Disposable Style
Trading Quality for Quantity in the Fast Paced World of Fashion...
Fashion cycles are getting shorter and shorter. It used to be that it took a chunk of time for overall fashion trends to shift. But now it seems that trends move on through the fashion landscape at the speed of fads. Blink and the styles have changed. What does this mean for the average person?
If your goal is to stay in front of the fashion curve, your wardrobe will need an overhaul every three to four months. “What?” you may say. “Are you serious?” I am…IF your goal is to be always dressed in the most current styles. This may seem like a daunting task--and it is! One must be seriously dedicated to fashion to stay ahead of the curve…and one must be willing to spend quite a bit more to do so…since the prevailing wisdom is that once a style hits the street, its fashion life is near over. For some, the thrill of leading the pack is worth the investment of time and money. Most, however, would rather just be “in style” than brave the daring world of the fashion elite. However, because the fashion cycles are speeding up, just staying “in style” can now requiring more time and money than ever before.
Enter the big-box! The rise of big-box stores such as Target and discount chains have given ladies the delicious opportunity to dress “hip” and “with it” without blowing thousands of dollars each season on apparel. Target now boasts a number of big-name designers who have created whole lines of clothing for their store alone. No longer must women looking to outfit themselves for less suffer tacky, ugly choices from the bottom of the barrel. Stores like Target give women the freedom to truly purchase more clothing more often for less money--and still wear fashionable, trendy outfits.
For those who are truly limited by money, these stores are a real blessing.
But now a choice exists for those who are serious about wardrobe planning.
It’s possible to trade quality for quantity. Meaning, it’s now possible to buy brand-new but lower-quality trendy clothes that will give you a season’s worth of wear before petering out…and repeat this process each season. This will appeal to those who like the idea of always dressing in the latest trends, and yet would rather not spend the money that quality high-end (or even bridge) designer labels would require.
This may be the perfect solution for a younger lady who has not yet discovered her own style and is therefore not ready to begin purchasing quality clothing that will last. After all, your teens and twenties should be years of exploration and discovery so that once you reach your thirties you can feel “finished” in your style. This is how the French view style development, and I thoroughly endorse this philosophy. Since trends come and go so quickly, I don’t see the point in spending huge amounts of money on clothing that may not either suit you or be suitable just a year down the road.
But what about beyond your teens and twenties? Should we also let the faster fashion cycles lure us into the excitement of trading quality for quantity?
Here are my thoughts:
1. I think that relying completely on stores with lower-quality garments divorces people from really knowing and recognizing quality when they encounter it. We start to believe that a garment really should only last for several months. We also begin to associate quality with “new” rather than with superior workmanship and materials.
2. We become conditioned to buy for short-term satisfaction rather than for the long term. In an age when reuse and recycle are buzzwords, this type of consumption is startling! Many people do not realize that the quality of the big-box apparel is considered to be so low that many consignment stores won’t even accept these brands for selling. Once the life is gone from these garments, there is really no place for them to go except in the trash…not even charitable organizations want our thoroughly worn-out rags.
3. Of the commonly recognized style personas, the “Trendy” persona is one. This is the person whose style is defined by always having an up-to-the-minute wardrobe. Your look changes continually but what stays the same is your commitment to wearing the latest. I will be frank and say that I am not fond of this style persona…to me it seems like an underdeveloped sense of self. Not all styles look good on all people and yet it never ceases to amaze me that people will wear what’s “in” without any regard to whether or not it looks right on them. I also think that for the Trendy persona, wardrobe planning is a nightmare. Unless dressing head-to-toe trendy is a part of your job -- for instance if you work in the fashion industry -- I would rethink the need to continually dress in the latest.
4. I also believe that by speeding up the fashion cycle we make keeping up with the Joneses even more of an obsession. On the note of keeping up with the Joneses, there is an interesting article in the July/August issue of The Atlantic titled “Inconspicuous Consumption”. In this piece, author Virginia Postrel discusses the research of two economists and Nikolai Roussanov of the University of Pennsylvania which shows that contrary to what many believe, “Conspicuous consumption is not an unambiguous signal of personal affluence. It is a sign of belonging to a relatively poor group. Visible luxury thus serves less to establish the owner’s positive status as affluent than to fend off the negative perceptions that the owner is poor. The richer a society or peer group, the less important visible spending becomes.” Ginie Sayles, an expert in the lifestyles of the really wealthy, agrees. As far as fashion goes, she says that the pedigree rich view following fashion trends as desperate and below them. Once you’ve reached a certain level of wealth, actually displaying it is gauche. This is an interesting point to ponder, especially for those who might equate dressing trendy with affluence.
This is why I favor a more classic, timeless style that is built on quality pieces. The mainstays of your wardrobe may not be trendy…but they don’t have to be because classic pieces are always stylish. If you wish to include trendier items, you certainly may…but they are not the focus of your wardrobe. You will never look like a slave to faddish styles, nor will you look hopelessly out-of-style. A quality wardrobe can be built up over time, piece by piece. And you can start wherever you are at and work towards your goal as you are able--without worrying about the speed that the fashion cycles are changing.
Can the big-box/discount stores complement a classic style? Of course! Certain items have a shorter life-expectancy anyway, and it makes perfect sense to purchase these cheaply. T-shirts are a great example. Socks, hosiery, underwear…also good examples of things you may wish to spend less on. Or maybe you want to add just a little trendy something into the mix…this is a good way to do it.
But think about really putting your money in quality items that fit your style persona and will last from season to season and year to year. Quality can be found in the most surprising of places and at the most variable of price points...the trick is to know where to find it and how to recognize it when you do. This is the way to build a truly fabulous wardrobe. And the great thing is that when you focus on wardrobe planning with quality, any woman can look great, no matter what her budget.
Jennifer Skinner
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