Many college students end up spending a lot of money on clothes. However, being a college student, especially in the midst of COVID-19, it can start to add up.

Helen Nguyen is a senior double major in apparel, textiles and merchandising (ATM) and interdisciplinary studies for social sciences. She believes there are many alternatives to save money on clothes, such as thrifting.

“It’s a way to find kind of hidden treasures for a good price,” Nguyen said. “The goodwill here is honestly really good. I go to the men’s section a lot for graphic tees and there’s always a lot of Central shirts. While at the Wildcat Shop it would be like $25, at Goodwill you can find almost brand new ones for like $5.”

Another way to save money is by upcycling. Nguyen said it’s a good way to learn new skills as well.

“You can always take old clothes and even if it’s not a style you want or anything, you can always cut it up, use the fabric, reuse it and make completely different clothes,” Nguyen said.

Nguyen also hand sews and hems a lot of her clothes. It saves her money when she can’t find styles that fit her body.

Another way to save money on clothes is by taking better care of them. 

According to Andrea Eklund, an ATM professor, washing is the number one way in the United States that people wear out their clothes.

“We wash them way more than anywhere else in the world. We also wash them very harshly,” Eklund said.

The best option would be to wash clothes in cold water and then line dry them, according to Eklund. Drying clothes on high heat can be damaging.

“Whenever you dry something, you have that linen trap you clean out, those are fibers that are actually coming off of your garments every single time you wash them,” Eklund said.

Fabric softeners are damaging to clothes as well because it wares clothes out faster and makes them more flammable.

As college students, it can be easy to gravitate to the cheapest option for clothes but that can have a big negative impact on the environment. 

Shops like Forever 21, H&M and Zara are some of the most popular fast fashion brands. By making cheaply made products but selling them at a high volume, companies can gain a big profit. By making cheaply made products but selling them at a high volume, companies can gain a big profit. According to an article by Greenpeace, “92 million tons of solid waste each year is produced by the fashion industry.”

Nguyen said while fast fashion is good for the fashion industry, it’s not the most ethical option.

“I think fast fashion is definitely making people choose quantity over quality and it’s really impacting the fashion industry in a negative way,” Nguyen said.

Eklund said fast fashion can be good and bad depending on how a company goes about it.

“Fast fashion is not going to go away,” Eklund said. “It’s just that we need to do it in a more sustainable, socially responsible way.”

Eklund said companies can do fast fashion but they just need to do smaller quantities with higher quality textiles and details. It is also important for companies to use organic materials or recyclable polyester.

“There are companies that are doing it great and companies that are awful for fast fashion,” Eklund said.

When looking at companies to shop from, it’s important to look into how they treat their workers and what materials they are making their clothes from, according to Eklund.

“Start speaking up and put your money to those companies who are doing the right thing,” Eklund said.