In the 1950s, Americans wore clothes made in America when trade unions were strong so clothes cost relatively more. People had small collection of tailored clothes that they held onto for years, caring for them gently, altering and repairing them, passing them onto the next generation. Fashions changed slowly because most people didn’t have the money to buy new clothes every month. 30yrs ago, manufacturing shifted overseas to developing countries for two reasons: easy, cheap labor (no trade unions) and no environmental regulations. Clothes became mass produced and fashion became a huge industry focused on maximizing profits.Clothes became cheap so people could afford more clothes than ever.In the past 15yrs, production has doubled and the amount of time an article is worn has fallen by 40%. Fast fashion is getting faster.