A viral tweet has sparked a fierce discussion online about how clothing quality has gone down over the years, with shirts from 2014 lasting far longer than similar options today that are falling apart at the seams.
‘F*** fast fashion but my clothes purchased in 2014 from Urban Outfitters have lasted 8x longer than your “sustainable” slow fashion brand,’ US-based X (formerly Twitter) user Arianna, who goes by @virtualjew, wrote in a now-viral thread.
Arianna later tweeted, ‘My American Apparel clothes mostly don’t fit anymore bc (because) were form fitting but s/o (shout-out) to UO for lasting all these… years,’ before continuing, ‘There should be a separate review site where you only are allowed to review products after owning them for 5-10 years.’
The tweet was favorited more than 42,000 times, as commenters agreed that their newer items didn’t last as long as clothing purchased in the early and mid-2000s.
US-based X user Arianna’s viral tweet (pictured) has sparked a fierce discussion online about how fast fashion has ruined clothing quality over the years
‘F*** fast fashion but my clothes purchased in 2014 from Urban Outfitters have lasted 8x longer than your “sustainable” slow fashion brand,’ she wrote. Pictured left are Urban Outfitters shirts and on the right is another fast fashion brand American Apparel
One commenter, who tweets as Sustainable Girl, explained, ‘Well back in the day, there were no “trends” changing at the speed of the light.’
A commenter joked, ‘Me with my 2011 American Apparel skater dress,’ as another tweeted, ‘My 2007 American Eagle pieces are still in rotation. What were they making them out of? All the seams hang straight after all these years? They’re all stiff cotton-y items.’
Another standout brand from the mid-aughts? Band tees from pop punk haven Hot Topic, with one person pointing out, ‘I have Hot Topic band shirts from high school in better shape than shirts I’ve purchased less than a year ago. Wtf happened?! (I know, it was profit chasing).’
Another commenter clarified, ‘There’s actually a very good reason for this! Typically, places like Urban Outfitters like to use synthetic fibers (aka plastic), which can last a lot longer than natural fibers, which is [probably] what the slow brands use.
‘The trade-off is that they don’t decompose, so if you’re the type of person who will wear the same clothing for 10+ years, synthetic pieces would work better for you, but if you like to trend-chase, choose natural fibers, since they’ll decompose. Fabric choice more nuanced than a lot of people make it seem.’
‘Unfortunately most clothing’s polyester/plastic now,’ another fashion fan tweeted, suggesting Quince for long lasting organic cotton clothes.
One person voiced their opinion that some sustainable brands are not long lasting, explaining, ‘I’ve never bought sustainable because I can’t afford it but I’ve heard they don’t last. I think clothes that you can use for a long time are way more sustainable then the ones that turn into rags.’
Other commenters took issue with what products are made of, with one tweeting, ‘Bought vegan leather boots and it started peeling off after a few months. I was pissed off and got military hard leather boots to replace them. These will last a lifetime.’
On X, people talked about their favorite brands and clothing from the mid-2000s, while discussing how current clothing seems to fall apart quickly
Another agreed, ‘Hilarious but true, somehow sustainability has been warped by capitalism.’
Many people were simply focused on how well their older clothing lasted, tweeting, ‘I still wear almost all my clothes I got in 2013. I think a lot of stuff was constructed better at the time – quality fabrics, good seams, good fit. They were built more for wearing than for looking.’
One commenter joked, ‘Fast fashion will either disintegrate after two wears or outlive you and your children.’
So why aren’t clothes lasting more than one trend cycle? FEMAIL spoke to fast fashion and sustainable clothing experts to find out.
Brooklyn-based author and professor Elizabeth Cline, who wrote The Conscious Closet, and is an expert on fast fashion and sustainability, told FEMAIL, ‘One of the main reasons quality has changed is that pricing and consumer habits have changed.’
‘Because clothing is so cheap and consumers don’t keep their clothing for as long, there’s simply less of a need to create long-lasting products,’ Elizabeth explained.
‘Consumers are willing to trade some aspects of quality in place of trendiness and affordability.’
People complained their old shirts and dresses from Urban Outfitters (left is Monica Irani in 2004) and American Apparel (right) lasted longer than current brands
Elizabeth added that multiple factors led to more expensive but lower quality products, including the fact that ‘very cheap polyester and other synthetic materials are far more popular and ubiquitous than they were a decade or two ago, and the quality of these materials is much better than it was in years past.’
According to Elizabeth, ‘cheap synthetics that mimic luxury materials pushed quality natural fabrics like cashmere, leather, wool, and 100 per cent cotton into more of a luxury niche.’
There’s a reason affordable cotton and cashmere are hard to come by. ‘Clothing manufactures know they can charge more for these better mostly natural materials than they once could because they’re harder to come by and most consumers are fine to simply wear the synthetic imitation,’ Elizabeth advised.
However, the fashion sustainability expert does believe that fast fashion is higher quality today, albeit not as enduring.
Now, Elizabeth thinks ‘the materials feel better and perform better, the sewing is straighter, the dyes hold their color longer and the fit is better.’
Elizabeth explained the reason garments feel like they’re falling apart is because many times, brands skip final steps like lining a garment or tailoring an item perfectly because they know ‘most consumers are buying clothes to wear for a few seasons and the brands and retailers would rather sell more clothing versus have us wear things until they wear out.’
‘The era of buying things to last is mostly behind us,’ Elizabeth warned.
Today, clothing is only meant to survive the trend cycle and won’t last as long because it’s made out of synthetic fabrics and is not perfectly tailored or lined
While some people on X complained about sustainable brands not lasting as long, these brands are ultimately better for fashion’s environmental impact in the long run.
‘Many brands that market themselves as sustainable have dramatically changed the production process they’re using to make new materials,’ Elizabeth said.
‘On the whole, they use less water, they use safer chemicals, they create less waste, they use fibers that regenerate instead of depleting the land, support ethical working conditions, and if they’re not doing these things, they shouldn’t market themselves as green,’ Elizabeth said.
But that doesn’t mean every product is perfect. ‘Some of them are startups and the hiccups in quality or fit are sometimes simply growing pains,’ Elizabeth clarified.
Dr. Jay Yoo, an Associate Professor at Baylor University in Texas who researches consumer perspectives, told DailyMail.com, ‘Overall, we see more and more consumers buying clothing as [if] clothing is disposable.’
‘Relative to income, people actually spend less money on clothing, while they buy more items,’ Dr. Yoo revealed.
Because they’re buying more for less, Dr. Yoo explained ‘fast fashion retailers produce lower-quality clothing and sell it to consumers.’
According to Dr. Yoo, who has been published in the Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, fast fashion ‘looks good on mannequins, but does not last after a few washes.’
Now, retailers are more focused on ‘fast delivery and cheap production’ than craftsmanship, the associate professor noted.
And because the trends are changing so quickly, Dr. Yoo said that ‘consumers would like to buy more clothing at an affordable price.’