3 ms·

100% agree on reducing! Still, are you suggesting that clothes should be kept forever? Because whether you're talking about someone who discards entire wardro

100% agree on reducing! Still, are you suggesting that clothes should be kept forever? Because whether you're talking about someone who discards entire wardrobes at the end of every season, or someone who rotates the same very-few items until they no longer fit, at some point people still need to do something with old clothes.

ezfe 4y ago
Yeah, and if you're disposing of few clothes, then throwing them away isn't unreasonable.
- denimnerd42 4y ago
  throwing away worn out clothes that don’t make good rags is my go to.
trgn 4y ago
> Still, are you suggesting that clothes should be kept forever? Fair point! > Because whether you're talking about someone who discards entire wardrobes at the end of every season I would assume these people buy high-end garments, and you'll find more boutique second hand stores that will take it. I suspect, if somebody is that devoted to fashion, it's more of a hobby or a passion, and I think we're all allowed a few vices, splurges, and wasteful pleasures. > or someone who rotates the same very-few items until they no longer fit I think the natural end point for heavily worn clothes would be as a rag?
- trebbble 4y ago
  > I think the natural end point for heavily worn clothes would be as a rag? This used to be a super-common middle class (and under, I suppose) habit, at least in the US. But synthetics make shitty rags, so that rules out a high percentage of modern cheap clothes of the sort that don't tend to get repaired or sold used, and material costs are so low that more people can easily afford to just buy cotton rags that'll perform better than strips of denim or old cotton t-shirts. Plus I don't think people do things that call for nigh-disposable cloth rags as much anymore (in our house they were mostly used for cleaning up engine grease or motor oil, but folks worked on their own cars and lawnmowers and such a lot more back then, and they were all ICE, not electric)
- mandevil 4y ago
  If you RtFA, you would see that she considers resellers, and points out that most clothes that are fashionable- especially for women, who are always judged more harshly in this sort of situation- don't hold up to wear and washing very well. One of the categories is specifically described as "ultra-cheap items that obviously wouldn’t survive machine washing but that would cost more to dry-clean than they did to buy." She also considers the larger point that "the resale economy, too, has boomed, and you can find new buyers for your old clothes on a slew of resale websites and apps, including eBay, Poshmark, Depop, and Facebook Marketplace." Reselling, however, well, falls into exactly the same consumerist trap that you started out proclaiming was the problem: "But the bigger issue, Le Zotte and Bédat both cautioned, is that resale apps and services aren’t really a bulwark against overconsumption, even though they feel that way (and even though they’re often marketed as such). Buying secondhand is definitely preferable to buying and discarding brand-new stuff, but if you’re constantly cycling through clothes and chasing trends, then you’re still just as much caught in the teeth of the fashion system as the rest of us." The lesson that I took from this article is that being a male computer engineer[1], and thus having social approval to look however the hell I want, is a great perk that I do not explicitly value enough. In fact, it is because I don't have to think about what I wear- I literally have a rotation of shirts and pants/shorts and just pick whatever is next in each category- that the perk is so large and I undervalue it so much. [1]: It helps that I fit into essentially every dominant caste category for my local region, I suspect, but my sample sizes are small enough here that I won't comment about that. My sample sizes on female computer engineers is large enough that I feel comfortable saying that they are held to higher standards of dress than I am.
  - jamiek88 4y ago
    My wife struggles with the social expectations on womens dress. She’s a geeky engineer at heart just like you and me. Shed happily cycle through the same few things but even as a scientist and health care provider not working in, say, marketing she gets judged hard on her clothes. It’s cost her promotions. It sucks and thank you for recognizing one of our subconscious privileges.
    - ungamed 4y ago
- psychphysic 4y ago
  > I think the natural end point for heavily worn clothes would be as a rag? This is what I do, but I read somewhere that old clothes make bad rags due to losing texture over the years of use and washing and especially fabric conditioner making clothes progressively less water absorbent.
krageon 4y ago
> the same very-few items until they no longer fit Why would they stop fitting?
- Pigalowda 4y ago
  Have you looked around lately? First people grow taller and then grow wider. Also elasticity wears out. Poorly fit shirts that are worn out look pretty sloppy. And I say this as someone who wears poorly fit clothing that is worn out.
- craftkiller 4y ago
  I've lost 80 pounds since the start of the pandemic. My old clothes do not fit.

ezfe 4y ago

Yeah, and if you're disposing of few clothes, then throwing them away isn't unreasonable.

denimnerd42 4y ago
throwing away worn out clothes that don’t make good rags is my go to.

trgn 4y ago

> Still, are you suggesting that clothes should be kept forever? Fair point! > Because whether you're talking about someone who discards entire wardrobes at the end of every season I would assume these people buy high-end garments, and you'll find more boutique second hand stores that will take it. I suspect, if somebody is that devoted to fashion, it's more of a hobby or a passion, and I think we're all allowed a few vices, splurges, and wasteful pleasures. > or someone who rotates the same very-few items until they no longer fit I think the natural end point for heavily worn clothes would be as a rag?

trebbble 4y ago
> I think the natural end point for heavily worn clothes would be as a rag? This used to be a super-common middle class (and under, I suppose) habit, at least in the US. But synthetics make shitty rags, so that rules out a high percentage of modern cheap clothes of the sort that don't tend to get repaired or sold used, and material costs are so low that more people can easily afford to just buy cotton rags that'll perform better than strips of denim or old cotton t-shirts. Plus I don't think people do things that call for nigh-disposable cloth rags as much anymore (in our house they were mostly used for cleaning up engine grease or motor oil, but folks worked on their own cars and lawnmowers and such a lot more back then, and they were all ICE, not electric)
mandevil 4y ago
If you RtFA, you would see that she considers resellers, and points out that most clothes that are fashionable- especially for women, who are always judged more harshly in this sort of situation- don't hold up to wear and washing very well. One of the categories is specifically described as "ultra-cheap items that obviously wouldn’t survive machine washing but that would cost more to dry-clean than they did to buy." She also considers the larger point that "the resale economy, too, has boomed, and you can find new buyers for your old clothes on a slew of resale websites and apps, including eBay, Poshmark, Depop, and Facebook Marketplace." Reselling, however, well, falls into exactly the same consumerist trap that you started out proclaiming was the problem: "But the bigger issue, Le Zotte and Bédat both cautioned, is that resale apps and services aren’t really a bulwark against overconsumption, even though they feel that way (and even though they’re often marketed as such). Buying secondhand is definitely preferable to buying and discarding brand-new stuff, but if you’re constantly cycling through clothes and chasing trends, then you’re still just as much caught in the teeth of the fashion system as the rest of us." The lesson that I took from this article is that being a male computer engineer[1], and thus having social approval to look however the hell I want, is a great perk that I do not explicitly value enough. In fact, it is because I don't have to think about what I wear- I literally have a rotation of shirts and pants/shorts and just pick whatever is next in each category- that the perk is so large and I undervalue it so much. [1]: It helps that I fit into essentially every dominant caste category for my local region, I suspect, but my sample sizes are small enough here that I won't comment about that. My sample sizes on female computer engineers is large enough that I feel comfortable saying that they are held to higher standards of dress than I am.
- jamiek88 4y ago
  My wife struggles with the social expectations on womens dress. She’s a geeky engineer at heart just like you and me. Shed happily cycle through the same few things but even as a scientist and health care provider not working in, say, marketing she gets judged hard on her clothes. It’s cost her promotions. It sucks and thank you for recognizing one of our subconscious privileges.
  - ungamed 4y ago
psychphysic 4y ago
> I think the natural end point for heavily worn clothes would be as a rag? This is what I do, but I read somewhere that old clothes make bad rags due to losing texture over the years of use and washing and especially fabric conditioner making clothes progressively less water absorbent.

krageon 4y ago

> the same very-few items until they no longer fit Why would they stop fitting?

Pigalowda 4y ago
Have you looked around lately? First people grow taller and then grow wider. Also elasticity wears out. Poorly fit shirts that are worn out look pretty sloppy. And I say this as someone who wears poorly fit clothing that is worn out.
craftkiller 4y ago
I've lost 80 pounds since the start of the pandemic. My old clothes do not fit.