A woman browses clothes at the Manchester Superstore in Manchester Fort Shopping Park. Photo credit: Fiona Finchett / Oxfam
Buying second hand clothes: What are the benefits?
The rise in fast fashion, low prices and a never-ending drop of new products means it’s easier and cheaper than ever to buy new. When you can pick up a new dress for the same price as a pre-loved one, why buy second hand?
Why buy second hand?
From saving you money to reducing your impact on the environment, there are so many benefits to shopping second hand. You’ll be resisting the damaging impact of fast fashion, while hunting down unique treasures that show off your distinctive personal style.
So, pay a visit to your local vintage and charity shops, trawl the online auction sites or visit your local Oxfam and choose a fairer way to shop.
Save money
Charity shops and second hand marketplaces are full of high-quality clothing on sale for a fraction of the price it was brand new.
Where else could you find a beautiful vintage dress, a warm coat or an almost-new pair of leather shoes for under £10? Fast fashion retailers might be able to match these prices, but their clothes are often low-quality and aren’t made to last. A cheap dress might only last a few wears before it needs replacing, whilst a vintage one will still look great for years to come.
Find unique items
Hunting down a unique item of clothing is a great way to stand out from the crowd and make a style statement.
When buying second hand clothes you’re unlikely to see someone else wearing the same thing. Each piece has its own history, and the rails of vintage and charity shops aren't fussed about current trends.
Retro pieces sit alongside hidden designer gems, handmade garments and the best of the high street. This eclectic mix of styles and eras makes it easy to create a wardrobe that’s truly one of a kind and expresses your unique personal style.
Emma James English/ Oxfam
Support positive change
When you shop and donate at Oxfam, you’re making a statement: that you want a fair future for everyone. A home that’s safe for every community, today and tomorrow.
Donating and buying clothes with Oxfam is a powerful choice to support people around the world to tackle the inequality that fuels poverty. It’s a simple way to show your support, knowing your purchase is making a positive impact.
Promote circular fashion
Fashion is fabulous – but it’s also one of the most polluting industries on the planet, accounting for 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Research from Oxfam shows that by 2050, the fashion industry is on course to produce 138 billion items of unworn clothes every year – enough to almost reach from the Earth to Mars and back, and equivalent to nearly four outfits for every person on the planet.
The global garment industry is manufacturing more and more clothes, but the amount being worn is not changing. So whilst at present, 8 times more clothes are produced than are regularly worn by 2050, the industry is on course to produce 24 times more than are needed.
If current trends continue, the world is rapidly moving towards the 1-day garment. By 2050, each item of clothing will be worn for only 1.3 days (or 32 hours) in total.
Circular fashion aims to tackle this issue of overproduction by designing clothes that are meant to be reusable, repairable and recyclable. This creates a closed-loop system where materials are kept in use for as long as possible before they are responsibly recycled into new materials. This reduces the need for new resources and helps to minimise waste.
When you’re buying second hand clothes, you’re promoting circular fashion by ensuring that existing clothing is worn until the end of its lifespan. This also goes hand in hand with the concept of slow fashion, where the emphasis is on quality over quantity. Slow fashion asks shoppers to make more thoughtful buying decisions and to invest in well-made, timeless clothing that will last many seasons.
Reduce the demand for water
The industries that serve our seemingly endless need for the latest clothing are also placing huge pressure on the planet’s water reserves.
The fashion industry is the second biggest consumer of water after agriculture. Every year, it uses around 93 billion cubic metres of water, which is enough to meet the needs of 5 million people.
Fast fashion, luxury goods and the production of other textiles are depleting groundwater in Brazil, Central Asia, India and parts of the USA.
Cotton production uses a lot of water. Making just one pair of jeans takes 7,500 litres of water – around as much you would drink in seven years.
The UN has found that fast fashion accounts for 8% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, more than all airplane and shipping emissions combined. And these gases make the planet much hotter. With its huge carbon emissions and near bottomless thirst, the fashion industry is drying out our planet – all because of our constant demand for cheap, trendy clothes.
Buying second hand helps to reduce the demand for new clothing to be produced.
Shop second hand and support Oxfam
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Summer dresses in the Oxfam Superstore in Oxford. Image: Oxfam
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