Before the rise of fast fashion in the early '90s, Americans had much less clothing — but the clothes they did have were sturdy, well-constructed, and designed to last. The shifting fashion industry traded quality for quantity: clothing was sewn quicker (which is where the term fast fashion comes from) and imported from countries where labor was cheaper. Exploitative labor practices, lower-quality materials, and less attention to details like seams and buttonholes led to cheap clothing that was generated rapidly and wasn't meant to last (via The Well Essentials).
Micro-trends emerged from this rapid-fire fashion cycle. They come and go quickly, and are usually cheap to purchase, so they're meant to be thrown out when their stylishness has expired. Micro-trends are making fast fashion even faster, which accelerates the wastefulness of the fashion industry.
An enormous amount of energy and material goes into making each and every garment. Textiles must be manufactured and dyed to create garments, and the dyeing process often results in harmful chemicals being released into rivers and oceans (via Forbes). And the hidden cost of two-day shipping is massive carbon emissions from the transport of clothing — 10% of all carbon emissions globally is from the fashion industry (via The World Bank).
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