“Dress for the World you Want.” It’s a powerful message from Oxfam, a charity that’s been around since 1942. Much like Bissell Centre, Oxfam has continually evolved to continue its mission to see an end to poverty. And like Bissell Thrift Shop, it wondered how clothing could help with its mission.
Oxfam took a bold move to launch a movement openly opposing the wasteful practices of fast fashion and how carelessly clothing is bought and thrown away: Second Hand September. This movement is meant to purposely coincide with Fashion Week, dedicating the month to dressing and buying second hand and proposing three pillars for a better way to approach our wardrobes:
Slow Fashion
Sustainable Fashion
Ethical Fashion
While these three ideas are closely related, they each propose new ways of thinking that help move towards better purchasing choices that benefit our planet and help reduce exploitation.
Slow Fashion
Typical fast fashion brands will release new lines based on a 52-season cycle each year – producing new pieces using countless forever chemicals as fast and as inexpensive as possible. Slow fashion takes as literal of an opposite approach, focusing on what materials are used to make the garment, how far did it have to travel, and even the working conditions for the people who make the clothing.
Folks following slow fashion often opt for independent designers and local-owned boutiques to ensure that their clothing is coming from producers and retailers that match their own morals and ethics. Most of all, slow fashion fans also love a solid thrift adventure – knowing that buying secondhand is one of the most direct ways to keep clothes out of landfills.
Sustainable Fashion
The idea of Sustainable Fashion specifically takes the environmental impacts of clothing into account when making purchasing choices. The amount of water needed to make the clothes we wear every day isn’t often considered – neither is the amount of Co2 emitted from production and transportation. And worst of all, these pieces often find their way to landfills – sometimes in less than a year from when they were first produced.
Thrifting truly takes center stage – what’s more sustainable than second hand? There’s no new production, limited transport, and (best of all) nothing winds up in a landfill!
Ethical Fashion
The human impact of the clothes we choose to buy is the main target of Ethical Fashion. Clothing manufacturing facilities overseas are notorious for poor working conditions, low wages, and few workers’ rights. Nowhere is this more prevalent than with fast fashion brands.
As controversies swirl, making human–centered choices with purchasing becomes more important – and thrifting makes that move to human–centered purchasing easier.
Second Hand September with Bissell Thrift Shop
Bissell Thrift Shop goes above and beyond when it comes to Ethical and Sustainable Fashion. In addition to keeping thousands of pounds of hard goods out of landfills each year, $0.89 from every dollar made at Bissell Thrift Shop goes to fund the programs that help people find their unique paths out of poverty.
Donations to Bissell Thrift Shop aren’t only sold in-store and online – they're first sorted for one of three destinations: the Community Closet (where Community Members get free new clothes), Family Support Services (helping hundreds of families each year), and only if the items aren’t appropriate for these programs, they’re then sold at the thrift shop.
Second Hand September is just the gateway that shows timeless style, unique fashion, and individual flare can all be found while shopping slowly, sustainably, and ethically.