Why Are We Still Doing This: Hauls
Just a girl chilling at home during mid morning coffee break and post morning scroll, in a sustainably made dress from We Are Hah
This is something I’ve truly never understood. I don’t know if it’s the way I was raised or that I was really really picky about clothing, but I’ve never been into buying mass amounts of clothing at once. I’ve been seeing tons and tons of She-in, Amazon and Zara hauls popping up in my suggested reels. Is the algorithm is doing this to fuck with me? Could be. Or people are just genuinely buying too many clothes at once and want to see in reels format? That cant be true…can it?
My first question is HOW and my second question is WHY? How do people afford to do hauls all the time and then where do they put it all after filming those videos? I have very very little closet space left ever since I moved in with my boyfriend and said goodbye to my second every walk in closet. So I buy things in 1-3 increments like I’ve always done. Even when I find tons and tons of things I want to buy at Crossroads or worst Wasteland, I know I have to edit and put some things back because my wallet would kill me if I did that much damage.
But being honest, I’ve never had the urge to buy 15+ pieces at once, besides the dream that I and every other girl share of having a fully paid shopping spree. Personally I’d go to Wasteland and grab all the luxury pieces I could in a given amount of time but I digress. My perspective on hauls is that if you’re buying 10-30 pieces at once, you either just literally won the jackpot or you’re buying a shitload of really cheap (and often poorly made) clothes. Which begs the question, WHY ARE YOU DOING THAT? I don’t know who needs to hear this but let’s try to champion and support the idea of, “quality over quantity”.
While I’ve learned this lesson over time, I feel that most people missed this lesson some way or another. Real talk I used to shop at Forever 21, Nasty Gal, H&M, Zara, and Urban Outfitters. I’m not perfect but I learned how bad it is to fill your clothes from places like these. On a rare occasion, you’ll find a piece that lasts a lifetime or might even be sustainably made, but 99.9% of the time these pieces are absolutely garbage! Trust me, I had a bunch of pieces from these brands in my closet before I started filling it with designer and vintage goods at discounted prices from thrift stores all around the country (and a few places in Europe, not to brag or anything). Fast fashion might be trendy and cute in the moment but let’s talk about when that moment passes. These pieces seem to be impossible to take care of. The shape often gets deformed over time. There’s tons of pilling. Getting a stain out with detergent often breaks down the clothing to the point where you have to throw it out. Plus polyester and satin are just the worst fabrics. Look for pieces with 100-50% based pieces in silk, lace, cashmere and denim instead. They’ll last longer and as they get older, you’ll look really really cool. Trust.
If you’re able to do a haul, don’t hit up Amazon and fill your cart with trash that’ll disintegrate the day after you wear it. Don’t stock up on unethically produced pieces from Zara (read about how much they’re ruining the planet here and LMK if you want to shop there after). And for the love of god, stop buying shit from Nasty Gal. It’s not even technically Nasty Gal anymore! BooHoo, another terrible brand, bought it after it the CEO ran it into bankruptcy, acted like she was an untouchable mean girl, and fired a group of women while they were out on maternity leave. Do not get me started. Just please stop supporting these places. Them, their clothing, and their bullshit business practices aren’t worth your money. If you really feel like burning a hole in your pocket, scroll to the bottom to shop where I do and feel better about where your dollar goes.
I know Amazon, Nasty Gal, She-In, H&M, and even Zara pay influencers to shop their site and film these videos or send them a wish list of things in return for free content, but can we stop supporting these places and giving this content the time of day? Seeing all these influencers participating in this shitty cycle of fast fashion is honestly upsetting. They have a reach of hundreds of thousands or millions of people and they choose to take money to advertise for these bad for the environment brands instead of pushing the idea to shop with the earth, your wallet and the longevity of your closet in mind. Meanwhile they all post sustainably themed things during earth day. Cute.
I know no one is perfect and we could all do better and be better humans, especially in these times, but seeing massive influencers promote fast fashion shopping en masse, it sends a bad message to their audience and personally makes me disappointed. I love Sivan, Tezza, and Rocky Barnes, but if they ever come across this post, I wish that they would make a bigger and better effort to shop sustainably and stop supporting these f’kd up fast fashion companies.
Shop sustainably and buy what you love. When you’re ready to rotate it for something new, don’t rush the process, sell it online if you can. You’ll make someone happy to have a “new” piece and the garment gets a whole second life. If you do want it gone right away, sell it at a consignment store, send it to Thred Up, donate it to Goodwill/Salvation Army or have it properly disposed of at H&M (the program isn’t perfect but its better than throwing it directly into the landfill)
HERE’S THE TLDR POINT:
Avoid buying (anything) en mass at: Zara, Amazon, She-In, Nasty Gal, Fashion Nova, Pretty Little Thing, BooHoo, Urban Outfitters.
This is an excellent place to check up on your favorite big brands and realize, they ain’t shit.
There are so many better options out there. Here are just a few of my favorites:
LUXE: Wasteland, The Real Real, Vestiaire Collective
BRANDS: Farm Rio, Reformation, We Are Hah, (all online)
ONLINE: The Real Real, Vestiaire Collective, Poshmark, Depop, Thred Up,
THIFTY: Crossroads, Poshmark, Depop, Goodwill,
