I Watched a $2k Shein Haul! Here’s What I Learned!
Hi friend!
I watched a $2,000 Shein Haul some weeks ago, so you didn't have to. You're welcome! Here's what I learned and some lessons you can take from this haul.
I created a YouTube video about this $2,000 Shein Haul that you can watch later, but I'll give you some key lessons for this newsletter. I shouldn't say this because I know you're lovely, but I have to say this for legal reasons (I don’t want to get sued. I can’t afford a lawyer lol). Please don't harass or send hate to the creator I'm discussing in this newsletter. I won't be referring to her by name, just her pronouns (she/her) or as "the creator."
The creator said she got over 6o items from Shein in the video. That's a lot of clothing pieces, given that Shein is supposed to sell low-cost clothing, items, and accessories. Because of Shein's affordability, you can end up buying more than you planned. I won't go into deep detail about the environmental and social costs of fast fashion. Instead, I'll link a YouTube video that I did about this topic months ago.
The creator filmed her haul video during lockdown. Still, it's relevant to the topic that I'm about to bring up: shopping out of boredom. During lockdown, people were bored, stressed out, and alone. Many found comfort in shopping, especially from online stores like Shein. Now since after lockdown, people are still wired to purchase something from Shein whenever they're bored, stressed out, or happy. You might be wired this way!
We've seen the Girl Math Trend glamorize mindless consumerism (we'll talk about this trend in a later newsletter, so stay tuned!). Lastly, now and even back in lockdown, people wanted to "dress like their Pinterest board aesthetic" or follow the latest trend. There's nothing wrong with wanting to mirror a specific aesthetic, but when you're shopping for clothes for this aesthetic, take a moment and ask yourself these two questions:
1.) Will you still wear these clothes 6 months from now?
2.) Are you adopting this aesthetic because you want to or because social media says you need to have this aesthetic?
If either or both of these questions are a "No," it might be best to sit out the aesthetic or trend.
Let's talk about dupes because I have thoughts. I couldn't care less if one big brand creates a dupe of another big brand's product. Both of them are big brands; they'll get money nonetheless. However; I do care about when a big brand creates a dupe of a smaller brand's product.
In the Shein haul video, the creator admitted that she got a "dupe" sweater from Shein. I'm glad that she mentioned the brand that Shein "duped" from, which is Heaven Can Wait. Their sweaters and clothing are expensive mainly because the clothing is high quality and it's a smaller business compared to Shein. However, Shein saw that this smaller brand's sweaters were popular on TikTok and Pinterest and decided to "dupe" it. The sweaters look so similar that calling it a dupe is inaccurate. It's copying! I hope Shein gives Heaven Can Wait money to use their design.
Out of the 60-plus items she bought, at least 15 of them were coats. That's a bit excessive. You only need a maximum of 2-3 good quality coats that you can wear year after year. My biggest recommendation for you is to build a capsule wardrobe. So a capsule wardrobe is a curated collection of clothing and accessories that can be mixed and matched to create multiple outfits, focusing on versatile, essential pieces rather than a large, diverse collection.
Suppose you're still confused about why Shein, other companies like it, and fast fashion aren't that great. In that case, you should check out my previous newsletter posts about the subject and watch my Overconsumption Playlist on YouTube.
Again, please don't send any hate to the creator. Thanks for reading!
Keep drinking the kale juice!
Zenee
