SHEINtrouble

Dear Editors,

In almost every issue, n+1 seems to have an awful tale that goes down easily. It’s a tough call, but for me the writer in Issue 47 who took on the most nauseating topic in the most (barely) stomachable way was Nicole Lipman writing on SHEIN (“Super Cute Please Like”). I was sweating and gagging through it, but I did get through.

I started a clothing and fabric recycling and exchange program at a community center here in Northern Michigan in 2017. I did this in part because I knew the fast fashion and plastic clothing waste problem was bad. But I guess I had no idea it would get as bad — environmentally, socially, psychologically — as Lipman depicts in her review of one global fast-fashion-addiction juggernaut.

When I presented my idea for the Fibershed to the director of Grow Benzie, a local nonprofit funded by grants and donations, I had to make the usual sorts of number-based claims about tons of clothing waste, the problem of plastic pollution in the Great Lakes watershed (our major concern here, but yes, of course, also the ocean), and how the program would be diverting material from the landfill and waterways while also encouraging the creation, exchange, and repair of natural-fiber clothing and crafts. But I knew people would use the heck out of the Fibershed whether or not they gave a shit about the environment.

As a fully convinced person myself, I often question the utility of information when it comes to environmental matters and behavior change. For most people, even once they’re made aware that their habits are bad, feeling righteous and receiving social support for doing a good thing or not doing a bad thing is not enough for them to change. If the thought of a freshwater plankton choking on a weensie bit of lurex doesn’t make you not buy that sweater, then I don’t know what to tell you. Except that I too want lurex. I want glitter. How can I still get shine without SHEIN?

This is the factor that Lipman brings to light: disgust. Disgust with oneself. By going into the belly of the beast and being really gross about it, Lipman exposes an impulse most of us have and forces us to really look at it. How is my going to Goodwill and coming out with a garbage bag full of clothes any different, really, from ordering several $2.99 items from a company like SHEIN? Because I drove there in my electric car? I would never, ever buy anything from SHEIN. But I absolutely understand the impulse.