These shein resses

[MyHazelLurker]

I haven't shopped on Shein before and I'm wondering if I should buy these dresses and the quality expected?

I like the blouses and linen tops from SHEIN for work. Their swimwear is often quite nice too. They wash and last well! Trousers/T-shirts are shit! I think those dresses you’ve picked will be okay.

Don’t worry about not binning the stuff here, when you return it to shein they will put in their landfill. It’s going to be hundreds of tonnes of polyester in a giant hole in the ground in China for forever.

I’ve had some me great stuff from Shein and some disasters too! My advice is to always read the reviews and stick with items with above a 4.8 score and ideally higher. The reviews also tell you if the items are true to size, so a good indicator if you need to size up or down. Also look at the fabric content, some of the lovely cotton looking summer dresses are actually 100% polyester which I personally avoid like the plague. Having said that I have found an amazing 100% cotton midi dress that gets loads of positive comments and cost less than £20.

finally reviews with photos are really helpful to see the item on in real life and close up photos of the fabric/print etc. good luck!

I’ve never bought directly from SHEIN but have bought 2 dresses second hand from Vinted. The sizes were true, material flimsy and they fit really well.

And here’s the funny thing, whenever I wear them, I always get people asking me where they are from and saying how lovely they are.

I think the ethical question loses power when we realise that massive ‘reputable’ companies use similar manufacturing processes to SHEIN but it’s not so obvious because they charge a premium price.

Why wait for something to be made illegal? Shein and Temu won’t be, it shouldn’t stop you from having a view on ethics. So if stuff wasn’t illegal you’d go around stealing and murdering (yes that’s an exaggerated stretch).

As for the ‘but it’s cheap’, I’m on minimum wage, I just buy clothes rarely and sensibly. We don’t need wardrobes bursting with rubbish that maybe gets worn once.

Accusing people of shrieking about the environmental impact and appalling manufacturing conditions is childish. I’ll never understand how anyone can wear these clothes after being made aware of the working conditions.

I've bought 2 dresses from there and they both went straight into the bin, absolute polyester rubbish.

Yes they say they will refund, but have you ever priced how much it costs to send back to China??

I’ll never understand how anyone can wear these clothes after being made aware of the working conditions

Because they simply do not care. Getting cheap fast-fashion clothing from Shein and shite from Temu is more important than anyone's working conditions or the impact on the planet. Who cares if there is a mountain of polyester in China, or enslaved children as long as you can get "nice bits" from them?

Its free to return

As long as it’s not our folk being exploited its OK then? There is NO NEED to buy from them.Plenty of people on low budgets manage to avoid them

I recently bought from there for first time. The dresses were good. Not amazing quality but perfectly acceptable for price.

I don't understand why people are so up in arms about Shein and Temu's ethics violations but are quite happy to buy from Primark, New Look, etc. They all use the same factories and working conditions. Remember the Rana Plaza factory fire and collapse in Bangladesh? That wasn't Shein!

Unless you're buying everything second hand or by thoroughly researching ethical sustainable brands then you're also part of the problem.

The quality is shockingly shit. I work in a school and there's always jumpers left on pegs at the end of the day, I know a SHEIN jumper as soon as I pick it up before I see the label and it's next level poor quality. I won't buy from them for ethical reasons (as well as their shit quality), same as Temu, but I can totally see the allure of them.

I’ve bought quite a bit from there but honestly the fabrics are usually horrible and synthetic. The only wins I’ve had from there have been the swimwear and the kids hair accessories

You don’t know where people buy their clothes from. And I agree these aren’t the only companies who have appalling ethics but that doesn’t justify buying from them

I have the blue one and love it. The fit is good and it’s comfortable and looks nice on

This is the lazy excuse and what people who are happy to turn a blind eye use as their justification for supporting the most unethical companies on the planet.

Spelling it out in words of one syllable.

When you purchase your "nice bits" from Shein, you are buying from a company which uses slave labour. A company which rips off small designers and businesses across the world. A company which doesn't have to meet UK or European safety standards. A company which has no transparency in terms of reporting or being answerable to authorities. No interest in reducing environmental impact. This is what you are supporting when you shop with Shein and buy their sheit.

Primark is based in Ireland. New Look is based in the UK. Zara is based in Spain, H&M based in Sweden. All countries which have standards and authorities which make sure these standards are upheld. If you are an independent t-shirt designer and Primark/Zara rips off your design, then you can sue them. European companies are constantly questioned on their supply chain and eco practices and have to answer.

In summary - if you buy something from H&M or Zara then yes, there is the chance that they are taking long steps to hide things from you and that might come out at a later date. When you buy from Shein you KNOW that they are all shades of unethical.

I don't buy it new and wouldn't choose to have it, but I do occasionally get it in consignments ( I buy and sell Preloved) it's better quality than Boohoo, PLT etc which I don't buy either. . if I were you I'd look on eBay Vinted etc as they are all about a quid. I have some BNWT I will be listing later today for £2 as noone will buy it. I always try to sell it before it has to go the clothing bank.

Shein is cheap, but one of the main reasons I shop there is because there are just so many unusual designs that I can't find anywhere else. I find the high street so boring! I do have some designer pieces too but they're off budget for me for everyday wear and the quality hasn't always been excellent with those either!

I've found 90% of shein stuff to be fine. It's not excellent quality but it's fine.

so many unusual designs that I can't find anywhere else.

Ripped off from indy designers around the world.

This.

Where do you think your higher priced stuff comes from?
I haven’t bought from them as for the price I suspect quality will suffer. I don’t kid myself that higher priced stuff is all British made in great working conditions though.

No matter what the companies say.

Agree and when you look at where clothes from M&S are made I wonder this too! I have only bought a couple of items but they are both really lovely. I also buy and sell on Vinted when I want a change/wardrobe refresh. Got some great stuff from charity shops too. I just can't bring myself to pay high street prices too often on my income as a retired singleton!

I just can't bring myself to pay high street prices too often on my income as a retired singleton!

Another huge issue - people want a constant churn of new stuff. Who needs to be shopping "often"? When you buy your cheap disposable items from sites like Temu and Shein, they are too poor quality to hold any value in the second hand market and go straight in the bin. Hugely wasteful.

I would be absolutely mortified to admit to being so judgemental.

Really? Where on earth were you shopping on the high street that Shein is better quality?!