Going from new to vintage can be a bit difficult for some people. "And if it stinks!" they say, or "I'll look silly!"
Luckily, there are washing machines and styling tips. But if you're looking for motivation, at La Salopette® we think there's a lot more to it.
1. Old Clothes Avoid Waste
And this waste, literally, is the garment itself. According to the FNE , more than 10 million tonnes of non-durable textile waste (e.g. clothes and linens) are thrown away every year. This represents around €60 per person per year.
Wearing second-hand clothes helps maintain recycling and resale practices , which means slightly less clothes are thrown away.
2. Vintage Clothing Prevents Industrial Pollution 🚂
The cost of making new clothes is a bit difficult to quantify. According to recent estimates, the clothing and footwear industries are responsible for around 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Clothing brings together many industries: Agriculture to grow cotton and wool, oil to produce polyester, and transportation that brings cotton grown in France 🇫🇷 to the weaving factory in China, to the cutting factory in India and sewing factory in El Salvador (or another such walkway).
Also, remember that washing synthetic fabrics is a major contributor to the production of microplastic waste in the oceans. And clothes, especially those shipped new from online stores, demand plastic packaging.
And, of course, don't forget that dyeing and tanning create a lot of chemical waste. So it's smart to keep your old clothes in good condition; in order to limit these costly and unbeneficial processes for the image of fashion and the world of textiles in general.
3. Vintage Clothing Reduces Water and Earth Consumption🌱
Cotton cultivation is one of the most demanding activities in the food industry. Cotton accounts for 2.5% of land use, but 16% of all insecticides and nearly 7% of all herbicides. All of those chemicals have to go somewhere, and most end up in the water, or what's left of it.
Do you remember the Aral Sea ? She's more or less gone now. Most of the water that supplied it was used for growing cotton in Central Asia. The dust left behind contains high concentrations of pesticides that end up in the air and poison its inhabitants.
4. Retro Clothing Prevents Animal Exploitation! 🐯
It's nice to believe that all our leather products come from beef cattle and all our sweaters come from happy sheep that otherwise frolic in the Massif Central and grasslands. Well.
Leather isn't always a by-product of the meat industry, sheep don't always survive shearing, and ducks don't always roam free before being killed and then plucked. (Or plucked and then killed.)
It is possible to source these products ethically, but it is also true that quality wool, leather and down products last for generations. Buy a vintage product to spare a creature , and you'll probably get a better product for doing so.
5. Vintage Clothing Encourages Your Creativity! 🌅
Many vintage styles are simply no longer available or trending. To match them with the rest of your wardrobe, you will have to examine them, evaluate them and probably modify them again.
If you have some notions of sewing and cross-stitching, you are able to make yourself a unique and personalized vintage outfit . Just let your imagination run wild. You can also help yourself from the internet, which often does well thanks to its large catalog of ideas and visuals that will put you on the right track! Sometimes just a pin, a bandana or a PEZ clipped to the jeans can do the trick!
Creativity has a very real impact. On your result and the resulting feeling. It's good for body and soul, to put it bluntly. Painting or poetry might not be for everyone, but you're probably going to dress up anyway. You'll have to rack your brains!
6. Vintage Clothing Brings Back an Era 📻
Wear a Joe Dassin T-shirt for his concert in 1977, it's like saying "I was there!". It is to inscribe one's person in a precise era and to affirm it with all one's strength. If you are more sensitive to American series, Will Smith's denim overalls in "The Prince of Bel Air" are the perfect example of the trendy Vintage outfit that has survived the ages. 👖
If you're more of a nostalgic type and fan of cartoons from our childhood, then opt for the Snoopy wool sweatshirt !
7. Vintage Clothes are much cheaper 💰
This one is pretty simple: If you walk into a thrift store , you can probably buy a t-shirt, button-up, and jeans for less than $15.
Of course, if you are patient, you may be able to do this at Armand Thierry or vintage brands. The value of a vintage is never exclusively a question of price. But if you're looking for clothes that look good and last, an informed visit to a thrift store can save you money in the long run.
In a thrift store, one can find popular contemporary brands like Levis , Zara and Nike, at 90% off the retail price. But often the low quality of production prevents the clothes from aging properly. Unlike the old garment, most often sewn and tied by hand. They are much more cost effective and promote better value for money.
It is possible, with a little patience, to find a vintage Eden Park lumberjack jacket for less than €80; the cheapest new items are around $400. But some manage to find clothes with manufacturing defects that are sold at a discount. Thus, it is easy to connect a bad seam and thus make a deal!
Finding quality, cheap vintage is difficult and takes a bit of effort. Nevertheless, a vintage Levi's trucker jacket will cost half as much on eBay as buying a new jacket in store.
And if you're up to the task, you'll probably be able to recoup what little money you spend. Vintage clothing retains its value : it was used when you bought it and, barring a huge stain or tear, it will be in comparable condition when you sell it. 💸
8. Vintage Clothing is Tough! 💪
There are many reasons for the superior quality of vintage clothing, and it's much more complicated than "the clothes of today are not what they used to be..."
Much of this problem is due to technology. Compared to fabrics made by today's rapidly changing industrial processes, vintage fabrics - from harvesting to weaving, from processing to cutting to sewing - have undergone far less stress and modification before being worn. Old clothes like sweaters were most often woven by hand . Therefore, no machine, no energy sickle was necessary for the manufacture of these clothes. In reality, these clothes used the time and patience of the manufacturers, who could spend several months on one and the same piece. Their precision and their unique know-how made these pieces resistant and the test of time! ⌛️
Maintenance also made the difference. Nothing damages a garment more today than a worn or poorly adjusted dryer. But by shopping vintage, it is possible to find clothes that have never suffered serious and irreversible deterioration. Of course, people care more, in a way. Before mass consumerism and widespread planned obsolescence, clothes were made to last, as sustainability drove sales. When companies discovered they could sell the same person five pairs of jeans instead of one, most changed their manufacturing priorities accordingly or went bankrupt.
9. The Vintage Dress and its Unique Style 👞
Even if you're not interested in this experience, a wardrobe with a few vintage pieces can change everything. The styles, colors and quality of the items stand out, although it takes a trained eye to notice the more subtle differences.
At La Salopette® , every item we ship is one of a kind. This is because each of our clients is also one of a kind. We believe that wearing vintage overalls , besides being good for the environment, good for people and good for the world at large, is a great way to be true to yourself.
