OTF 5: The Fashionista’s Moral Dilemma
I would like to introduce this blog with the re-establishing that this is all opinion. Take my wonderfully written words with a mere grain of salt; I am but a student seeking to explore a rare moment of connection between myself and my learning. With that being said, this is a forum of reflection, rather than a fleshed out and fact-checked declaration of information. This will also be one of the most “Berkeley” things I write (#GoBEARS). In my deepest fantasies, I hope this inspires some people to reflect on their own position in relation to their consumption habits. Of course, if you spot any information within this piece that is just completely wrong, totally made up, or wack AF, please let me know!!
This week in the English class I oh so infamously wrote the best essay for (on opposite day) we have been analyzing LeGuin’s Dispossessed, a work of speculative fiction that is set in a world of scarcity completely void of excess. In today’s lecture we focused on a passage where Shevek, one of the novel’s main characters, is exposed to the possessive individualism that runs rampant in the city on “the other side of the wall”—the wall that, up until this point, has confined his life to mutual aid and production for function. Shevek is shocked and repulsed by the city’s pervasive consumerism. Shevek begins to list all of the commodities he can identify, including evening party dresses, nighttime party dresses, shoes, socks, bracelets, teacups, pots, ornate eggs, chocolate, stuffed animals, and the list continues. The exhaustive list of commodities forces the reader to consider what it would be like for themselves to be placed in a mass-consumerism environment after coming from a society absent of commodification. My classmate, who had his toes out in classic Berkeley English-student fashion, articulated the passage’s effect wonderfully, stating, “it transforms all shopping experiences into a walk through times square.” The reader, in line with Shevek, experiences a cognitive overload; stop please stop this list! This feeling is what I imagine the inventory guy at the Curiosity Shop experiences after one of the Boss’s buying trips (yes, when I asked them where they got all their jewelry the worker replied with “the boss” ??) The list also gagged me as at least 65% of the commodities Shevek listed were related to fashion! I started to wonder: is my love for fashion dependent on consumption—the engine of capitalism? Can my love for clothes be pure if it is contributing to an economic system that serves to benefit only the rich and throws a big fat middle finger to everyone else?? I was spiraling.. And I must think it out.. On this page. Lucky you guys!
While LeGuin’s work is fictitious, the consumerism that caused Shevek to gag is an exact parallel of the neoliberal economy of the United States. In my other very upper division class, Media Studies and Democracy, through countless quizlet studies, I have committed the definition of neoliberalism to memory. Neoliberalism is an economic ideology that champions free markets, deregulation and privatization. Neoliberalism emphasizes democratic choices as well as citizens as consumers. These free markets, and a hands off governmental approach, according to scholar Giroux, are responsible for an economic, mental health and environmental crisis. Neoliberalism, to put it plainly, is the worst. It is all about helping the rich exponentify their wealth at the expense of the poor. Arbitrarily (wink wink) I will gender neoliberalism as a man. He widens the class divide, promotes a culture of competition, promotes individualism, is a whore for private property, and places profits in the front seat, kicking humanity to the back. He’s deadass the worst. The more I learn about him the more I hate him.
Neoliberalism and capitalism prioritizes profit and money over everything else. Typically, the profit motive contradicts art. Art, the manifestation of human expression, does not meld well with the constraints of an economic system. Yet, fashion seems to work in tandem with the profit motive as garments are created by powerhouse brands such as Dior, Diesel and Celine, so rich people can buy garments that show off their wealth and status. The desire to make money fuels fashion exploration as fashion houses are seeking the next innovative idea they can maximize profit off of; fashion does not feel separate from capitalism and class like other forms of art do. Therefore, I feel somewhat weird about classifying my passion for fashion as artistic, when it doesn’t seem to align with other artistic attributes, and instead, seems to be a part of the made up economic ideology that is destroying our world. That’s not to say that because fashion is typically created as a commodity, that it cannot be artistic, moreso that I am ashamed to have my creative passion be so connected to consumerism. To associate something that I feel is so pure, and authentic to me and my identity, like fashion, to capitalism—a system that causes mass suffering—is devastating.
If you think about the effects of neoliberalism and capitalism, you can see it directly in the evolution of the fashion industry. Clothes were created to meet specific functions—to cover, to warm. Humans, who are creative by nature, began to input their creativity into their clothes. This led to people with money having the resources to invest in more creative, fancy clothes. Then through capitalism comes the exploitation of this innate creative expression for profit. Boom, now we are forced to witness the rise of shein—brands that meet the need of a hyper-consumerist and trend focused population. Excess is all fashion seems to be! Pump out trends as fast as we can, make the most money we can and fuck everything else. I must re-assert that capitalism is made up and the world is real!! We are placing the world, our finite resources, behind an economic system that is anything but natural. Humanity is being thrown under the capitalist bus! It is of the greatest delusion—La La Ri at the bag ball—to believe that the sixth shein line of the summer is made ethically. It’s disgusting. I don’t want to be connected to it!
Like LeGuin’s utopian world, ideally I want a culture that prioritizes function over production.. But I must admit I don’t want that because my love for fashion is predicated on a culture of production and consumption. Even if I do all of my shopping second hand, the clothes were produced for profit and then just so happened to find their way to me. I say that I want function over production, but I couldn’t imagine living in a world without my freedom to fashion. I already feel like so much of life is uniform, get educated, get a job, have a family, send your kids to school and then to college, so they can get a job.. Without freedom of fashion what is me outside of this box!! How can I be me within this box? Should I just accept that this source of happiness for me is dependent on capitalism?
Fashion’s connection to neoliberalism is made stronger in the way they both serve to cultivate individualism. Building your own unique wardrobe supports individuality in the same way that neoliberalism champions individual and liberal subjects—using this belief to preach ideas like, you just gotta pick yourself up by your bootstraps. Through buying clothes, I cultivate my individuality and my sense of identity. Therefore, is my identity inseparable from capitalism? Without free-reign to consume, what would become of me? I fear I would wither away like Master Oogway in Kung Fu Panda, becoming multiple cherry blossoms floating into nothingness. I am grappling with whether I can continue to love clothes like I do without consumption. The issue is I have no answer—all of these questions must be left open-ended. I can make a commitment to making more mindful purchases, to consuming less, but there has to be something more that can allow this passion for fashion to exist outside of the dungeon of capitalism!
As briefly aforementioned, fashion has always been connected to displays of wealth. Rich people can afford nicer clothes, and therefore clothing comes to represent status, wealth, and the class divide. To gain more insight on the cognitive process behind a “luxury” purchase (since the most expensive thing I own is like $50) I inquired with my very chic friend Chauncey about his Margiela shoes that were close to $500. I asked him: Why did you buy those shoes, when there are many others on the market that look the same and would cover your foot—provide the function of the shoe? Is it related to status?
He answered: “Since a young age I have always been attracted to the most expensive version of every item I’ve ever desired. Straying away from the question itself for a second to better prove my desire for expensive products, I am confident I would absolutely demolish every celebrity ever with that Bazaar YouTube challenge to select the more expensive item.
Back to the question, I feel that my attraction to expensive clothing stems from the fact that I have this taste in many other regards and I expect that lifestyle to be woven throughout the rest of my life. Not that I’m saying I’m wealthy or spoiled (because I’m not—I bought these shoes with my own money twice and have been told by many to not purchase them), it’s just the attraction between expensive goods and myself is something I cannot seem to sever. Sure, there are other shoes that have the same exact silhouette and style, but then I wouldn’t be able to bring up the anecdote that is my hyperfixation on expensive shoes.”
Folks, I don’t even know how to respond. Chauncey.. Please do better. For the sake of the world. Yet, I have to admit he holds some truth on that last point, the fact that he has brought up his expensive shoes earned him a spot in this blog; congratulations Chauncey you and your very CAPITALIST purchase will live on the internet forever! However, I did not know about his love for spending more money than needed. Taking a branch out of the neoliberal tree, what can I say but to each their own!
Chauncey further elucidates how attached consumption, wealth, and money is to fashion. These are tough realizations I’ve had today. While I feel secure in the validity of my relationship to fashion as artistic expression, I can’t help but feel ashamed/complicit in its connection to capitalism and all of its consequences.
If anyone wants to discuss this issue further, please reach out. Again, these are only thoughts, and I am making the commitment to continue thinking as I grow as a fashionista, and with that, a consumer. The least we can all do is try to shift our perspective of clothes away from trend and consumer-focused and back to honoring garments as timeless and irreplaceable. I am committed to only buying pieces that will hold a spot in my kid’s closet and my kid’s kid’s closet. Awww, even just thinking about my lineage in my “Beer” Italic font baby tee makes me smile. Lastly, fuck Shein. If you shop at Shein you’re a flop. FLOP.
