The Kids' Clothes Conundrum

Sustainable Minimalists

Bleav + Stephanie Seferian

Kids & Family, Leisure, Parenting, Home & Garden

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 23 August 2022

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Have you ever bought an irresistibly on-trend outfit for a child in your life? If so, I'm willing to bet it was worn just a handful of times (or perhaps not at all). Gendered children's fashion is a twentieth century invention and — surprise!— it was invented by marketing pros hoping to sell more clothes. The sad truths are that while kids' fast fashion creates unnecessary clutter for parents, the sheer quantity of it all contributes to our oversized environmental problems. Today I speak with clothing designer Laurel Thompson about how we can avoid purchasing adorable future trash for the children in our lives. Here's a preview: [3:30] The history of children's clothing: How the post-industrial revolution impacted wardrobe longevity [8:00] Exactly how the design of kids clothes has devolved to the detriment of mothers everywhere [17:00] From fabrication to construction: 10 things to look for when shopping for children's outfits [22:00] How to talk to the grandparents in your life about responsibly acquiring kids' clothes * Join our (free!) community here. * Find your tribe. Sustainable Minimalists are on Facebook, Instagram + Youtube. * Email me and say hello! MamaMinimalistBoston@gmail.com. Our Sponsors:* Thank you to LifeStraw! https://lifestraw.com/Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/sustainable-minimalists/exclusive-content

Transcript

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0:00.0	It has been a summer of self-care over here. I'm talking lots of hikes, lots of beach trips with the
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1:01.1	Hello listeners and welcome back.
1:05.0	My name is Stephanie Safarian and you're listening to episode 297 of Sustainable
1:10.8	Minimalists, a twice weekly show about intentional and eco-minimalist living.
1:16.2	On today's show, we are discussing the kids clothes problem.
1:21.5	More than 20 billion pounds of clothing is thrown away every year and
1:27.0	much of it is children's clothing. That's because we tend to think of children's clothing in particular as single-use disposables.
1:36.8	How many times have we put our children in an outfit that they wore once and then that was it?
1:45.2	The other problem is that children grow so darn quick so they cycle through clothes at a much faster rate than the rest of us.
1:51.6	Today I am speaking with Laurel Thompson
1:54.1	about the history of heavily gendered fast fashion clothes
2:00.0	for kids.
2:01.2	How did we get here and how can you and me and anyone who has ever bought or will ever buy a children's outfit again?
2:09.8	How can we do better?
	...

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