A "Thank You" in Advance to TinyJewishGirl
By Hadyn Phillips
With spring cleaning approaching, it’s time to start thinking about what remains in the closet. Clothing and fashion are one of the biggest contributors to global warming and microplastics in the ocean, and with the rise of fast fashion, the industry’s emissions have grown exponentially. Now, clothing garments are worn, on average, seven times before being thrown away or left behind and forgotten.
As a result, some have tried to combat the rising environmental hazards through reselling and donating old clothes as well as buying secondhand. ThredUp’s Resale Report predicts that the secondhand market will reach roughly $77 billion by 2025; with the rise of online shopping amidst the world’s first lockdown in 2020, secondhand sites including Facebook marketplace, Etsy, The Real Real, ThredUp and Grailed have thrived. Even apps such as Depop have skyrocketed, especially with the surge of people finding careers in reselling their personal items or thrifted gems.
Thus, online shopping resulted in thrifting turning into a trend that feeds into capitalism and consumerism through overpriced reselling, gatekeeping and refusing to support small businesses by focusing on the label and total value. This trend also speaks to how people consume fashion.
Although the trend cycle is currently broken, as seen by vibrant colors re-emerging in seasonal palettes for an entire year and the same repeated designs in stores, the outcome of this disruption is a more distinct categorization of people’s aesthetics. As styles such as “early Y2K,” “E-Boy/E-Girl” and “Archival Fashion” have been reinforced through popular media platforms like TikTok or Pinterest, this inability to move from trend to trend significantly affects stores and what brands will choose to produce.
More specifically, if the current, universal trend in a normal cycle were “back to basics,” then more storefronts, fast fashion sites, and reselling sites would prioritize clothes that emulate SKIMS, Aritzia’s jumpsuits, Set Active, and Djerf Avenue. Then, if the following cycle emphasized flashiness and brightness, which brands like Dyspnea, Saks Potts, I AM GIA and Sinead Gorey would rule due to their bold cuts and intricate fabric choices.
Stores can longer predict what to prioritize in terms of style, color palette, and shape; instead, stores must gamble between continuing to produce what they have been for the past two years or taking a new direction. Inevitably, what they decide will also directly affect consumers.
One TikTok and style icon who has recently come into the spotlight for her outright rejection of this cyclical consumerism is Clara Perlmutter — aka TinyJewishGirl. An NYC girl at heart, she believes in buying what she finds interesting regardless of if it diverts from the “vibe” that comprises a majority of her wardrobe. While many of her clothes have odd shapes or bright colors, like brands such as Fashion Brand Company and Ian Charms, she explains that the clothes she purchases must also be unique and well crafted, and thus rejects fast fashion and its copy-cat ways altogether.
Perlmutter has already inspired the secondhand community on Depop with her own hashtag for users to find goods that emulate her carefree and unpredictable style - #tinyjewishgirl. Not only is Perlmutter influencing the next generation of fashion by revitalizing the fun and individuality that is supposed to constitute personal style, but her approach to shopping will further change consumer habits.
Thoughtfully curating each item in one’s closet helps to avoid overconsumption of goods and might even shift the trend cycle from broken to fully nonexistent – literally and in terms of its influence. With this, store aesthetics will change, as the practice of mainly producing on-trend items will be rejected and instead replaced with garments more in tune with the brand itself, ultimately reducing the influence of fast fashion sites like Shein which grossly overproduces in order to stay relevant. By extension of this shift in aesthetics, demographics according to age, gender stereotypes, and divided aesthetics as constituted by media platforms will also melt away.
Hypothetically, freedom will be given back to creative directors and fashion houses who will be able to explore design within the history of their respective brands. This freedom might reset the economy in fashion, no longer paying for reputation and name, but once again for design, experience, and emotional attachment to the pieces consumers so thoughtfully buy.
So thank you in advance, TinyJewishGirl — your contribution to the world of fashion will be far from small.
As a result, some have tried to combat the rising environmental hazards through reselling and donating old clothes as well as buying secondhand. ThredUp’s Resale Report predicts that the secondhand market will reach roughly $77 billion by 2025; with the rise of online shopping amidst the world’s first lockdown in 2020, secondhand sites including Facebook marketplace, Etsy, The Real Real, ThredUp and Grailed have thrived. Even apps such as Depop have skyrocketed, especially with the surge of people finding careers in reselling their personal items or thrifted gems.
Thus, online shopping resulted in thrifting turning into a trend that feeds into capitalism and consumerism through overpriced reselling, gatekeeping and refusing to support small businesses by focusing on the label and total value. This trend also speaks to how people consume fashion.
Although the trend cycle is currently broken, as seen by vibrant colors re-emerging in seasonal palettes for an entire year and the same repeated designs in stores, the outcome of this disruption is a more distinct categorization of people’s aesthetics. As styles such as “early Y2K,” “E-Boy/E-Girl” and “Archival Fashion” have been reinforced through popular media platforms like TikTok or Pinterest, this inability to move from trend to trend significantly affects stores and what brands will choose to produce.
More specifically, if the current, universal trend in a normal cycle were “back to basics,” then more storefronts, fast fashion sites, and reselling sites would prioritize clothes that emulate SKIMS, Aritzia’s jumpsuits, Set Active, and Djerf Avenue. Then, if the following cycle emphasized flashiness and brightness, which brands like Dyspnea, Saks Potts, I AM GIA and Sinead Gorey would rule due to their bold cuts and intricate fabric choices.
Stores can longer predict what to prioritize in terms of style, color palette, and shape; instead, stores must gamble between continuing to produce what they have been for the past two years or taking a new direction. Inevitably, what they decide will also directly affect consumers.
One TikTok and style icon who has recently come into the spotlight for her outright rejection of this cyclical consumerism is Clara Perlmutter — aka TinyJewishGirl. An NYC girl at heart, she believes in buying what she finds interesting regardless of if it diverts from the “vibe” that comprises a majority of her wardrobe. While many of her clothes have odd shapes or bright colors, like brands such as Fashion Brand Company and Ian Charms, she explains that the clothes she purchases must also be unique and well crafted, and thus rejects fast fashion and its copy-cat ways altogether.
Perlmutter has already inspired the secondhand community on Depop with her own hashtag for users to find goods that emulate her carefree and unpredictable style - #tinyjewishgirl. Not only is Perlmutter influencing the next generation of fashion by revitalizing the fun and individuality that is supposed to constitute personal style, but her approach to shopping will further change consumer habits.
Thoughtfully curating each item in one’s closet helps to avoid overconsumption of goods and might even shift the trend cycle from broken to fully nonexistent – literally and in terms of its influence. With this, store aesthetics will change, as the practice of mainly producing on-trend items will be rejected and instead replaced with garments more in tune with the brand itself, ultimately reducing the influence of fast fashion sites like Shein which grossly overproduces in order to stay relevant. By extension of this shift in aesthetics, demographics according to age, gender stereotypes, and divided aesthetics as constituted by media platforms will also melt away.
Hypothetically, freedom will be given back to creative directors and fashion houses who will be able to explore design within the history of their respective brands. This freedom might reset the economy in fashion, no longer paying for reputation and name, but once again for design, experience, and emotional attachment to the pieces consumers so thoughtfully buy.
So thank you in advance, TinyJewishGirl — your contribution to the world of fashion will be far from small.