I think there's a false dichotomy between the evils of fast fashion, and either sewing your own clothes or paying hundreds of $ for made to measure. I can sew, but I am HERE for cheap clothing, and I'll tell you why.

I went to Factory 2-U at Mission & 23rd, and did a teardown of: $3 shirts, $5 jacket, $3 child's sweatshirt and pants, $4 sweater. Some were made with cheap fabric and cheap labour, but most had some element of circular-economy style reuse. https://medium.com/@ruthgracewong/cheap-clothes-exploitation-or-sustainability-c4c478819d13

This Batman vs Dracula outfit costs $3 for the set. Look closely at the grey fabric.

Anyone remember Zoo York? It's a skater brand popular in the 90s and 2000s. But this outfit was definitely not sewn by Zoo York. The brand is Bentex.

What probably happened is that some Zoo York clothes that couldn't be sold, or were already used, had children's pants cut out of them and were remixed in the Batman outfit.

Here's another example: a $5 crop jacket. Fully lined, with zipper, pockets, jacket, buttons, and made in China where labour is no longer super cheap.

Turn it inside out and -- what's that on the sleeve? This garment is a factory reject that failed quality control. That explains why there were multiple jackets on the store rack. They're probably all from the same factory.

Here's another garment with a sewing mistake... can you spot it?

There's a chain stitch on the top of the kangaroo pocket of the hoodie. It doesn't match the bottom of the pocket. Someone at the factory probably messed up that edge, and there wasn't enough fabric left to do the nice fold over seam.

Some more obvious examples of reuse: check out this rack of $5 jean shorts

All the jeans are different, so they weren't mass manufactured. Looking closely, the tags are either blacked out, or large enough to cover the original tag. These are used jeans that have been shipped from the USA to a factory overseas, turned into jean shorts, and shipped back.

$4.99 Scrubs! Again, large tag and unique colors.

Children's jackets are an obvious candidate for reselling -- lightly used, quickly outgrown.

Cheap clothing that is inexpensive because it has been discarded, either by the factory during quality control, or by consumers after being worn, is the closest I've ever come to ethical consumption under capitalism.

IMO the missing catalyst for a circular economy is an incentive to create high quality, durable, classically beautiful garments that are still worth something on their 2nd, or even 3rd time in the market. Who knows, maybe it won't happen at all until government policy forces it.

Cheap clothes will never die, but I look forward to a day when flimsy fad fashion is no longer profitable.