Homeschooling has meant that I have been bit neglectful of the Twinkling Tiger blog recently but I have been thinking about what people really might like to hear about and I suddenly realised that I have not ever shared why I think buying preloved clothes really is such a good idea that I decided to make a business out of it!!
Let's be honest ...we are bombarded all the time with advertising, on the tv, on billboards (when we are allowed out!), in magazines, on social media and on e-mail (if you are anything like me you sign up to all sorts of newsletters and then get bombarded with special offers every other day!!) that make you believe you NEED the best, latest, newest, smartest, prettiest, trendiest ‘stuff’. Plus buying new things also makes us feel good, that instant gratification and adrenaline rush of getting something new, especially clothes that have an immediate impact on our appearance.
BUT did you know ….
- It would take 13 years to drink the water needed to make one t-shirt and a pair of jeans?
- The textiles industry creates more pollution than aviation and shipping combined?
- 30% of the clothes in people’s wardrobes are likely not to have been worn in the last year?
- The average person buys 60% more items of clothing now than they did 15 years ago but only keep it half as long?
- Every week the UK sends 11 million items of clothing to landfill?
A lot of people have cottoned on to the fact that buying preloved clothes, especially for baby and children, is a great idea, originally due to the value for money, but more and more because of the environmental impact. However there are still lots of people who need convincing and think that buying secondhand clothes means getting shabby, dirty, worn out cast offs.
So here are 5 reasons why I think choosing to buy preloved clothes for the whole family is such a great decision and one to be proud of:
1) VALUE FOR MONEY
Little people grow a LOT (as have some of us big people during lockdown let’s be honest!!) and sometimes very quickly in the early years so it can cost a fortune to keep them clothed …. If you buy preloved baby and children’s clothes you often only pay a fraction of the price of buying new and sometimes you can even find items that have never been worn, still have the tags on but are half the price!
Did you know: On average parents spend £764 per year clothes for one child. Buying preloved baby and children’s clothes instead could save you around £500 a year and even if it was just some clothes purchases not all it could still turn out to be hundreds of pounds that you save and could use for something else!
2) CHOICE
There is an absolutely amazing range of preloved clothes available to buy right now for babies, children and adults, both in shops and online, and you can get hold of tens, or even hundreds of different brands, just by visiting one website or shop as well as discover different fashions and styles. I love encouraging the cubs to experiment with their style and work out what they like to wear and browsing secondhand children’s clothes in shops and online gives them loads of inspiration!
Did you know: At any one time there are over 1200 items of clothing in stock in the Twinkling Tiger webshop and it is growing all the time!
3) QUALITY
There is nothing better than getting something secondhand that was a bargain and looks, feels and smells like new, and it really is possible! Sometimes though it can feel like a gamble, not knowing exactly what condition your preloved clothes are going to be, BUT there are ways you can reduce that risk and better guarantee that you really are getting the quality you want (watch out for another blog post about this!)
Did you know: Each item of clothing that gets dropped into Twinkling Tiger is checked multiple times … at drop off, when taking photos, when being logged and tagged and at purchase and packing stage. If, at any of these points a defect or quality issue it noticed then it will not be accepted for sale.
4) CONVENIENCE
Shopping for preloved clothes is as convenient, if not more, than buying new …. many secondhand retailers have their own e-commerce sites, Facebook/Insta and e-Bay shops and will post (or deliver in some cases) and some even combine this with physical shops too. Plus charity shops are commonplace in most of our high streets and villages today and can often be found even when there are no shops selling new!
Did you know: Twinkling Tiger has Facebook and Insta pages including a shop that is linked to the website stock and we deliver locally around Mid Suffolk free!
5) ENVIRONMENTAL
There are lots of companies out there now who are shouting about their ‘eco friendly’ credentials (although many are now being accused of ‘greenwashing’ to attract customers without really having the processes or ethics in place to back up their claims) however the PROVEN, MOST effective way to reduce the environmental impact of buying clothes is to buy preloved and re-use something that already exists. Don’t get me wrong there are lots of companies out there who are trying to do the right thing and are looking for ways to operate and manufacture more sustainably but they will never better the reduction in impact on the environment of buying secondhand!
Did you know: Research by WRAP in the UK shows extending the average life of clothes (2.2 years) by just three months of active use per item would lead to a 5-10% reduction in each of the carbon, water and waste footprints)
So there you have it … my top 5 reasons why buying preloved children's clothes (or clothes of any kind!) is a great decision! Feel free to send any sceptics over for a read and see if you can convince them to give it a go 😊