1. You look flipping Cool. Obviously.
There's no doubt about it. Vintage just looks cooler. It's rare, it's unique, and it's made so bloody well (nothing cool about a garment that's made from cheap materials).
2. Vintage doesn't have an expiry date.. It's timeless
Have you ever bought an item, or a style of clothing from a fast fashion outlet (*cough* Gl*ssons, H*llensteins) and you're literally sick of it in a few weeks because you see everyone, their aunty and their neighbour in the exact same thing? Yep- that's mass production. It's not just you that has bought that hun, they've produced about 1 million units of the exact same thing & soon enough, the trend will pass!
Vintage is literally timeless. When you buy a vintage item, its not a trending product that will no longer be cool in a few weeks/ months- It's a one of a kind piece!
3. You are not supporting companies that encourage slave labour
There's a reason why these items are cheap and are produced so quickly. Many well known fashion companies have been caught using unethical practices to produce their garments. They choose to produce clothing in countries where labour is extremely cheap and labour laws are unregulated. These are multi-million/billion dollar companies paying workers in developing countries next to nothing, and setting high quotas in order to keep up with demand
...They need garments, and they need them pronto!!
QUICK- Before the trend dies!!!
4. You are honouring individuality
Shopping vintage encourages individuality, and curating your own personal style. You are not told whats "cool" or "in" by these companies that are marketing towards you, you are forced to be creative and make your own decisions- because there's so much to choose from!
Vintage shops have thousands of unique items and styles.
Fast fashion stores have only a select amount of styles in multiple sizes- so you're often buying the exact same thing as everybody else.
5. You love the environment
The fashion industry produces 1.92 million tonnes of textile waste annually. Not only this, but every step of production can be extremely harmful to our environment.
From the resources that are used to make garments (the cotton, the dyes etc) and the pesticides and chemicals used to grow/make these resources as fast as possible.. to the emissions caused by global transportation... and many other factors.
All this, only for these garments to be only used a few times, and then thrown away.
"But I donate it all- so it's not going to waste!"
Incorrect. Second hand stores globally are unable to deal with the rate at which things are being donated due to mass consumerism- people are buying new goods at a faster rate than second hand stores are able to sell old goods.
This means, a vast majority of "donated" items, actually end up in landfill anyway.
Not to mention, a lot of these garments are made with cheap, low quality materials, and despite only being worn a few times, are often not in a good-enough condition to resell.