Knitting, sewing, mending, weaving, embroidery, crochet… Not so very long ago, and in fact for most of human history in most cultures, these tasks were considered essential skills for women. And while the modern woman has by and large rejected the necessity of these skills, they’re still considered thoroughly feminine. Don’t believe me? Well, how many male knitters do you know?

Here we are in 2019, and the average woman doesn’t knit or sew – instead she works full-time. The modern woman no longer has time for domestic arts. For better or for worse, this is largely due to the feminist movement, as well as mass industrialization which allows us to buy goods for a cheap price. But these skills are starting to become popular again, for good reason! As I’ve previously written about, consumers are beginning to reject fast fashion. There’s a shift towards more ethical, eco-friendly production, and what better than to make something yourself at home! Thus, history repeats itself.

In this 1990 article from the New York Times archive, author Deborah Hofmann attributes the decline of home sewing to the cancellation of high school sewing classes, as well as the growing feminist movement. However, some of the home seamstresses she interviewed clearly view sewing as a skill that is in no way opposed to feminism. One woman, simply referred to as Ms. Norville, said, “What has happened in the 90s is that professional women are fed up with being told what they can and can’t do.” In my opinion, this shows that feminism has settled into a comfortable balance. Let me explain. The feminist movement developed as a reaction to restrictive social norms and discriminatory laws. This necessitated a rejection of a quiet domestic life – therefore, domestic tasks such as sewing and knitting were looked upon with deep disdain. As time went on, women’s status was elevated, and the initial passionate rejection of traditional roles started to settle into a comfortable balance – respecting the decisions of the single, childless career woman, the stay-at-home mother of four, and everything else in between!

I think the idea of reclaiming women’s work should be discussed openly, and with nuance. Performing domestic tasks such as knitting or sewing does not automatically transform me into a 1950s housewife. Instead, these are simply hobbies that I enjoy – they shouldn’t be looked down upon, just like we don’t disdain men who enjoy fixing cars or woodworking. Moreover, some craftswomen take these ideas even further and incorporate activism and politics into the things they create. I’m not sure where my free inquiry will take me, but I do believe that developing these skills will make me a more well-rounded person overall!

(For further reading, here’s another article I found interesting while I was researching this subject.)

September is almost past us, but before we turn the calendar, I wanted to highlight a movement that has been going on this month on Instagram. The hashtag #secondhandseptember was started by Oxfam, a charity in the UK – currently, there are over 46,000 posts under this hashtag. Oxfam operates a chain of thrift stores, or charity shops as they’re called in the UK. The hashtag emphasizes the importance of purchasing secondhand clothes as opposed to new items. This month, Oxfam encouraged people to take a pledge not to buy any new clothing for the whole month of September.

Over the past few years, there has been a definite shift in the online perception of thrift stores and thrifting. Take a quick look at this information from Google Trends, for example:

From 2014-2017, the searches for “thrifting” on Youtube remained relatively constant. But since fall 2017 there has been a pronounced rise in searches, including a prominent spike in July. Correct me if I’m wrong, but in my experience, shopping secondhand used to carry quite a negative connotation – it was considered low-class; a sign of poverty. I remember that in the mid to late 2000s, brand names were all the rage. The way to be “cool” was to wear the biggest brand name from the most expensive store (at the time, the trendy brands included Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister, and slightly cheaper versions such as Aeropostale and American Eagle). When I was quite young, nearly all my clothes were hand-me-downs or thrift store finds, but as I went through middle school and high school, my mom and I would shop exclusively on the sale rack. Therefore, I was sufficiently “cool.”

I believe the shift is largely a reaction against fast fashion. As a teen (this was maybe around 2012) I checked out a book from the library called “Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion” by Elizabeth Cline. It was quite an eye-opener – I had already been aware of sweatshops and dangerous working conditions, but at the time, I really didn’t know what to do about it. Even today I’m not perfect, and most of the time I can’t afford clothes made in North America or Europe, but I’m trying to do better by thrifting. Anyways, with books like this, and documentaries such as The True Cost (2015), consumers are considering ethical issues more than ever before. To some extent, brands have responded to this by trying to produce clothing more ethically. However, many are rejecting these brands entirely, in favour of shopping secondhand.

Furthermore, consumers are also more conscious of the environmental impact of their shopping. The textile industry is second only to the oil industry in terms of how much pollution it produces. Therefore, a great way to reduce the pollution is to simply buy clothing that has already been made, rather than purchasing brand new clothing and driving the demand for fast fashion. Thrifting is a great way to be more eco-friendly without breaking your budget.

With all that being said, I’ve been actively shopping at thrift shops this whole month and have not bought any brand-new clothing (yay!) I found that you can get a lot of high quality items and well-known brands at thrift stores. Moreover, even though some stores have high prices, they have sales regularly and you can save even more money that way! Let’s check out some of the things I got!

First of all, I bought this sweater on Friday morning at Salvation Army. They were having an amazing sale: blazers, sweaters, shirts, blouses, and pants were all 50% off! Side note: Salvation Army is a non-profit organization, so there isn’t any tax on the clothes. It’s just a plain grey sweater, a bit oversized, soft, and cozy.

Brand: H&M

Price: $5

Next, I picked up this denim shirt, also at SA. It says “Hard Rock Café Barcelona” on it, which caught my eye because my dad just took a trip to Barcelona. I like that it looks vintage (I actually think it might be) and it’s 100% cotton. All-natural and comfortable!

Brand: Hard Rock Café

Price: $6

I think this is the item I’m most excited about. When I touched it, I had a good feeling about it – then I checked the tag. 100% silk! I’m pretty sure whoever tagged this item didn’t check what it was made of. Fair enough, most of the time tops like this are 100% polyester. Well, I scored big, and I feel like such a fancy lady when I put this on.

Brand: The Limited

Price: $3.50

I also got this camel-coloured blazer. I can’t tell if it looks too old for me or not, but I could tell that it was constructed really well. It’s tailored at the waist with vents on the back for mobility, and it’s 25% wool for some added warmth. Maybe this is the beginning of my journey to dress more like a teacher!

Brand: Plum Tree

Price: $6

The last thing I picked up at SA was this navy blazer. You can’t see in the picture, but it has navy elbow patches which caught my eye. It’s kind of preppy and I think it’ll be nice for fall.

Brand: The Gap

Price: $6

Earlier this month, there was a bag sale at Beacon Community thrift shop. It’s a tiny store on Pandora, but they said you could fill up a bag for $8.50, so of course I had to go! This isn’t a colour I’d usually wear, but it’s 100% cotton and I just thought it was cute. It reminds me a bit of what Sandy wore in Grease when she was still a goody two shoes.

Brand: Brandy Melville

Price: Approximately $1

In the bag sale, I also got this plaid flannel shirt. Of course these are a fall classic! It was exactly my size and from a decent brand so I picked it up.

Brand: TNA

Price: Approximately $1

I hope it was fun and interesting to take a look at some gems that I was able to thrift. Thrifting isn’t easy; you have to search through racks of old-lady clothing, as well as old, faded, stretched out, stained, pilled items that are priced at like $10 (why???). You need a fair bit of spare time in order to properly look through all the sections: I recommend at least 30 minutes. More importantly, you need to pay attention to sales and go early in the morning (it really motivates me to get out of bed!). However, there’s absolutely no reason why you can’t dress like a queen when you shop secondhand. You can find popular brands, luxurious fabrics, vintage pieces, and one-of-a-kind items. For anyone concerned about the environment and the ethics of fast fashion, I recommend thrifting – it’s an adventure you won’t regret!