Students are setting new standards as value-driven consumers

By Anita Loughlin Staff Writer Being a broke college student has never been more difficult to manage with the current economic climate. Many students face difficulty juggling a tight schedule filled with classes, part-time jobs, and maintaining relationships, while also wanting to look their best. Students of Framingham State University are finding new ways to build a wardrobe that expresses their identity while also prioritizing a strong emotional value in the clothing they choose to wear or purchase. Edgar Santana Baez, a sophomore marketing major, said, “I'm in shambles - being in college is no joke. Most of us are in debt over our heads. It’s like a snowball that keeps tumbling down the hill. It just keeps getting bigger and bigger.” Cece Gonzalez, a sophomore business major, said, “Everything's gone up. A pair of nice jeans are like $150. We're college students, nobody’s got that right now.” Gabriella Esmat, a freshman MassBay student who lives on campus, said, “Being a college student, I really have to pick between either paying bills for school, expenses, or going out. It's getting harder and harder to live comfortably in this economy, especially if you don't have a career and degree yet. “It has been very challenging. I remember I used to have three jobs to even be able to afford something comfortably. That was the only way that I could buy clothes and then eat somewhere and do the stuff that I wanted,” Esmat added. Nicholas Care, a senior fashion design major, also described being hesitant to purchase new items due to the current cost of clothing as well as not wanting to contribute to the escalating pollution on Earth. “I haven't bought anything in a really long time. There are always going to be people with buyer's remorse, and I get it - it's so amazing to buy clothes. It's like a whole thing that gives you so much happiness. I feel like you could still have that attribute in yourself, but make sure you're just conscious about it,” Care added. Fashion sustainability has become an essential conversation due to its substantial role in addressing the Earth’s pollution. The fault lies within the rise of fast fashion and overconsumption. Baez said, “We must stay sustained. I feel like there are a lot of people that treat things that could be permanent as something more temporary when it's not meant for that use. “Someone's quick to throw something away and then buy something new. That doesn't disappear. It's still somewhere in the world - in the ocean, probably, or in a land dump, which is so sad. Think about how many cool articles of clothing are rotting in a pile,” Baez added. According to a Global Fashion Agenda article, “Examining the Era of Micro Trends” by Constance Beswick, “A common destination for such clothing is the Kantamanto Market in Accra, Ghana, where, according to the Or Foundation, about 40% of the clothing leaves as waste.” Christian Taylor, a senior fashion design major at FSU, said, “Definitely be mindful of what you're buying. I'm subject to it too, where I see a garment that's a statement piece, and it's really fire, but then I never wear it and eventually, it just leaves my closet. “Be mindful of how the clothing piece fits on you and how you actually enjoy it. There's so many people I see who just buy from Fashion Nova or Shein, take a photo with it, and then are just never seen wearing it again,” Taylor added. Gonzales said, “Before COVID came, I spent like $300 and I got 60 things from Fashion Nova and Shein, and now, it's so expensive - it's a problem. It's all cheap stuff, and it's cheap quality.” Gonzales said she now prioritizes thrifting at various places like Urban Renewals, Goodwill, and Savers. “Ninety-five percent of my clothes are just thrifted. I really don't go shopping for real - it's just thrift stores.” Mia Andrade, a senior early education major, said, “I think it's silly to not be sustainable with fashion, and I think everything is feeling cheaper recently. “When I go into stores now, a lot of things are getting more expensive, but they don't feel expensive - especially in shops at the mall. “Some of the shops I would go to with my mom when I was younger always felt very high quality, and they were expensive to reflect that, and now they don’t feel as high quality,” Andrade said. It’s no surprise that with the current age of social media and the internet, fashion trends cycle through extreme rise and decline periods at a much more rapid pace than ever before. The heightened exposure to these trends over the past five years and their short lifespan has earned them the term “micro trends.” According to Beswick, senior communications manager at Global Fashion Agenda, the trend forecasting agency, TrendBible, defines a micro trend as “a niche or industry specific consumer behavioural trend which is mass market ready and actionable.” “Micro trends trickle down and fuel fashion’s fleeting trend cycle with many brands latching on to every aesthetic that permeates our feeds, facilitating overconsumption in an entirely new way,” Beswick said. In the past, previous trends existed for longer periods of time. They started exclusively through magazine covers, celebrities, or by word of mouth. Now, with the exposure of influencers displayed on our screens at every scroll or swipe, trends can live for as little as three to five months, and most for no longer than two years. Care said, “I feel like I'm on the internet a good amount, so I do see micro trends starting a lot. I don't buy clothes that often, but when I have the urge to or I see something but I know it doesn't align with me, I just don't really get close to it. “When I was younger, I fell more into micro trends, but I identified with it so much that it became part of me. So I think it's good and bad, but nowadays, I feel like it's kind of a part of being a designer because at the end of the day, we're all trying to make clothes that resonate with people,” Care added. Taylor said that from a student designer’s perspective preparing to enter the industry, micro trends are hard for the industry because businesses create “a bunch of these pieces with the micro trend attached to it, and then there's so much fabric waste.” Care said he practices sustainability as a student designer by “trying to get as close to zero fabric waste as possible. “When I'm buying clothes, though, I don't remember the last time I ever bought anything that wasn't secondhand. I just think it's so much better that way, because you can get more authentic swag, for lack of a better word,” Care added. Baez brought up the lack of hand-me-downs. “I feel like we've lost the ways of hand-me-downs. I used to get trash bags full of my older cousin's clothes. “Everyone can do this. If you have a piece of clothing that you don't like any more or if it’s too small, too big, you could ask your friends if they want it. Free stuff is amazing,” Baez added. Andrade said she got her leather jacket from her brother. “I don’t know where he got it from, but he gave it to me. I was looking for one, and he goes, ‘I don’t like the way this leather jacket fits on me - do you want it?’ And so I took it.” Taylor said, “I think the main thing is finding pieces you'll continuously wear.” Esmat shared her experience with being a conscious consumer. “When I go shopping and I see something that I really like, I have to know that I don't have anything that looks like it in my wardrobe. Or if I do get it, then I get rid of another item from my wardrobe. That way, I'm not buying too many clothes.” Dr. Virginia Noon, professor of Fashion Design & Retailing, said, “If we think about college students right now, I think we're seeing a trend towards appreciating a product for its value. “There's a new appreciation for what was old, and the older products were produced at a better quality, and they still are of value,” Dr. Noon added. On Feb. 26, Fashion Club organized “Thrift Pop-up” to help fundraise for an upcoming trip to Japan and Vietnam, as well as to build appreciation for quality secondhand pieces. Dr. Noon said, “They were so well attended, it developed such a wonderful sense of community because all of the people from campus brought in garments and donated them, and then those were in turn recycled.” Baez, who attended the event, said, “I literally spent 14 bucks, and I left with 14 items, which is crazy.” When valuing the quality of clothing and resisting overconsumption, it can be difficult to put together outfits that feel brand new. Taylor said, “One way to make yourself feel new when you're wearing clothes that you've had is rearranging the outfits you wear. Change it up and put pieces together that you've had but you haven't worn together.” Andrade said, “Adding accessories makes [an outfit] feel more fun. If I like a style, I’ll look up Pinterest photos of it and take what I have in my closet and work with what I have, and usually, that helps, too.” Baez said, “A good thing to do is just stand in front of the mirror and throw stuff on - see what works, and what doesn't work. “Don't be afraid to try things. Eventually, the more stuff you try, the more comfortable you get with yourself,” he added. Care gave the styling tip of basing an outfit around one garment. “It could be pants, a jacket, a shirt, shoes, but once I pick something, I base it around that.” Gonzalez said, “For fashionable on a budget, I'd say get three name-brand, expensive pieces that you can wear, like a pair of bottoms, one name-brand top, and shoes. “Then you can just go to the thrift store and style things with it. You just have to have a creative mind about it,” she added. Esmat outlined her go-to styling tip as styling the same pieces with different items. “It's less likely to look like I'm repeating too many outfits if I'm always adding something new into the same pair of pants or shirt. I style the same shirt in three different ways, and that's already three different days.” Some good places to start with for thrifting include Savers and Sister Thrift, which are located in Framingham and are a five-minute drive from campus. Regarding the Savers in Framingham, Gonzalez said, “I found these amazing, huge brown jeans, and, oh my gosh, I wear them every day.” She also described finding her favorite beige bag that she frequently wears at the same store. Andrade said, “I love Savers. I get a lot of clothes from there.” Andrade also said she likes shopping at Sister Thrift for jewelry. “I got this really cute wool cardigan, and I got these very cute dangly earrings. They have great jewelry.” Outside of Framingham, there are many other great options like Urban Renewals in Roslindale. The closest Goodwill is located in Sudbury, and there are many other locations scattered across the Boston area including Jamaica Plain, Somerville, and Cambridge. Baez said, “Goodwill is so clutch. It's so much of everything in there that it's like every store in one, you know?” He added he frequently shops there. The widest selections for unique secondhand pieces are located in Boston. Many communities and collectives come together to organize thrifting markets that can draw up to 8,000 at a time, according to Select Markets’ website. Select Markets is a community-based organization founded in 2023 that blends fashion, music, and culture into monthly events with over 80 unique vendors selling vintage pieces. Their events are always posted on their official Instagram account, @select.markets. Another community-based organization similar to Select Markets, is @found.boston on Instagram, where their monthly thrifting events are posted on their socials. For online secondhand shopping, many apps or sites exist including Depop, Poshmark, ThredUp, Ebay, Mercari, TheRealReal, Grailed, Etsy, Vestiaire, and Vinted. The searches on these platforms are endless, and are even an excellent way to get rid of old clothes by selling them as well. Care said, “I mainly shop for clothing on Depop, and I go thrifting a lot,” when asked about where he shops the most. “Everything I've had has been a part of most of my closet for at least three years. I have the same clothes, and sometimes, I just forget to wear things, and I'm like, ‘Oh, I could wear this today.’ “I know a lot of people, including myself, love to buy things, but just buying secondhand is one of the easiest things you could ever do, and once you make it a habit, it'll stay a habit,” Care added. Andrade emphasized, “You don’t need to buy a new outfit for everything. I don’t actually buy new clothes unless I really need them. Rewear and rework your clothes.”