Living in a society which puts such a HUGE emphasis on consumerism, it can be hard not to fall into the trap of getting spendy with your paycheck each month. Bold as brass, 'in your face' marketing campaigns are everywhere these days. Whether it be: shopping ads on tv, the latest retail campaigns plastered on the walls of the London underground, clothing haul video's on youtube or even traditional editorials in magazines - it's apparent that everywhere you turn someone is trying to get you to part with your money. And let's be real for a minute, the majority of us know that we don't need the items which we are purchasing, but society convinces us that we must make the purchase so that we can stay up to date with trends and stay 'relevant' amongst our peers. The pressure to conform and 'fit in' is clear to see.
The rise of social media, of course, has played a monumental part in society's desire to consume. With a simple 'swipe up' or tap or a button you can make a purchase in under 1 minute. A concept which has become a standard, quick and easy, way for a fashion influencer to make money....ahh the humble affiliate link. Whilst I fully understand that a blogger / content creator / instagrammer is perfectly within their right to make money from their work, I do wish that some of the larger more establish influencers would be a little more self-aware of the how the impact of their content can actually be detrimental to the viewer. I myself used to subscribe to several high profile fashion bloggers however after seeing haul video after haul video, I had to unsubscribe. Yes many of these video's are created in collaboration with a brand, but seriously how many ASOS or BooHoo hauls does one need on their YouTube channel? When I used to see such video's appear in my subscription box, I would literally roll my eyes and then it got to the stage where this kind of marketing actually dissuaded me from making a purchase because it felt so contrived. The average consumer watches such video's, then when they next go shopping feel the urge to make multiple purchases because they are aspiring to live and spend like the influencers whom they follow. No-one needs an entire new wardrobe every time they go on holiday. We convince ourselves, that because we wore a swimsuit on holiday last year, this year we MUST purchase a new one. Whilst i'm aware that 'influencers' create sponsored content or advertorials, and may return many of the items shown in their hauls, that is not always conveyed to the audience. They do then tend to film 'monthly favourites' video's where they will talk about all the new fashion items they are obsessed with that they have acquired that month. These may well be PR gifted items but it can tend to come across, dare I say, a tad materialistic...and so the vicious cycle of consumerism wins out. The language used it not always helpful when it repeatedly gets imbedded in the mind of the viewer.
The impact of Instagram and creating the illusion of the 'perfect life' also plays into my above point. It's no longer deemed acceptable to be seen wearing the same outfits in multiple insta pics, it has to be a new outfit every time. As a kind of 'look at how cool I am with all these new clothes' and or 'she must be doing really well for herself, look how many clothes she has'. In many cases students, and adults alike, are spending money which they really do not have on new fashion purchases because the pressure is very real. They aspire to to be like the stars who they follow on Instagram. Many fast-fashion e-tailers have massively tapped into this concept, offering super low cost 'insta worthy' clothing. But what happens when you've taken the perfect insta pic and that polyester dress has seen better days - of course you throw it away (leading to a whole other discussion on sustainability).
This year I noticed a big push on what was being dubbed 'no buy January', in which you refrain from buying clothes for 1 whole month. I loved this concept and it is actually something which I made a very conscious decision to adopt. Believe it or not it really wasn't as hard as I thought it might be, even managing to resist the temptation to grab a sale 'bargain' or new in pieces. I think the older you get, you have a greater understanding of finances and where you want your money to be going each month. I'm not saying never treat yourself, but just consider your purchases wisely, make each purchase count in your wardrobe and not just be another item of clothing hanging on a rail.
Phillippa x
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