Victorian Fast Fashion? The Truth about the History of Disposable Clothing

The term Fast Fashion is all over the news lately, but what exactly does it mean and how far back can we trace it? The history may surprise you! Generally, fast fashion is thought to be clothing that is made rapidly, cheaply, and trendy in style. It’s meant to be design, produced, and sold at incredible speeds and the result is usually that it is also worn and tossed just as quickly. The quality and style are unable to stand the test of time. So it seems like it must be a modern issue, doesn’t it? Most articles give a passing reference to the 1800s as an era where clothing was still made custom and was deeply treasured, as most people had so little. Instead, the rise of concept of fast fashion is credited to the post-WWII rise in production and the term itself supposedly only started in use in 1990. But with the massive global economy quickly moving around the world by the 18th century and the industrial revolution in full swing as of the 19th century, the opportunity for fast, trendy styl