An article by Olivia Mattar
The 17th century economist Nicholas Barbon has once explained in A Discourse of Trades, how fashion promotes circulation of merchandise because of its constant alteration, since it leads to the expense of clothes before they are worn out. “It is an invention to dress a man, as if he lived in a perpetual Spring; he never sees the Autumn of his clothes.” As fashion was born for the meaning of social status distinction, selling clothes doesn’t depend on a previous item being unwearable, but on it not distinguishing the wearer anymore.
Making the past seem outdated is one great mechanism for the fashion industry to thrive. The planned obsolescence in fashion is not only planned by poorly sewn garments, made out of low quality fabric that will tear, but by imbuing the consumer with the feeling of being antiquated, not belonging and not presenting themselves as they should. This aspect of fashion not only creates an overconsumption issue that increases production and resource extraction, but also drives people to buy items that will soon be forgotten.
This industry enhances the disposable aspect of clothes in the pursuit of profit, reducing clothes and fashion accessories life cycle only by telling the consumer it is no longer acceptable to wear last week’s trending item. In the 21st century, the ephemerality of trends are the reason for millions of pieces of clothing being disposed of and while people are decluttering their wardrobes for more space to fit in more items, these thrown away pieces are occupying miles and miles of land in landfills.
The relationship between these ephemeral trends, consumerism and environmental damage is indisputably intrinsic; each of these subjects increase the next. But it is interesting to reflect on how desirable these items are for consumers. The apparent unstoppable power of social media created a globalized mass of people, interested in the same things and having extremely similar styles that interestingly enough, will change at the same time. For example, the clean girl aesthetic is currently so trendy that people not only have been buying the same products, but following the same “clean” lifestyle. Makeup has gone light, tattoos are being removed and there’s even clean-girl-approved exercises trending, not to mention restrictive diets and body types.
Pinterest results for “clean girl aesthetic.”
The concept of “personal style” and self-expression through clothes was accelerated by the rebellious youthquake in the 1960s, the 1970s counter culture and, of course, the 1990s subcultures. Individualization of style has, of course, continued, but along with globalization, it has been more common to see everyone dressing unexpectedly similarly considering how fashion has grown to be more liberal. These generic styles are a gateway to adhering to ephemeral trends; once the relationship one has to their clothes is not personal, but of following the trendy style, they probably don’t quite understand what actually speaks to them, making it easier to fall for whatever is in the zeitgeist.
It is not an easy task for a person to develop a personal style. It involves them to really understand how they want to be perceived in conjunction with who they are and what is meaningful to them. Once discovering what is actually personally valuable, it’s not as easy to fall under the latest trend spell, because it won’t always fit a personal taste. If one can make that discovery, their purchases will be carefully curated to their specific wardrobe and the appeal won’t be so frequent, for the consumer will now need a connection to pieces to buy them.
A developed personal style is a way of diverting from consumerism and recurrent waste because of the shifts in values. It is different to buy something to follow a trend in juxtaposition to something personally precious; the trendy item will only be valuable in the name of external validation, and once it fades along with the trend, it will become obsolete. The owner will find no appeal to keep wearing it, no connection to keep it. But when an item speaks to the owner on a deeper level, it becomes emotionally valuable. This piece won’t need external validation, because it already has an intimate connection to their owner’s personality. It’s not as easy for someone to let an important item, such as the ones they see themselves in, become waste. It creates, for the consumer, their own timeless types of pieces. Even as it develops, a personal style will help with a better sense of what’s timeless for each individual and the life cycle of clothes won’t be cut short for not being trendy.
The preciousness of carefully selected items will also lead to care. If it breaks, maybe there’s a way to fix them, if they tear, repairing them becomes more desirable than simply giving up on it and buying the next thing. Sometimes if you lose one earring from a carefully selected pair, you’ll make it a necklace instead of throwing the other one in the trash, for example. Embroidery can cover stains of precious clothes, meanwhile it’s not as common to spend so much time on something generic that’s possible to buy in every corner.
Once clothes get personal, it makes more sense to buy one authentic piece instead of ten generic ones. The desire for authenticity not only leads to a decrease in consumption, but a shift in choosing where to shop; fast fashion brands are more likely to have more generic types of clothes and accessories, along with the predisposition of selling trendy pieces, instead of original creations. This will ultimately lead to shopping with slow fashion brands, or most likely to second-hand shopping, which is much less harmful to the environment. It will also guarantee some sort of originality, because second-hand pieces are usually unique, which starts to feel so much more valuable than a piece everyone is wearing.
Of course, there are still a lot of ways to keep up with consumerism while having a developed personal style, especially considering ultra fast fashion brands and their unending archive of “authentic” pieces, but it’s an important part of learning how to shop less. It is essential to understand that, as individuals, it is not possible to fix what large-scale companies have done to the planet. Still, abnegating overconsuming could lead to reducing the land suffocation provoked by these superficial and ephemeral desires which the fashion industry induces. It is possible to love fashion and still have healthy shopping habits—a practice that will be less harmful for you and for the environment.
Leave a Reply