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This may be the case in the US, but in most of the world, places such as India, China, and even parts of Europe, people still hand down clothing, and have a ver

This may be the case in the US, but in most of the world, places such as India, China, and even parts of Europe, people still hand down clothing, and have a very real need for mending...

Freak_NL 8y ago
Even parts of Europe? That makes it sound as if this is just something poor Polish country folk do. This is common sense everywhere, including here in the fairly affluent Netherlands! We are expecting our first child, and the amount of second-hand clothing that found its way to us via family is astounding. Children outgrow clothing fast, so even without mending clothing gets reused as a matter of course.
- BossingAround 8y ago
  By parts of Europe, I meant that this may not be very common in the UK or Germany (no idea about Germany), but is definitely common in large parts of EU (Poland, sure, but also Portugal, and I think it's relatively common among the nordics, for example).
  - benj111 8y ago
    Even in the UK. Parents don't want to just throw out clothes, with their associated memories, so they try and pass them on. We bought 6 months of clothes for our son when he was born, and have barely bought anything since, he's 2 and a half now, and has more foot wear than me.
    - BossingAround 8y ago
      Interesting. My experience from London is, people buy clothes that they never even open, and donate them to charity 3-5 years later with tags still on. The consumerism I've seen is utterly ridiculous.
- TeMPOraL 8y ago
  Not so poor Pole here. We're expecting our first child. We could buying clothes & other stuff new, but my frugal wife went on-line, and in two months got us more than enough clothes for the first two years, + a stroller, for free, from local give-away groups. Couple of messages and short car trips is all it took, and in total, we're easily ~$1500 ahead because of that. Unless a second child happens, we'll likely give away all stuff in decent conditions too. Pay-it-forward & all. Speaking of those groups, she also managed to pick up an old Łucznik sewing machine that's older than our parents. It's repairable, indestructible, and has already created a bunch of stuff, including hand-made gifts. If that's a hallmark of a "poor" country, then I don't want to live in a "rich" one.

This may be the case in the US, but in most of the world, places such as India, China, and even parts of Europe, people still hand down clothing, and have a very real need for mending...

Freak_NL 8y ago

Even parts of Europe? That makes it sound as if this is just something poor Polish country folk do. This is common sense everywhere, including here in the fairly affluent Netherlands! We are expecting our first child, and the amount of second-hand clothing that found its way to us via family is astounding. Children outgrow clothing fast, so even without mending clothing gets reused as a matter of course.

BossingAround 8y ago
By parts of Europe, I meant that this may not be very common in the UK or Germany (no idea about Germany), but is definitely common in large parts of EU (Poland, sure, but also Portugal, and I think it's relatively common among the nordics, for example).
- benj111 8y ago
  Even in the UK. Parents don't want to just throw out clothes, with their associated memories, so they try and pass them on. We bought 6 months of clothes for our son when he was born, and have barely bought anything since, he's 2 and a half now, and has more foot wear than me.
  - BossingAround 8y ago
    Interesting. My experience from London is, people buy clothes that they never even open, and donate them to charity 3-5 years later with tags still on. The consumerism I've seen is utterly ridiculous.
TeMPOraL 8y ago
Not so poor Pole here. We're expecting our first child. We could buying clothes & other stuff new, but my frugal wife went on-line, and in two months got us more than enough clothes for the first two years, + a stroller, for free, from local give-away groups. Couple of messages and short car trips is all it took, and in total, we're easily ~$1500 ahead because of that. Unless a second child happens, we'll likely give away all stuff in decent conditions too. Pay-it-forward & all. Speaking of those groups, she also managed to pick up an old Łucznik sewing machine that's older than our parents. It's repairable, indestructible, and has already created a bunch of stuff, including hand-made gifts. If that's a hallmark of a "poor" country, then I don't want to live in a "rich" one.