Photo by Angèle Kamp on Unsplash

Clothing prices are all over the place. We’ve got $6 Forever 21 tee shirts and $996 Gucci tee shirts. We’ve got fast fashion, high fashion, slow fashion — underpriced clothing, overpriced clothing, and what the heck is a fair price for clothing?!

It’s no wonder that our perception of clothing prices is skewed. Fast fashion has dominated the clothing industry for many years, influencing our spending habits and convincing us that clothing is cheap and disposable. On the other end of the spectrum, we have high fashion’s ridiculously overpriced ware that convinces us that we’ve “finally made it” if we can afford their brands. We as consumers have been completely separated from the clothes-making process. Of course, we’re out of touch with the value and a fair cost of clothing.

With the mass variety of clothing at our fingertips, it makes sense that it’s normal to not give a second thought to the amount of time and resources needed to create a single article of clothing. We see the final product — we see hundreds of final products without a clue to how they got on the racks of thousands of stores available to us.

Fast fashion gave us an abundance to sort through at a cheap price. The majority of us bought into it. But the awe of “It’s so cheap!” has turned into an alarm. Take those too-good-to-be-true prices as a red flag — someone somewhere is paying the price. Thousands of people behind the fashion scenes are paying for it with their lives, and the impact that fast fashion’s practices have on the planet brings it back full circle. We are all connected.

So what is the answer to this massive problem of underpriced/ overpriced/ far too consumptive society that we’ve created?

We have to slow down. We have to unlearn a lot of what we were taught about the value of clothing. Clothing is both a necessity and a luxury. How we handle our clothing choices individually has an impact globally.

We can tackle this problem. It’s not going to be easy and the change we want to see isn’t going to happen overnight.

Do some research. Want to unskew your clothing price perception? Get ready to dig in and learn about the fashion industry, what goes on behind the scenes, and what the true cost of clothing is. Here are some of our past posts to get you started:

● Fast Fashion Vs Slow Fashion

● Fast Fashion’s Impact on the Environment

● Fast Fashion and the People Behind the Scenes

● Being a Conscious Consumer

Buy with intention. The most sustainable clothing option is the one that you already own. When your clothing needs to be replaced, that’s the best time to invest in ethical and sustainable pieces that have a positive impact and will last you longer.

Trust your gut. If it feels too good to be true, it is. Trust your gut instinct when it says it’s not worth it. Take those low prices as a red flag and walk the other way.

Set yourself up for success by avoiding places that make it easy to slide away from your shopping standards. Boundaries are a beautiful thing and only you can figure out a system that works best for you.

We get it though. Ethical and sustainable clothing isn’t cheap. Our clothes here at Franc aren’t cheap, but they’re worth it. There are a lot of fine details that go into every piece and we will always do our best, to be honest with our prices, to provide the most sustainable product that we can, and to ensure that everyone involved in the process is paid a fair wage.

We’re pumped that we’ve leveled up and can now serve you some of that fresh organic cotton. Take a look at our new arrivals and feel free to ask questions. We love it when you do.

Stay cozy. Stay sustainable.

We love being here to grow with you on this gorgeous planet.

Together we’re making small steps that are changing the future of fashion.

_______

Jade is a writer, potter, and gardener living in a sleepy town in Northern Ontario. They love growing food, creating functional stoneware, and hermiting with a book as much as possible.