3 minute read
SUSTAINABLE FASHION
BUYING BUYING LONG-TERM LONG-TERM PIECES MAY PIECES MAY SUIT YOUR SUIT YOUR WARDROBE WARDROBE BETTER BETTER THAN FAST THAN FAST FASHION FASHION
By Kevin Druley Photos provided by Six Cypress and Always in Style
Fast-fashion clothing often comes at a price beyond face value. Sure, paying $12 for a new top may extend that shopping fund now, but what do you suppose happens to the worth of a mass-produced, low-quality garment after a handful of wash cycles? Gauging by interaction with customers and the types of items being sold, Kane County boutique and consignment shop owners attest to an emerging fashion statement. “Sustainable” and “chic,” it turns out, are antonyms no more. “It feels like it’s changed so much over the last few years where people always wanted the trendiest thing or what they would see celebrities wearing or something to that effect,” says Kasey Hoag, owner of Six Cypress Boutique in Batavia. “You have seen a little bit of a mind shift now of people really looking for more quality items and willing to pay a little bit more for something they know is going to last longer.” For Hoag, those attributes form the essence of independent operations. “You do find your items are a little bit higher priced than your big box store, and it’s because we are small and our items are unique and the quality is a little higher,” she says. Prompted for a driving force behind the sustainable fashion movement, store owners give varying opinions. Robin Fogel, owner of Always in Style consignment boutique in Geneva, feels environmental concerns play at least a partial role.
Consumers who know they’re purchasing something that isn’t ultimately destined for a landfill — which often can be the case for lesser-made clothes, owners find — “feel much better,” Fogel says. Hoag believes consumers who seemingly were moved to support small, local businesses at the onset of the pandemic saw a “second lightbulb” after an initial wave of operations closed. “That drove it home to them that, ‘These people really struggled, and we need to make sure that we get out here if we want to keep our downtowns cute and fun and walkable and (have) a day out where you can dine and shop and have entertainment,’ and all the things that you love about a small, historic downtown stay,” she says. Supporting her stance is a second storefront. In addition to a successful online presence, Hoag credits an “outpouring of support of people thinking, ‘Shop small, shop small,’” for helping her open another location in Valparaiso, Indiana, during the pandemic. Even as many Americans scarcely changed out of their sweats during early stay-at-home orders before businesses reopened, fashion and financial trends evolved.
As customers returned to Always in Style, Fogel found an increased appetite for garb of the late 1990s and early 2000s, especially among the high school and college-age set. Did hunting for older items influence these shoppers to think like their parents, too? “There are people who are understanding that maybe they don’t have the type of budget where they can go to, let’s say, the Ralph Lauren store and buy a $300 sweater, but they can come here and find an older sweater that has held up great for sometimes $28,” Fogel says. “So, I think people are realizing that they can have a better wardrobe while still sticking to their budget. They just have to do a little searching, is all.” Whether it will be worn fast or forever, checking the feel of a garment to assess its quality is a pastime unlikely to fade.
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