Camila Rodríguez Mercado

Raiza Guzmán Lozada

Patricia Mateo González

David Torres Montalvo

INGL3104-110

March 5, 2021

Essay #1: Comparison-Contrast

Shopping second-hand vs buying new. Which one is better? New clothing tends to have

better quality, it has a broad price range and some brands have adapted their lines to utilizing

recycled materials. Nevertheless, buying second-hand clothing helps supporting a sustainable

lifestyle, it is low priced, usually one tends to get the quality that has been paid for, and there is

no constant change in the fashion being used. Another important aspect of each topic is their

environmental and social benefits or disadvantages. Both new and second-hand clothes are a

good choice depending on your needs or supplies.

The fashion industry is known for their constant change, depending on the season or

even, the era that is being brought back. Through the year 2020, the 90’s fashion trends were

brought back. This makes thrift shopping or buying second-hand clothing a big factor in the

consumers plain. However, brands took advantage of this and started selling items emulating the

90’s era. This could make the items overpriced, depending on the type of brand we are talking

about. The mentality used in retail is purely sale based, the quality will not be something in

question, the less an item last the better; this means more sales. On another hand, thrifting, even
though, it has a low-price range the quality tends to be what one pays for. When you pay five

dollars for a shirt, one tends to doubt its life span.

Benefits of both new clothing and second-hand clothing is the change in material being

used. Brands are now looking for ways to help the environment. “Fashion culture is depleting

natural resources and overfilling landfills. The single best thing we can do is consume less and

reuse more.” (Thred Up, Eco impact, 2020) It take 75 pound of carbon dioxide to create a pair of

jeans. When buying second-hand clothing, you are not throwing away the piece, making this

pollution, you are giving the clothing a second chance. Brands like Adidas, Patagonia, and others

are utilizing plastic and giving a new life, as said in an article in Insider Magazine. Also, buying

new clothing or second-hand clothing is giving economical help to small businesses. In Puerto

Rico there is an existing trend to sell items from your closet that are no longer in use and sell

them using social media platforms. Likewise, small businesses are selling the clothes they’re

creating on social media platforms. This expands their reach to other people thanks to social

media algorithms.

Both new and second-hand clothes have their advantages and disadvantages. However, it

is everyone’s individual choice to decide which one suits them best. Deciding for new clothes

may help you find what you need faster and keep you up to date on fashion trends, but it will

probably cost you double than what would be spent thrift shopping. As said, thrift shopping takes

a lot of time and creativity from the buyer to make good use of the pieces and it doesn’t

guarantee you the new clothes’ quality. Nevertheless, the fact that second-hand clothing helps

the environment is something worth considering. Also, new clothes tend to have better quality

and material, which is extremely important for the buyer and it gives you an opportunity to
donate it later. Any choice would leave the buyer satisfied but is in the buyer’s hand to decide

which one is worth spending money on.

Word count: 564

References:

Inc., T. (2020). 2020 fashion resale market and Trend Report. Retrieved March 04, 2021, from

https://www.thredup.com/resale/#eco-impact

Leighton, M. (2019, April 16). 14 companies that are capitalizing on the unpopularity of plastics.

Retrieved March 4, 2021, from https://www.businessinsider.com/companies-using-

recycled-plastic-in-products#vivobarefoot-8