I don’t often buy clothes because a) they’re expensive and b) very little on the high street catches my interest, but I’ve noticed some cool (and affordable) clothes on Shein over the last few months, particular pink/light purple clothes for guys which can be difficult to find mainstream. Now I need to buy a sweater or two and I’m wondering where to go.
I’d never heard of Shein before, so I decided to look them up. Ah, they’re a Chinese brand, okay, so does that explain the bucketload of hit pieces I found?
I’m finding shit telling me their brand of fast fashion is low quality, terrible for the environment, has questionable supply chains, etc. etc. etc. - now my question is, does anyone know if there’s any validity to this? How do they stack up against western clothing brands, who likely have the same exact issues but charge $40 for a shirt?
i thought fast fashion was mostly an industry wide critique. i dont imagine theres a discrete factory with poor practices that just makes shein garments or any other brand for that matter. all these companies suck and have a stranglehold on affordable (new) clothes
I would describe it as buying stuff on the lower side of quality compared to what you’d find in a mall, closer to like, brands you’ve not heard of on Amazon, or stuff that’s cheaper in department stores or at lower end dedicated mall stores. It’s possible to get nicer stuff around that $40 mark in a mall, but that’s not so possible with stuff like shein, so expect it to not last that many washes or be super durable to damage.
They do worse than average with machine washing, they break down faster than other fast fashion brands in my experience.
From what my wife has bought, it’s basically cutting out the American fast fashion middle man. Especially with craft supplies, ie beads. Michaels will charge you 5-10x for less of the same thing.
Only warning is I’ve heard some stuff has some lead contamination which is no bueno. Quality wise its not too far off from h&m for the ladies clothes I’ve seen. H&M mens stuff is a bit better, not counting jeans.
As a bit of a fashion wonk I’d say shien is def the fastest, dirtiest, cheapest, and lowest quality stuff but esp if you really can’t find the piece in your size/ color anywhere else and it won’t be worn out too heavily then its def an option. Don’t feel too bad cause it’s on par with other fast fashion but obv don’t start ordering 10 pieces a week from them ya know.
My tip would be to reverse image search the clothes you like on Google and if you don’t get any hits make a good search description of the peice and go to depop, grailed, then your local thrift store! More time consuming but vintage is usually higher quality, same price, and keeps the planet one shirt healthier.
