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Once upon a time, fashion was glamorous models and movie stars wearing haute couture on glossy magazine covers. People saved their salaries and shopped once or twice a year for high-quality clothes that could last for many seasons.
曾經，時尚就是登上光潔雜志封面的那些身著高級定制，魅力非凡的模特和影星。人們省下平時的薪水，每年會逛一兩次商場，來選購那些耐穿的高級服裝。
Nowadays, fashion is fast-changing and cheap thanks to retail brands such as H&M, Zara and Topshop. Fashion has become ever more accessible. But is it a good thing?
現在，由于H&M、Zara 、Topshop等服裝品牌的出現，時尚變得日新月異，且價格低廉。時尚變得前所未有的平易近人。而這是件好事嗎？
US writer Elizabeth Cline doesn't think so, although she used to be the owner of a wardrobe solely made up of cheap chic.
美國作家伊麗莎白•克萊（音譯）卻不這樣想，雖然她曾經擁有一整衣柜這種便宜又時髦的衣服。
In her recent book Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion, she writes: "I paid less than $30 (191 yuan) per item for each piece of clothing in my closet. Most of my shoes cost less than $15."
在其新書《著裝過度：廉價時尚背后的驚人高成本》中，她寫道："我衣櫥里的衣服每件單價不超過30美元（合191人民幣）。我的大多數鞋價格不到15美元。"
ltogether she has 354 pieces of clothing, accumulated in less than five years.
在不到五年的時間里，她一共購買了354件衣服。
Americans buy an average of 64 items of clothing every year, that makes Cline just an average consumer.
美國人平均一年會購買64件衣服，所以克萊只是一位普通消費者。
Then one day came the epiphany. In a supermarket sale, Cline ended up buying seven pairs of identical canvas flats marked down from $15 to $7.
然而有一天真相還是暴露出來了。在一次超市的大甩賣中，克萊一口氣買了七雙相同的帆布平底鞋，折后的價格從15美元到7美元不等。
When the shopping frenzy receded, it occurred to Cline that there was something wrong and deeply disturbing about acquiring so much cheap clothing.
當這種購物熱情漸漸消退時，克萊才突然意識到有些不對頭，她開始為自己買了這么多的廉價服飾而深感不安。
It didn't bring her satisfaction. She soon got tired of the shoes and the style changed. The same went for a lot of her other clothes.
這次血拼并沒有為她帶來滿足感。很快她便對這些鞋心生厭倦，而時尚潮流也變了。于是她又以相同方式購買了其他衣服。
The average price of clothing has dropped in recent decades. Cheap clothing is branded in such a way that it is no longer associated with lack of style.
近幾十年來，服裝的均價已經下降。廉價服飾被打造成一種頗具風格的形式。
Budget fashion exemplified by the "street fashion" photos is seen as chic, practical and accessible to all. However, Cline argues that the demand for ever cheaper clothing has created mountains of waste.
一些"時尚街拍"中的平民范兒被看作是一種時髦、實用且平易近人的時尚方式。然而，克萊認為對愈加廉價的服裝的需求產生了堆積如山的垃圾。
Americans are buying and hoarding roughly 20 billion items of clothing per year as a nation, Cline points out.
克萊指出，美國人每年購買囤積衣物數量大約為200億件。
"Buying so much clothing, and treating it as if it is disposable, is putting a huge toll on the environment and is simply unsustainable," she writes.
"人們購買如此多的衣物，仿佛當它們是一次性的，這正在對我們的環境造成巨大影響，這根本是不可持續性的。"她寫道。
What's more, cheap clothing destroys our relationship with our self-image. Fashion should be flexible and reflect personal taste.
另外，廉價服裝毀壞了我們與自我形象的關系。時尚應該是靈活多變的，且能反應出個人的品味。
But global chains are trying to reduce risk by selling the same carefully packaged trends. These trends "are repeated on the racks of virtually every retailer, making our store-bought looks feel homogenous and generic," Cline writes.
但一些全球連鎖品牌正在試圖通過出售形式單一、包裝精美的時尚來降低風險。這些時尚"反復出現在幾乎所有零售商的貨架之上，這使得我們從商店里買來的形象有些如出一轍且毫無特色。"克萊寫道。
Cline says that clothes could have more meaning and last longer if we think less about owning the latest or cheapest thing and develop more of a relationship with the things we wear.
克萊表示，如果我們能少買一些最便宜的最IN單品，更多地去開發人與衣物的關系，那么服裝本應該更具內涵，也更耐穿。
Though it may sound shallow, we are what we wear. Cline suggests that we build a wardrobe over time. We should pay attention to quality. She says: "Obsessing over the perfect hem, luxuriating in fabrics, and patching up our clothes have become old-fashioned habits.
"我們穿什么，我們就是什么。"雖然這聽上去有些膚淺。但克萊建議人們應該隨著時間慢慢地去打造一個衣櫥。我們應當關注品質。她說："癡迷于精美褶邊，沉溺于纖維織物，以及修補衣服已成為過氣的老習慣了。
"But they're also satisfying antidotes to the empty uniformity of cheap. If more of us picked up the lost art of sewing or reconnected with the tailors, we could all be our own fashion designers and constantly reinvent, personalize, and perfect the things we own."
"但相比那些單調空洞的便宜貨來說，這些舊習慣也是一劑療效顯著的‘解毒劑'。如果我們中有更多人能夠重拾遺失的縫紉藝術，或者能與裁縫們重新結交，我們可能都會成為自己的時尚設計師，并且能夠不斷重塑，完善并個性化我們所擁有的東西。"
