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

The average shein customer spends over 100 US dollars a month and earns over 65,000USD/year. I’d guess there are very few people buying from Shein purely because it’s the only place they can afford to buy from.

Besides a quick look on the Sainsbury’s website shows kids t-shirts for less than £1.50, 3 packs of leggings from £3 - these seem to be the same price, if not cheaper than shein. There are plenty of affordable options out there that (ethical/environmental issues aside) don’t mean exposing your kids to harmful chemicals.

Also do you honestly think that previous posters can only have an opinion on one thing? That if they don’t like Shein therefore they do like rapists?! For what it’s worth I try and avoid nestle for their part in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of babies, does that mean that I’m pro or anti rapists?

I tried to buy dd some clothes for college yesterday - all the jeans and trousers in places like H&M and River Island were miles too long. But she can get jeans that fit her on Shein. All the tops I looked at were not brilliant quality/material but were quite expensive for what they were. DD won't shop in M&S where I could get short length jeans.

If retailers appealing to teens want to compete with Shein, they have to change and offer something better. It's often mums paying the bill so I'd like clothes that look like they'll last a while, not look like rags as soon as you try them on, decent stitching, t shirts made of non sweaty material. Then I'd feel happier paying what high street shops (that appeal to teens) are asking!
We aren't all buying 10 dresses from Shein and binning them after one wear - dd has butter soft jeans that she's been wearing for months and will wear until they fall apart. So far, there's no sign of them doing so.
I honestly try to buy in real shops first - I do Vinted a lot but retailers have to make some effort too - I can't be spending £15 on one (recycled plastic) top.

If Shein is that bad then the govt needs to block its sale in the UK.

DH is proudly sporting a new pair of shorts he just got in the sale at Asda for £2. I have to go out later to pick up a Vinted parcel, a BNWT dress originally from Dorothy Perkins which I paid £13.69 including postage for - the tag says £60. OK it may have been in the sale, but still.

Asda currently has multiple pairs of trousers in their sale for £5. So does TU at Sainsburys. There is just NO excuse for buying at Shein.

It's always the working classes being bullied on here (and in general) it's soft targeting:
"We live in Dover and my 13yr old daughter is being leered at by immigrants from the hotel"

Middle class Mumsnetter: "racist racist racist. Ignorant. Do you not realise White men do this too ? Abhorrent! Disgusting! " (The only immigrants the middle class Mumsnetter has ever encountered are legal middle class ones : GPs, solicitors)

Working class person admits they buy of SHEIN because it's cost effective.

Middle class Mumsnetter: "you do realise you are colluding in child slave labour and the endorsement of sweat shops. People are dying because of your ignorance and lack of giving a shit !"

WC Mumsnetter: "I have a terminally I'll husband, 5 children of various ages and being made redundant next week"

MC Mumsnetter: "not the Chinese factory workers problem is it ? So you're willing to let millions of Chinese workers be paid £1 a day to kit you out in tat because you can't be arsed to retrain and get a degree and have an actual proper job ? "

You get the point.

If Shein is that bad then the govt needs to block its sale in the UK.

I pretty much disagree with everything Trump is doing but the government need to stick a massive import duty on Shein and Temu crap. France do this already and are also banning advertisements for these brands and promotions by "influencers"

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250610-french-senate-to-vote-on-regulating-fast-fashion

A lot of things bother me in life if I allow it to. Problem is , there's very little I can do about most of them. Therefore I pick my battles and hills to die on. I cannot take on all the problems of the world I'm afraid and I won't virtue signal to appear to say what I think I should say.

WC Mumsnetter: "I have a terminally I'll husband, 5 children of various ages and being made redundant next week"
MC Mumsnetter: "not the Chinese factory workers problem is it ? So you're willing to let millions of Chinese workers be paid £1 a day to kit you out in tat because you can't be arsed to retrain and get a degree and have an actual proper job ?

You are beginning to sound a bit unhinged. You are the only person who has mentioned "class". You are the one going off on rants about terminally ill people, redundancy, rapists and murderers, none of which has been mentioned at all.

You're just making excuses.

These things are entirely consumer driven and there is something you can do about it. You can just not shop at SHEIN or temu. You can spend 5 minutes researching companies that produce ethically at the price level you can afford.

The fact that you call not wanting to wear clothes that are produced by a company like SHEIN as virtue signalling says it all, really.

Luckily I think I illustrated my point. I'm sorry you feel it is ok to describe someone bringing up valid points as "unhinged" (usual tactics )

I will say it again : picking on people for buying Chinese fast fashion is 'soft targeting'. It's a nice easy one to flex your virtue.

Meanwhile, we try desperately to understand the most awful of people /crimes.

Doesn't seem balanced to me.

I personally think it's because one is an easy group to shove over and point in their faces. The other group is a bit more scary.

Why does it have to be either or? Even if it was relevant to the debate about fast fashion, which it's not. Nice strawman though, good deflection when the argument about how poor people can only afford Shein and nowhere else starts to fall to bits.

Or.... How about this. I could do what millions of others do and shop where I like because I pick what battles I am willing to take on. I am allowed my viewpoint. I stand by it. And I won't be bullied just because you want me to virtue signal.

We could all give up our petrol and diesel vehicles couldn't we if we care about being eco friendly? Or, some people will decide on balance that's not the battle they want to pick today.

I could pretend if it makes you feel better ?

(I'll wait for the name calling, accusations of being ignorant and selfish, etc etc ) The op asked a question: I answered it truthfully.

Hyperbole and whataboutery to avoid taking any responsibility or accountability for your choices.

Truthfully, would you be happy if your kids and family members were forced to work in these factories because they had no other choice?

Its not being snobby or judgemental, it’s basic empathy. Dress it up how you like, you’re supporting child labour.

Obviously she wouldn't mind becuase there's murderers and rapists, and that's the only thing she need care about.

So basically, "I pick my battles" means "I don't care". At least own it rather than dressing it up with odd arguments and analogies.

Not buying from Shein isn't "virtue signalling". Nobody in real life goes about approaching randomers in the street and telling them they don't buy from Shein or telling their friends without being asked about it. Any more than you would spontaneously tell someone where you bought your jacket without being asked first. This is an anonymous forum and nobody has anything to prove to anyone.

Dress it up how you like, you’re supporting child labour.

It's child slavery. And it is well documented by anti-slavery groups.

I just cannot fathom why anybody would risk their own and their families health buying this shit.

my budget is tiny yet I can avoid it. Vinted, ebay, charity shops and the likes of sainsburys for underwear

So what other worlds problems can I take on ?

Don't you feel bad that you fly in a plane for your hols and add to pollution?

Don't you feel bad that you drive a car ?

Don't you feel bad that there's children dying of famine in African countries?

Don't you feel bad that you eat 3 square meals per day whilst children in Gaza are starving and on the brink of death ?

Don't you feel bad that you get to go home to a warm cozy house whilst some people live in wooden shacks ?

Don't you feel bad that you buy from supermarkets when you could get it all from source ?

Don't you feel bad that people get cancer everyday and some die whilst you carry on your day ?

Don't you feel bad that you use a washing machine and nuclear plant's are being built to facilitate our energy usage ? Why don't you get a mangle?

No. You pick your battles that you can do anything about in life.

Millions of people (billions probably) shop at SHEIN. You think me not shopping there (because you told me not do) is going to make one jot of difference? SHEIN is worth billions. So I can't be the only one picking my battles in life. It's just you think you reserve the right to guilt trip me and blame me for child labour.

What I see happening is M&S, JL etc being regularly attacked by ? Russian bots / Chinese or any nationality hackers until they can’t afford to do online shopping due to ransoms etc …….. and lo and behold all the Chinese companies step in to replace them.

Then it will be Chinese online or nothing -all the constant criticism of U.K. stores on sites like these probably doesn’t help.

With US tariffs China needs as much money from us as it can make!

What a cop out. Nobody is asking you to solve the worlds problem, but it's not an additional task to just shop somewhere else. It's not a battle that has to be picked. Just don't shop there. Just as I manage to get through live without shopping at Gucci.
You don't have to be perfect, just make some sort of effort.
And if you think about it for more than 3 seconds you would recognize that there is a connection between your cheap consumerism and poverty, famine and climate change and pollution. It's not a benign isolated act. It is a direct cause of so many of the things you accuse other people of not caring about.

I want to shop there because it suits my needs. Like billions of others. I don't have to take on that battle. I do plenty of good in the world believe me. If that's my one flaw, then so be it.

What on earth has being middle class got to do with not being a total arsehole when it comes to ethics?!

primark is cheap and hardly middle class.

Choosing not to buy clothes made by slaves that fall apart within 5 washes is hardly taking on big world problems

You think Primark is ethical ? Ok...

I've owned items from SHEIN that have lasted 5+ years so far (and counting)

We can all make excuses and try to justify consumerism but it isn't just buying clothes, it's single use plastics laundering nearly clean clothes, eating food out of season with huge airmiles, sitting in our car.

My generation had milk delivered in glass bottles, we were lucky if we had a dozen items of clothing, and food was definitely more seasonal.

People need to seriously rethink their lifestyle choices if the planet is to survive.