produce for Shein are any less ethical than the manufacturers who produce for most high street retailers - it’s just that the business model is different so the lower overheads are reflected in the selling price. I don’t think many Chinese manufacturers (or manufacturers in developing countries) are ethical and there are constant exposes on expansive brands which turn out to manufacture their products in factories which pay peanuts to workers in terrible conditions so the price of goods is no indication of a company’s ethics.

It's shite don't bother

My Mumsnet background ads are nearly all for Oxfam clothes - more so since I bought a blouse from them recently. There are some fantastic buys and the website is a great source for all sorts of secondhand clothes. Buy there, not Shein, and spread some good around!

@ComtesseDeSpair

I don’t think the manufacturers who produce for Shein are any less ethical than the manufacturers who produce for most high street retailers - it’s just that the business model is different so the lower overheads are reflected in the selling price. I don’t think many Chinese manufacturers (or manufacturers in developing countries) are ethical and there are constant exposes on expansive brands which turn out to manufacture their products in factories which pay peanuts to workers in terrible conditions so the price of goods is no indication of a company’s ethics.

This is not quite correct.

There are plenty of brands so cheap it would be impossible to produce the items ethically, paying a livable wage to well-treated employees

It is certainly true that more expensive companies may also produce items unethically, hence those of us concerned use websites and apps that help guide ethical choices and buy from local businesses whilst accepting we won’t be able to buy anywhere near as much.

But to say price of goods is no indication? No, if very low, it most certainly is an indication. It’s simply that a high price is not, in isolation, a guide to ethics.

If the ethics of it don't deter you, let the absolute shitness of the quality do it. Nothing looks at all like it does on the site. Garbage.

I, foolishly, bought a 3/4 length jacket from them.
It arrived in a small plastic envelope, after MONTHS! I'd actually forgotten about it ..

This jacket was of the thinnest fleece , more like microfibre, and was waist length.

It seemed pointless to return and I just kept it as a bed jacket type thing over my nighty.

Never again.

Oh, and I bought an extra large size as I wanted some give. It barely does up , but that's ok as it stretches...A LOT!!!

Will never use it tho I have looked so it will persist coming up in my sidebars. Feedback was really bad so never bought.
Now only ever buy quality, little worn or nearly new clothes 2nd hand on various platforms.
I like the idea of recycling quality clothes and doing my bit to choke off a bit of the Chinese economy.

If you want to understand why Shein and similar are so unethical, Consumed by Aja Barber is an eye opening read, highly recommend!

I regularly shop on there for clothing and household items, actually love the quality, recently got a bunch of reduced Christmas/Halloween stuff for super cheap.

Recently found British Heart Foundation on ebay and they have some lovely stuff, seem to list lots at a fiver flat rate. Lost out on a very nice bench jacket from them this weekend (eyeballs you all suspiciously...)

I can't bring myself to shop on Shein.

I don't shop though as its blatant child/unethical labour

Even my teens won’t shop there on ethical grounds let alone grown adults!

I just wouldn’t, but I’m somewhat amazed that an ethical producer hasn’t picked up on the designs and made them. I wish they would, some stuff looks fabulous and I’m often tempted, but I just can’t be doing with stuff arriving and it’s shit and I have to fight to return it.

The quality is really bad so I stopped buying from there

There is a documentary in Youtube about big brands, they are also unethical (not all off course) but they have factories in say, Italy, producing "Italian" leather and the factory workers live in inhumane conditions, get paid peanuts, no contracts, etc...
I used to think that about Shein but now I think the whole fashion name industry is rotten!

Only way is to buy from small hand crafters, and that is really expensive...