What’s the true cost?

Katie is in the galleries of the Royal Academy Summer Show, where the walls and spaces are crowded with paintings, sculptures, and other artworks. She wears a green dress with long poofy sleeves, a nipped in waist and short flouncy skirt. She's carrying a red shoulder bag and a wood and blue fabric folding fan and wearing black ankle boots.

What’s the true cost? So often I’ve found myself questioning the price tag on a garment. “Yikes that’s pricey, isn’t it? I can get similar cheaper…” But I didn’t question the cost of the artworks at the Royal Academy Summer Show. In fact, I found myself defending the price because of the quality, the craft, the creativity, the time it takes to create the pieces… So why do I question fashion prices? Because I’ve been conditioned to expect to pay less.

Once upon a time I wouldn’t spend more than £5 on a t shirt or £10 on a dress. “It’s basically free!” I remember joking with a friend while on a shopping day because we’d had a tough week and “deserved it”. But it wasn’t free at all.

I wasn’t thinking about the crops grown to make natural fibers and those farmers or energy to make polyester, chemicals used to dye fabrics, design skill, garment workers making each piece, factory overheads for electricity and heat and water and facilities, office spaces for the brand and marketing teams, advertising budgets, how all these items at every stage are shipped to various locations, and so much more. I was just looking at the price tag that, quite frankly, didn’t reflect any of that.

Which means that someone, somewhere, and likely multiple times throughout the supply chain, was suffering so I could have a cheap item of clothing.

I’m not OK with this, so I’m on a mission to research, quesiton and vote with my wallet. If you’re able, please join me. It’s as simple as checking your wardrobe to see if you have something suitable before buying new.
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