Are the Victorians Responsible for Fast Fashion? Ft. Dress Historian Dr Serena Dyer

Find more of Serena @SerenaDyer

Research Assistant: Heathcliff McLean

Editing by @DannyBanner
@danbanstudio

--CITATIONS--
[1] Godey, Louis A. 1887. Godey’s Lady’s Book. Magazine. Private Collection.
[11] Lucy in the Dressmaker’s Workroom, at the West-End of London. 1858. Etching. Private Collection.

Want to get started with hand sewing?

Beyond YouTube:
Management contact for business enquiries:

Soundtrack:
“I Have a Plan, Mr Norton” by Arthur Benson
“Organized Chaos” by Arthur Benson
“Simple Pleasantries” by Arthur Benson
“Prescient” by Howard Harper-Barnes
“Careless Wandering” by Arthur Benson
“Here, There” by Yehezkel Raz
“Hidden” Ardie Son

[christinareynolds]

Okay I need to say this because it’s been on my mind for two years. I am a thrift store worker. The number one reason I don’t put clothing onto the rack for resale: is dirty. I get rid of 90% of clothing donated to my thrift store because donators don’t spend the brief amount of time needed to send their things through the washer and dryer. If you want to be sure your donations will go to a new home. Wash it, dry it, fold it. This will drastically change how thrift stores work.

Edit: THANK YOU to all of those who wash your clothes. We many thrift store workers appreciate it.

[penname]

My mom talked about working in a clothing factory as a child in Hong Kong in the 60s or 70s, it's not clear when since all she told me was "I started working when I was nine" and that's really kept me from ignoring the cost of all the fashion available to me growing up in the west. She had tinnitus from the loud machines and knew how to fold all the plastic bagged shirts pants etc by muscle memory. When my friends cluelessly try to sell me on how great they think Shien is, all I think is the cheapness means there's a human cost. The low consumer price of Shien means the high impact on folks like my mom. Buy less and mend what you already have before mindlessly consuming, please.

[damelanieg]

okay...dating myself here, but i remember even in the early 80's seeing things in stores and saving my money for MONTHS to get it, and the satisfaction of going into the store when I'd finally managed to save enough babysitting money to get that item. It was still there, in the store, on the manequin, sometimes even on sale because it was end of season. Now it seems like if you like something and you don't pick it up right away, it's not there when you go back. It feels like we've been brainwashed to buy buy buy before it's gone gone gone. 😣

[pay]

i always die a bit inside when a youtuber does a shein haul and goes on and on about how good the quality is, meanwhile i can see all the unfinished edges and can hear the shitty polyester crackling in the mic. people really have no idea what good quality is anymore.

[charlottenorskau]

I'm a cosplayer. In that community, there is nowadays also a fast fashion element. People will buy a trending sweatshop cosplay to wear at a singular event and then throw it out. To me, that is bonkers, because those are not cheap! That's about a hundred dollars per day per event, no entry included! How are people doing that? I cosplay mostly thrifted or carefully self-made things with a ton of details, because that's what I like. I don't fault people for not being able to do that, buying cosplay is perfectly fine. Heck, I've done it! However, please, RE-WEAR things. I admit I'm not always the best at that myself - but I am proud that I resell things I no longer wear and have not thrown anything away. The point being, consider cost per wear and be smart about it, and thrift whenever possible. Whether cosplaying or not.

[dagnolia]

i was at a fair admiring a sellers small batch dyed yarns; i noticed small photos of individual sheep pinned up around various batches. i asked. the seller KNEW the NAMES of the sheep, how old they were, and even volunteered that the wool wasn't the same each season!!!

[Heyitscryz]

I'm a full time roofer in germany. Workwear is also slowly getting the fast fashion treatment through marketing strategies. Because of your channel I learned how to sew and am able to fix my workwear myself so I don't have to buy new clothing. Neverless I do have to buy new workwear and I do experience the lack of quality over the years. 😑

[Blutzen]

As somebody that has never (nor cared to) kept up with seasonal fashion trends, these fast fashion brands make it incredibly difficult to find and buy quality clothes when the clothes you've owned and worn for 15+ years are getting threadbare and spouting holes fast enough to finally call them worn out and need replacement. I _want_ to buy something nice that will last, but online stores for new and used clothes both are full of these things that are made to last _maybe_ one wash cycle if you're lucky.

[because...]

Ok but can we appreciate how Bernadette conveyed the “20th century” consumer 😆

[DualKeys]

I've noticed over the years that the quality of my husband's usual brand of blue jeans went way down. His old pairs lasted him ages, but now I can spend $40 on a pair of jeans and there's a hole in them within a year. And it's not like he's abusing them, either. He's a music teacher!

[spacebuns]

sorry i haven't watched this video yet but in india we find out as early as in grade school history class, how during the industrial revolution colonisers destroyed our cottage industries of fine cotton weaving, and forced our cultivators to sell cheap cotton for british mills, and then forced us to buy their mill-manufactured clothing. because they needed quick profits corresponding to the speed of their machine production. so.. yes victorians definitely are responsible for fast fashion.

[MistressOfInsanity]

The Vimes Boots Theory is incredibly applicable here. Yes, the garment is affordable for someone low income but it will only last wearing/laundering a few months which leads to having to replace it more compared to a more expensive/better made garment lasting years.

[Fallowsthorn]

I suppose my "technique" to avoid fast fashion is called "have a slightly older cousin steadily outgrow their clothes from ages 3-16."

[sipoftea]

There was this dress on Shein that I wanted for so long, but I knew it must be a knockoff of some actual quality garment. So I finally sat down and found what probably was the original, and it was on sale! 4 times the price but now I have my dream dress and it won't die immediately.

[Hide_and_silk]

As a kid in the UK in the 60s and 70s, I remember my mum doing 'piece work' at home - piece work is paid per completed piece. She received crates of 50 items at a time...jackets, pairs of trousers etc. She was paid 2p (2 cents) for a finished pair of trousers and mistakes had to be corrected in her own time and at her own expense. For context, at that time a bag of potato chips / crisps cost 3p.

[momcat]

Having worked in a fabric production/clothing manufacturing factory [and having had both my lungs and ears damaged as a result] in my youth forever changed my attitude toward fashion. Although now retired from my office job, for decades my business attire consisted of pieces that were 'timeless' and 'classic' in that they never went out of style. Seeing the industry from the inside kept me off the trend merry-go-round because I knew someone, somewhere, had suffered for the 'new hotness' and I just couldn't participate. Hoping this video will make folks stop and think.

[LauraPelofske]

I went to a design college and was fascinated by the apparel design program, always peeking at the students work, taking electives under apparel when I could. But the exploitation, waste, and environmental impact was something I wanted no part of, and went off pursuing my web application design degree instead. Apparel became a hobby. I sketch designs for myself and make a portion of my own clothes, and mend things here and there. I love acquiring skills in couture techniques and have honed my textile judgement. Only now I'm pondering how a professional focus on apparel could actually factor into my life (I'm 40). It feels like such a difficult space, even with more interest, mainly because of what people can afford, or feel they can afford.

[ladytinter-AlleyKat]

As a senior in high school, I'd thumb through Mom's magazines looking for ideas. I'd then go to the House of Fabrics in Huntington Park, CA and find a pattern close to what I liked buy it ($.50)and then head home and paw through my Mom's barrels and boxes of fabrics until I found one that was right and then make it. Until now, I knew nothing of Shein. However, I have bought 25 years of Harley Davidson t-shirts and sweatshirts and leather stuff because I am not ever going to make a t-shirt of any kind and I've got a lot to wear out. I do make a lot of stuff using wedding dresses, large sheets like satins, saving the laces and trims too - from the Goodwill type stores and ripping, washing and making stuff or just storing until a need arises. Being fortunate enough to knit and crochet, I could live very happily never seeing a department store.
Great video as always and both ladies - you look lovely!!!

[andromedaspark]

The USA has issues treating workers like humans too. My brother works in a window factory here. Over half (closer to 3/4) of the workers aren't legally in the country and work on stolen social security numbers and management knows it because the same guys come back with new names every year. They have mandatory overtime working 12 hour days at times with days off frequently cancelled. My sister's husband works Uber which has few worker rights as well. Both their families buy Shein and Walmart clothes thinking it's all they can afford, and hold onto it. It isn't worn once at all. Worker's rights aren't just terrible in China/Bangladesh/etc. (My state Ohio has no guaranteed breaks or meal breaks, no guaranteed sick/maternity pay or vacations, and overtime can be demanded for however long the employer wants. Wage theft by employers making rules that result in unpaid labor is an issue too)

[fernandagonzalez]

Can we talk about the struggle that is trying to find ready to wear clothing made of natural fibre fabrics nowadays? I feel like this pandemic has made it even worse!!