Fast fashion creates impossible cycle

Fashion is an illustration of self-expression but with recent trends changing at lightning speed, some believe rewearing the same outfit is a faux pas.
Many trends are synonymous with fashionable zombies – once they die, they are bound to revive decades later. 
Most people believe in the 20-year fashion rule, which is the notion that if people simply “look back twenty years, [they’ll] find the style inspiration many are drawing from today,” according to a Dec. 23, 2021 Forbes 
article.
However some fashion enthusiasts like Wila Mae Navarro, advertising junior and 
editor-in-chief for SJSU’s Her Campus chapter, see the 20-year trend cycle disappearing.
Her Campus is a college women’s magazine, for women and by women according to 
Her Campus’s about webpage. 
“We don’t really have that anymore,” Navarro said. “There’s a new trend like every week, so it’s almost like nothing is trending because everything is trending at the same time.”
She said she understands that fashion is supposed to be fun but she encourages people to shop secondhand pieces or purchase clothing items that they are going to love for a long time.
Micro-trends are a recent phenomena that distinguish itself from normal ones because they rise in popularity but leave the trend cycle much faster. 
“Some [micro-trends last] less than one season,” according to a July 29 Good On You article, a platform reviewing clothing companies by their level of sustainability 
and ethics.
Prizzy Bosuego, business marketing junior and buyer at the San Jose curated thrift store Classic Loot, wants to provide sustainable, cute outfits that can be repeated regardless of trends.
Classic Loot is a thrift store located in Japantown, San Jose that sells secondhand and vintage clothing, along with accessories and other fun items, according to their Instagram page.
 “I can kind of see where [someone is] coming from . . . but I feel like with the pieces that you made with that outfit, they can definitely be worn way more than once [or] twice,” Bosuego said.
SJSU alumna Jackelin Solorio shopped secondhand most of her life because she couldn’t afford new clothing but has never felt pressured to rewear.
“I always found a way to either accessorize or change something with my shoes, belt, or a scarf [to] feel like I’m creating a new look,” Solorio said. “But I can understand how this is something that may worry people who are just starting and learning how to shop responsibly.” 
As a lifelong advocate of secondhand shopping, Solorio said she also sees it as a more environmentally friendly approach 
now. 
“I found joy in finding and giving second opportunities to clothing that’s [been] discarded, and I feel that our society would benefit from being a little bit more sustainable and not just creating more landfill,” 
Solorio said.
She said following simple fashion rules allow her to feel sustainable while holding her accountable about fashion waste.
The U.S. generated about 13 million tons of clothing and footwear, according to a 2018 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report. 
The study also found that of that 13 million tons of clothing and footwear, 9 million tons were sent to landfills that year.
Bruce Olszewski, environmental lecturer and director of the Center for the Development, said that people wish-cycle – the practice of unintentionally recycling non-recyclables while hoping that it will actually be 
recycled – fashion without recognizing its detrimental impact.
“People buy it and use it then they end up ultimately discarding it, because it’s ripped or torn, or it’s out of fashion,” he said.
Olszewski said clothing - particularly fast fashion - is made from different polymers and plastics that are developed using unsustainable material including oil and often goes to landfills. 
“There’s no market to take that [fast fashion] material and process it. So we have stuff [that’s] got some polymers in it [and] it’s not gonna get recycled, Olszewski said. “There’s not a mechanism for that.”
He also said the volume of material in the fashion industry is proportional to the increasing waste stream over time, especially when considering the whole supply chain which also uses a lot of unsustainable products and practices.
“As far as the stigma, I think it’s very harmful financially [and] socially,” Prizzy Bosuego said. “We always feel like we need something fun and fresh every single fucking day. I feel like when you buy a piece, your intention should be to wear it more than once.”