Fast Fashion for Kids: Why It's the Worst Category — And What to Do Instead

I come from a family where clothes were not thrown away. They were handed down, altered, repaired, and eventually used as rags. My grandmother would have been genuinely confused by the idea of buying a child a new shirt every few months.

But when I became a parent, I somehow slipped into a different habit. I have two kids — now 11 and 14 — and when they were younger especially, they went through clothes like it was a competitive sport. A shirt would last a few months before it was outgrown, or just worn out. Things that looked fine in the store were threadbare by Christmas. We were buying constantly and it felt like it was never enough.

Once I started paying attention to what we were actually spending — and what we were throwing away — I felt worse. The solution turned out to be simpler than I expected, and it saved us real money.

The real scale of the problem

The average child goes through something like 70 new items of clothing per year. Most cheap children’s clothing is made from synthetic fibres — polyester, acrylic, nylon — that don’t biodegrade. A $7 school jumper worn for one term will sit in a landfill for two hundred years.

And because each item is cheap, it doesn’t feel like it adds up. But it does. A full seasonal wardrobe for a growing child, bought new at fast fashion prices, might run $200–300 a season. Four seasons a year. Per child.

It adds up fast, and almost none of it holds its value or its usefulness long enough to justify itself.

What we do instead

We’ve settled into a system that works for us. It didn’t happen all at once — it’s been gradual. But here’s where we are now.

Hand-me-downs first. We are lucky to be part of a community of families with kids at different ages. When our kids outgrow something, it goes to a younger child in our network. When their kids outgrow things, they come to us. This covers a surprising amount of what the kids wear — especially the things that see hard use, like play clothes and coats.

To make this work, we store outgrown clothes by size. As soon as something no longer fits, it gets washed, folded, and goes into a labelled bag. “Age 5–6.” “Age 7–8.” This made handing things on so much easier.

Secondhand before new. For anything we can’t find through our network, we look online before buying new. ThredUp for the kids’ clothes — the selection is enormous and you can filter by size and brand. Facebook Marketplace for larger items. Our school does a uniform swap at the start of each year.

What I’ve found is that secondhand children’s clothing is often in genuinely excellent condition because kids outgrow things before they wear out. The barely-used raincoat. The dress worn to one birthday party. These are everywhere once you look.

Buy quality when we do buy new. This is the lesson that took us longest to learn. There are categories where paying a little more for a better brand completely changes the equation. A decent pair of jeans from a brand that holds up will last two or three times as long as a cheap pair — which means fewer replacements, less waste, and often lower cost per wear over time. For school trousers, winter coats, and shoes especially, we found that spending more once was better than spending less twice. For other things — t-shirts for playing outside, pyjamas — secondhand is always the right call because the wear is hard and fast anyway.

The one conversation you’ll have with your kids

My kids have noticed that some of their clothes came from somewhere else. We’ve been honest about it — these were someone else’s clothes, they were well looked after, and now they’re yours. No shame, no apologising for it.

In our culture, this is actually a return to something familiar. Clothes were always passed around. The idea that everything must be new and unworn is recent and strange when you think about it.

My kids have never objected. The clothes fit, they look good, and honestly the quality of secondhand items from good brands often surprises them.

What to do with outgrown clothes

The reverse side of buying secondhand is making sure what leaves our house doesn’t go to waste.

Good condition items go to our hand-me-down network or online. School uniforms go back to the school swap. Things with more wear on them go to textile collection bins — H&M and many supermarkets have these. Genuinely worn-out items shouldn’t go in the regular bin if there’s a textile bank nearby.

The one thing I ask people not to do: don’t donate worn-out or stained clothing to charity shops assuming they’ll figure it out. Charity shops throw away low-quality donations — it creates work for them and the items still end up in landfill. If it’s not wearable, it goes to textile recycling, not the donation bin.

A realistic goal

I’m not suggesting your kids dress exclusively in secondhand clothes. I’m saying that shifting the default — buying secondhand first and new only when necessary — makes a real difference without any sacrifice in how your children look or feel.

In our house, I estimate we buy about 60% of the kids’ clothes secondhand or through hand-me-downs. The remaining 40% is new, and I try to make it count — better quality, natural fibres, things that will last and can be passed on.

That’s not perfection. But it’s a long way from where we were a few years ago, and it feels like the right direction.