Tik Tok is perfect platform for this to have happen, because Tik Tok is suited for short-lived trends, particularly those involving products. Maybelline’s sky High mascara, Eos shaving cream, and a plethora of other products are instances of this. There’s even a Tik Tok hashtag dedicated to this trend, “# tiktokmademebuyit.” It’s where you can share your review on anything Tik Tok compelled you to buy. Tik Tok has various types of genres that make me buy their trends, such as makeup, skincare, food, but most of the time it’s clothes. There is an obsession with and glamorization of fast fashion, because of its overconsumption. Tik Tok, Instagram, and YouTube are all presently glamorizing it. YouTube influencers show off their closets, which are filled with so many clothes that they resemble a mini-store, because users on social media believe it’s a ‘flex’ that you can purchase so much clothing. Fast fashion is a series of chain retailers that can take inspiration from the runways and quickly create garments in a “see now buy now” retail environment.

SHEIN is on the rise. Tik Tok shows individuals buying a lot of SHEIN clothes and using Tik Tok to perform try-ons, reviews, and hauls. Fast fashion isn’t manufactured by machines; in fact, most of your clothing is handmade. Unfortunately, it is manufactured in sweatshops. Behind the scenes, child labor is often used since the fast fashion business demands low-skilled labor, so they don’t have to pay them probably. Imagine spending 14 hours on a single item, just to have a random teenager on Tik Tok show it out for a 15-second clip, and then throwing it away. Every year, the average American discards over 18 pounds of clothes, just to replace them with more clothing and accessories. The trend of buying in bulk from these fast fashion stores has become a huge problem, with many individuals donating their clothing to Goodwill and vintage stores. Then you’re left with nothing except SHEIN clothes, which aren’t even of high quality. Growing cotton to make a jacket, will have taken 10,330 litters of water. 24 years of drinking water to make one jacket. Today the average American buys 68 pieces of clothing a year, because of this dominant force in clothing industry. Fast fashion has thoroughly infiltrated our environment and will eventually destroy it. Fast fashion items are frequently made from low-quality materials that do not break down, resulting in a slew of microplastics entering our oceans and soils when consumers discard their clothing.

We must all do our part to help save the world, but I do not believe that this responsibility shouldn’t be placed only on the shoulders of consumers. People should not be quick to criticize individuals who purchase fast fashion; brands must be conscious that their products have an environmental impact. Big corporations and celebrities have a great deal of power and influence over what they produce and sell; it’s just a fact that they don’t want to be sustainable; they don’t want the underclass to be able to afford their products, which is a shame. We can be a little more sustainable by renting our clothes when we attend an event. People frequently buy clothing and then store it in their closets for years, never wearing it again. If you have a photoshoot or a picture day at school, it’s far easier to rent clothing and then return it so that someone else may use it. A closet swap is a second-best option. It’s something you can do with a friend or your siblings. Closet swaps are great because you’re trading one item for another rather than donating or trashing it.

Arguments and criticisms against fast fashion were common on Tik Tok, but the debate about the SHEIN apocalypse became more involved, and individuals began to combat these arguments and criticisms. They were saying, “You’re actually in a privileged position if you can criticize those who can’t afford sustainable fashion, or how the fast-fashion problem is a rich people problem, and those who fast fashion shame are genuinely the ones in the wrong,”.  Not everyone can afford to give up the accessibility and low prizes that fast fashion brands have to offer. Also its extremely unproductive to demonize those who partake in fast fashion because it’s shaming people who truly are in need and have no other options. Many of these people who purchase for moral reasons will try to persuade you that “why buy fake leather boots for $40 dollars when you can save up and invest in real authentic leather boots that will last even longer?” This is a good point, but what if $40 dollars is the only money they have? In cases like this, convenience takes precedence over principles. We want the feeling of luxury without paying full price, and we want to appear expensive-ish. Because their outfits have to be eye-catching for Instagram users, whenever they go out the clothes have to be different than last week’s look because it’s on Instagram, which means we have to rotate different styles all the time. We have the ability to change. That doesn’t mean we have to give up our passion for fashion or fantastic clothing. It simply means that when we treat ourselves to something new, we should appreciate it. The solution is to value what we have, buy less, and therefore waste less, while also purchasing higher-quality clothing.

Today’s fashion trends are all about minimalism and looking the same as everyone else, and it’s dull! You go ahead and rock your plaid skirts, darling!

Plus-size individuals and people in the lower class are frequently scapegoated or gaslighted into feeling that everything is their fault and that they must improve, but I believe there is something fundamentally wrong with all sides of this debate. We spend so much time tearing each other down when the problem is actually with the brands themselves. These brands are not respectful of their workers, and they do not use the proper materials. I understand that this is the purpose of fast fashion, but it isn’t always the fault of the consumer. I believe we spend a lot of time holding each other responsible for things over which we have no control. We need to hold these companies accountable! It’s almost like a competition to see who can outperform the other. Our clothing and where we buy it has become a class issue, and it’s now being entwined with our ideas. So, if you purchase fast fashion, you’re essentially saying to the world, “My priorities are larger than people who own tiny businesses,” but if you buy ethically, you’re basically saying, “I am considerably more principled.” There is no way of winning at this point!

SHEIN advertising will target you based on your previous search activity or the sort of website you may have visited. Ads are struggling to catch our attention, and they are struggling to get us to interact with them and buy their products, because people have become self-aware and recognize when they are being sold a product, and we might not always like it. When it comes to business advertising, these brands will frequently try to infiltrate your friend zone through a communal relationship, telling you that there is a mutual caring and support relationship. Ads are irritating because clutter and distractions are massive distractions. Installing an adblocker improves your internet experience significantly: websites load faster, and no hideous pop-ups appear in the corner of your eye, begging for your attention.

We know that fast fashion is indeed damaging to the environment and what we can do to help the environment. We also know that a lot people don’t have the options to not contribute to these factors. Even when we do want to shop sustainable sometime these brands are just green washed. So either way you’re still contributing waste, whether its literal clothing. Even when people want to shop on the basis of sustainability and thrift, people will get fun of for not being able to be in fashion, which pressures people to go back to fast fashion in order to avoid this.