Clothes encounters

Cheap, throwaway fashion is an intriguing 21st century phenomenon. Considered shameful a mere decade ago, ripping off a designer’s ideas and watering them down for mass consumption has become the industry norm. The real alchemy, however, only transpired when manufacturers combined swift production with captivatingly low prices.

For consumers, lured to return by the promise of something new on the rails on every visit, the combination was a godsend. In 2006, research by Harvard Business Review referred to this hunger as “a sense of tantalizing exclusivity,” a nagging fear that if you fail to act on your shopping impulses, the opportunity to snare an affordable Marni-inspired or Prada-lite look will slip away forever. But buying into a style, so quickly and so cut-rate, inevitably leads to the disposability of style.

Return to slow fashion

We have become far too used to paying far too little for our clothes. In the process, we have set aside steps such as inspecting seams or looking at labels, and solutions such as tailor-made pieces, in the rush to scoop up additions to our wardrobe.

In The Great British Sewing Bee, a group of 10 keen amateurs is whittled down through a series of increasingly difficult tests until an overall winner is crowned. It’s unlike Project Runway in that it isn’t hysterical or campy. In fact, similar to its sister show The Great British Bake Off, each Sewing Bee episode is themed around an era, a type of fabric, or garment — the history of which is illustrated by very informative vignettes — coupled with challenges that examine the contestants’ technique and creativity. Ably judged by May Martin from the Women’s Institute and Patrick Grant, creative director of bespoke tailors Norton & Sons, GBSB returns for a third series in 2015.

Sewing circles became popular in Britain in the 1930s, when members of the Buckingham Palace staff, at the suggestion of the Queen Mother, sewed and knitted for the troops. Making and mending clothes soon became a way to socialize and support the soldiers throughout the Second World War.

“The old way of buying clothes, in harmony with one’s income and the seasons, the way people wore, washed carefully and darned, has nothing in common with the way we now consume,” wrote Lucy Siegle, author of To Die For: Is Fashion Wearing Out The World?. It is only when we slow down and pause to assess the likely lifespan of an item of clothing that we can avoid purchases that won’t make it beyond one or two outings.

For vintage virgins

This Old Thing: The Vintage Clothes Show seeks to convert people hooked on the High Street, those who often buy from chain boutiques without regard, to the joys of unique pieces from the past. Presented by British performer and writer Dawn O’Porter, styled as Mod fashion icon Mary Quant, the six-part series promises to show vintage virgins an alternative world and dispel the myth that secondhand garments are unhygienic.

In the end, the program is as much about being thrifty as it is about being open-minded. I was pleased to see the bubbly host feature items from Bang Bang, a London consignment boutique that sells both used clothing and unworn samples from young British designers. The Soho store has become a fast favorite since I get to unload pieces I no longer use in exchange for cash — typically 25 percent off their selling price — or a credit note I’ve spent on rarities such as jeans from Vivienne Westwood’s Worlds End line. When not shopping, O’Porter helped other fashion lovers revamp their outfits at her warehouse studio, where a team of cutters and tailors wove their brand of magic.

Afterlife of castoffs

The collapse of Rana Plaza in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in April last year resulted in the deaths of more than 1,000 garment workers and injuries of a further 2,500. BBC Two’s This World: Clothes to Die For gives a voice to the survivors, many of them their families’ sole breadwinners, who worked in the factories that supplied brands such as Gap, Zara, Primark and Tommy Hilfiger.

“I began to see that it isn’t as simple as consumers being prepared to pay more for clothes or retailers being prepared to make less profits,” stated director Zara Hayes. “It’s also about retailers being prepared to work with their suppliers in the longer-term and engage with them more meaningfully about the challenges of operating in that context.”

The British broadcaster’s This World: The Secret Life of Your Clothes meanwhile takes a look at what happens to disposable fashion after we’ve tossed it away. Paralympic basketball player Ade Adepitan follows the trail to Ghana, where one million pounds’ worth of what locals call “dead white men’s clothes” arrive from Britain every week. The deluge of cheaply made western outfits — meant to be donations — has decimated the local textile industry as used shirts by the likes of Ben Sherman and Superdry replace traditional garb.

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