I cannot deny I love a bargain. The ability to return home with an entire outfit for under £20 excites me. However, earlier this year research by War on Want publicised the working conditions in overseas factories of British high street fashion stores.
Unsurprisingly, fashion giant Primark was the worst offender paying its employees in Pakistan a reported five pence an hour. So will our love for cheap and cheerful fashion be over-ruled by our morals or are we willing to turn a blind eye in order to bag a bargain?
Before 2003, Primark was largely viewed by fashionistas as an uncredible clothing supplier. I myself would shy away from the store, thinking if I stepped foot inside I would be rubbing shoulders with the unemployed and people who wore shell suits.
However, one day a friend managed to drag me in and despite the shell suits I was captivated by a navy military jacket which was on sale for a mere £10. The cotton was scrappy and the stitching was unfinished, but I bought it anyway, thinking even if it falls apart after two washes, the price per wear is still cheaper than a loaf of value bread.
I’m no Kate Moss but the jacket was featured in Vogue’s fashion pages that month. Primark was officially on the fashion map and like the majority of British women; it has since been my first port of call when shopping on the high street. The love affair began.
Three years later, I still have the jacket, I haven’t worn it for two of those, but as I look at it now, I consider who the real fashion victim in all of this is? Is it me, for returning to Primark every week and giving in to throw away fashion? Or is the real victim the factory worker who cannot even afford my jacket after working for an entire month to produce it
After some thought, I don’t even like the jacket that much, but like everything that is sold in Primark, and many other high street stores, it is shrouded with the ‘throwaway” fashion mentality. I’m not saying that from now on I’m only going to buy designer – and neither am I saying that I will never shop in Primark again. However, as I keep thinking about it, I think as a Western world we have become so blaze in our buying habits that we have forgotten the real cost of the latest commodities.
Let us not cut Primark from our lives, it is undeniably a wonder (I bought an electric blue woolen coat for £20 last week), but let us merely adapt our attitudes to it. Every relationship changes and develops; from now on my love affair with Primark will take on a whole new stance.
Hannah’s tips for beating the addiction:
- Cut down on weekly excursions to Primark thus providing less support for the sub standard working conditions.
- Instead of merely sending my throw away fashion onto a landfill site I will be dropping them into my local charity shop thus helping another cause
- Plan ahead by deciding what you want before you actually go in, how many floral print dresses does one girl need?
- Last but not least…careful of the items around the tills, slipper socks will never be on trend, no matter how cheap they are.
Posted by BB 
Posted by BB 
