Shopper calls out Abercrombie after sweater falls apart in one day: 'Clothes these days are just not made to last'

After buying a new sweater from Abercrombie, one shopper was disgusted to see that it began to fall apart after just a single day.

What happened?

Angela May (@angelamaytrix) posted a video addressing Abercrombie, saying: "I wore your sweater for six hours. It's brand new. It still has the tag on it. It retails for $60. It's never been washed."

@angelamaytrix clothing is not made to last these days.. #abercrombie #fastfashion ♬ original sound - Angela May

But, she continued, "It completely pilled after one wear."

"I'm sitting most of the time at work, so this is really surprising to me and it just shows how bad the quality and the material is," she vented. "I thought when I spend more money on clothing that I'm supposed to be getting a higher-quality product, but I guess that's not the case."

Ultimately, she said, the experience proved her theory: "Clothes these days are just not made to last."

Why is this happening?

Other commenters had experienced similar issues. "Abercrombie used to be cotton and wool; now it's all polyester," one said.

Watch now: How bad is a gas stove for your home's indoor air quality?

Another wrote, "Same, bought a cardigan and by the end of the work day it turned into a pilled mess."

But this kind of quality issue with fast fashion is hardly exclusive to Abercrombie. Another commenter shared how they had bought a sweater from Aerie and after 30 minutes "it looked like a dog bed liner."

These poor-quality, synthetic materials are cheaper for brands — and when they still charge the high prices that usually correspond with nicer materials, they make even more profit. This backfires for customers, who end up with clothing that starts to disintegrate the moment they take it off the rack.

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"This is why I started checking the material it's made out of," another commenter said. "If it's expensive and made of polyester it's a no go."

Even more frustrating is that billions of pounds of textiles, laden with chemicals and microplastics, are thrown away each year — and whether they're in a dump or the ocean, they release those toxins and microplastics into their environment.

What are alternative options?

Many commenters jumped in with suggestions to move away from buying new synthetic clothing.

"I'm glad people are starting to read labels now. Natural fibers are better," one wrote.

But while natural fibers, including cotton and wool, are longer-lasting, they can be more expensive too. That's why other commenters suggested a happy medium: buying natural fibers secondhand.

"I just thrift all my clothes now," one person wrote. "If u can find vintage it's way more well made."

Angela agreed, saying, "I think I'm going to stick to eBay shopping moving forward to find older, quality pieces."