Is QVC's Clothing, Shoes, ect. Fast Fashion?

Squirrel Lover · ‎03-10-2010

I have just finished reading Over-Dressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion by Elizabeth Cline. Shocking is right. The book is an eye opener.

If any of you are familiar with the book or fast fashion vs. slow fashion do you think that QVC makes cheap fast fashion?

In the book, Cline talks about how volume sales and orders in the tens of thousands, and some over one hundred thousand on a TSV such as Denim & Co. and Susan Graver, allow big retailers to order the items even below cost in some cases.

I have only ordered less than 20 items of clothing from QVC since I found them on TV in 2006. So, I amnot a huge buyer. But I am concerned about where I spend my money after studying this topic for the past month. I would like to try to get on the slow fashion train. I have been researching ethical brands such as Eileen Fisher for one. The clothing is very expensive. In fact, I have found Green Eileen, which is used Eileen Fisher items that is in one of her stores. I am going to go there tomorrow and see them. I have never tried this brand, but I am looking to change my shopping habits for real. Thus my question to you all: Is shopping at QVC "ethical?" Where can we find out how QVC does business and who makes the products that we buy? Is anyone getting taken advantaged of for us to have low prices due to volume sales?

Anyone interested in this topic please chime in. Trolls: go back under the bridge.

jaxs mom · ‎04-18-2012

It's the norm in both wholesale and retail to get steeper discounts the more you buy and some manufacturers even give % back at the end of the year. It's not just a clothing industry thing. My husband is in wholesale and they get better prices from their vendors the more they buy in a single order, and when they sell it to their customers they give them a cheaper price the more they buy.

Pricing terms as % over or under cost is normal.

Don't Change Your Authenticity for Approval

Andreatoo · ‎04-04-2014

@Squirrel Lover

I have no idea what fast fashion is or if the Q is 'fast'.

Yes they buy and sell in mass quantities at huge mark ups; is that unethical?

I think it's the nature of free enterprise....

But if you don't think Eileen Fisher is marking up her garments just as much, if not more, for the privilege her 'ethical' practices and her name then you may want to do more research...

Puppy Lips · ‎05-09-2010

Well this is an interesting topic. Do you think that QVC is "unethical" because they employ people in China and other countries to make the clothing? Or "unethical" because those workers are not paid well or work in poor conditions, or is that even the case? I too would be interested to see how these workers are treated. That being said, I don't think that NOT buying from QVC would help the situation of their workers.

I know Susan Graver makes a huge deal out of clothing that is made in the USA, but it is a very small percentage of her line.

Good luck keeping this thread going before it turns political and is deleted.

Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else. Margaret Mead

TY · ‎03-10-2010

I've also read that book about fast fashion and I think it's not a fast and hard rule about what qualifies as fast fashion. There's plenty of mid price clothing that's made in third world countries like Bangladesh. Look at The Sears brand clothing Tradition or Jessica and you'll find clothes made there. Look at men's shirts at Hudson's Bay or any department store and you'll find $50 shirts made there too.

I do think the book is food for thought as you stop and think about what is in your closet and why we shop and consume. Shopping also fills a psychological need but that's a topic for another book.

Edited to add that I want to recommend the book Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster by Dana Thomas as she covers some of the same topics about fashion. I also want to see the movie documentary "The True Cost" now that it's on Netflix. This movie is about fast fashion and the working conditions in 3rd world countries.

Squirrel Lover · ‎03-10-2010

I don't want to make this political. Not at all. I just want to talk about how we can buy things that someone made and that person doesn't even have money for food.

I am going to look at Eileen Fisher's clothes because I am curious. What is the quality compared to what I wear now? I am just reading about this topic on my off time to see what can I do to become an educated consumer, which I am not at the moment.

Every clothing item I have bought from QVC was made in China, but that does not mean that they are sweat shops by any means. Some Chinese factories are well run. But we don't know anything about where our clothes (of any brand we wear) comes from. That is sad.

How can we be smarter and more ethical in our choices of what we buy. That is all I am asking.

QueenDanceALot · ‎04-18-2013

Buying smarter and ethically extends to far more than fashion.

QueenDanceALot · ‎04-18-2013

If we are interested in clothing as "fashion" then we are going to want to keep up with fashion and that requires purchasing more frequently than if we just looked at clothing as clothing without regard to style.

Since not everyone can afford to spend the big bucks for "ethical" lines, the fashion conscious are going to do what they have to do.

ALRATIBA · ‎07-15-2016

According to Wiki:

"Fast fashion is a contemporary term used by fashion retailers to express that designs move from catwalk quickly in order to capture current fashion trends. Fast fashionclothing collections are based on the most recent fashion trends presented at Fashion Week in both the spring and the autumn of every year.

I think is more a definition for someplace like H&M. QVC? I don't know. Look at all the complaints around here about the "same old stuff" year after year.