To think Shein has upped it’s game

[Ikeasucks]

Their stuff looks lovely (online on skinny models anyway) - have heard a few good things recently as i had written them off a few years ago. Anyone use them and happy with the product, quality, returns etc

i hate online clothes shop but the high street/town centers are dead in many places now so options are really limited often to just M&S, Next, H&M or Primark

99% of everything I wear is secondhand, mostly bought from Vinted or online and occasionally in charity shops. I draw the line at underwear and my running shoes, which I buy new. That’s a choice though. - I could buy expensive clothes if I wanted to buy clothes aren’t a priority for me so I don’t.

When I was younger and much poorer, SHEIN, Temu etc didn’t exist. I used to buy second-hand clothes and alter them myself to fit or make my own. I once had only one pair of shoes - like canvas daps. I’d put holes in the top and had to embroider flowers over the top to hide it. I got loads of compliments and was often asked where I’d bought them from but the truth is that being that poor absolutely sucked. But I was lucky because I’d been taught to sew.

For far too many families today decisions about housing/heating/clothing/eating are really difficult and sacrifices have to be made. While I wish fast fashion wasn’t a thing and I worry terribly about ethics and environment, I can’t find it in me to judge someone whose only chance at paying for a family holiday is to spend as little as possible on clothes, particularly if they’ve already had to shell out hundreds on the racketeering that is branded school uniform and are prioritising more expensive quality food to feed their family.

The real question is why we’ve become so consumerist - about everything, not just clothes - and lost the skills to make do with what we have and adapt it as needed. That’s driven by the economy and it is actively encouraged by business and government who keep promoting growth. People who buy anything new when there’s a perfectly good second-hand alternative or it’s questionable that they even need it at all are simply doing what they’re encouraged to do!

You don't need to be a fucking hero. It's not a battle to choose to shop literally anywhere else. It's so easy to just not go to SHEIN.
None of us can change the world, or the past or control our governments. We can make a personal choice not to wade deeper into shit.

Just me ? Or literally billions of us worldwide? You really believe that me not shopping at SHEIN because you're coercing me not to and forcing me to take action about something I haven't said is a hill I'm willing to die on , is going to stop SHEIN production ? For my cancellation, another 2 (thousand) people will have signed up.

Retailers should stop profiteering to jaw dropping degrees. Then people may not be so allured by SHEIN and the likes.

Definitely not my only flaw.
But I don’t judge other peoples environmental choices and make them feel bad about it.
I don’t drive, travel by plane, I only eat organic meat but don’t expect others to, we all contribute in different ways.

Exactly. I'm a very keen recycler for example.

The only people that have any power to shut down unethical practices are governments and the very rich. They just foist the guilt trips on us minions (mugs). They ultimately could stop it all pretty sharpish if they wanted to. Guess they don't hey? Wonder why that is.

Which retailers are "profiteering"? High street retailers are literally cheaper than ever in history relative to incomes. Charity shops are full of clothes for a couple of quid. Facebook and giveaway sites are full of free clothes. Charity collection bins are literally overflowing with textiles. We absolutely categorically do not have an issue with clothing affordability. It is an imagined problem.

I don't buy Chinese goods if I can help it and certainly don't buy their cotton. Yes, the West should ban their goods but we do billions worth of trade with them and other countries with bad human rights records. We use them to boost profit.

ITS MY CHOICE! FULL STOP.THE END.

Try blaming the very rich and the people that have power hey ? They can stop it all. Us little people can't. They just like to make you believe it's all your fault to relinquish their responsibility.

…maybe we just have too many clothes ?

I’m currently 5.7 stone done on Mounjaro .. and I have 2 pairs of trousers, and 5 tops that fit me .. and that’s it. I’m getting very used to wearing the same stuff, and it doesn’t make much difference. Most of the time people don’t even notice what you are wearing.

Of course it's your choice. I know that.

Yes, eat the rich. 100%. But us "little people" can do our bit to make better choices too. Shopping shein is only making the rich richer and the poor poorer.

Exactly. It's YOUR choice to shop unethically. You are right to say that you in isolation can't change the world, but that doesn't absolve you of being accountable for your actions.

Take that new found confidence and treat yourself, people definitely do notice (not that their opinion should matter, I couldn’t give a shit) but more importantly you notice. Express yourself with clothing now you have lost weight, you’ll feel good for it.

I don't want to kit myself or my children out in discarded second hand clothes. I dont want to , do you hear me ? You might not mind , but I do mind. I never said unaffordable clothing didn't exist. But the fact remains: high street clothing shops are profiteering!! They are !

If you're seriously telling me you feel I should be picking out mine and my children's clothes from charity bags because it suits you and your ethics - you can think again.

Making a profit =/= profiteering. Words have actual meanings you know?

I am not telling you to do anything, couldn't even if I wanted to. I certainly wouldn't tell you to pick through charity bags, that's illegal.

But your DC wont thank you in the long run if you (and the billions of others) keep buying endless plastic clothing. You should properly research the impact of your choices and make an informed decision, rather than based upon the dopamine hit of affordable polyester.

But again, it's your choice. We all know it's your choice. I just think it's a shit one. You don't have to agree, I don't have stop saying it.

This thread is very sad. I understand the convenience of just clicking on a website and as someone on minimum wage I get that being cheap helps.

I just couldn’t wear clothes knowing the conditions in which it’s made.

People here won’t change their habits and justify it however they like. They’re fortunate they aren’t the ones working in these conditions and can turn a blind eye to suffering.

Profiteering is exactly what Shein are doing - making money through illegal means.

Aww, it’s nice that you call us do-gooders- thanks 🥰😏

My kids have good morals and they make good choices for the most part. What they choose to buy is entirely their choice- they don’t have to hide their purchases from me! But we do actually have conversations about the issues involved. It’s not a case of me telling them where to shop (have you ever met teenagers? Telling them what they can and can’t do doesn’t really wash). We talk about the issues and they understand the problems. If they still choose to go on to buy stuff from Shein, I can’t and won’t stop them. (But so far they haven’t, and I’m proud of them for that).

Of course it’s your choice, SquishedMallow. You don’t like second hand clothes, actually I don’t either unless they come from family or a close friend. but as you know there are other options, not just secondhand or Shein. Your choice. I just hope that someone else who still has the choice in front of them, chooses anything else because what Shein puts people through who make the clothes wouldn’t be allowed in this country. It’s not about caring extra for someone else, it’s about making a choice to have something else instead.

im sick as well of people saying that only middle class people can afford to have ethics, I was taught my ethics by low income people, ie my gran, who believed in “do as you would be done by”. Low income is not the same as uneducated, and it’s not a reason to say that nothing matters.

Exactly, I've bought one pair of jeans this year new, and two tops on vinted. You can only wear one pair at a time 🤷‍♀️

Come on, you’ll have to try harder than that. You know you can order online.

Sigh.... Do you want me to just say I'll stop shopping there ? Would that make you happy ? Should I just say that to make people on this thread just stop trying to goad me into admitting I'm some kind of evil incarnate for choosing to shop there ?

I do blame the rich. Like the CEO of Shein for example who is worth about $20 billion.

You're not even prepared to admit that they are ethically dubious and an environmental disaster.

Your entire justification is based around irrelevant issues or what other companies are or are not doing. But we're not discussing other companies. We are discussing Shein. I mean, I would still judge you sideways if you said "I buy from Shein because it's cheap and I don't care about their impact". But at least then you'd be honest.

And yes, making a profit is not the same as "profiteering". It's an exceptionally hard retail environment out there at the moment, and shops are closing because people want this cheap rubbish from China. You cannot moan about the demise of BHS, Debenhams, Dorothy Perkins, Joules, Miss Selfridge etc etc when you are part of the problem.

Of course a supplier that doesn't actually pay the children that make the clothes can charge less for them than a company that does.

That is not, in fact, "profiteering".