Is It Cute or Is She Just Skinny?

Welcome back to the best blog on the block! While my last blog aimed to provide a satirical guide to fashion, I thought I would take a bit more of a serious tone in this next one, and discuss an urgent conversation that has gone unnoticed. While my natural inclination was to veer toward more shallow topics like “fashion trends I hate”, it only felt right to address a topic much more serious- the toxic relationship between the fashion industry and body-image.

This may sound like a bold statement to make, particularly for a fashion aficionado such as myself, but it seems to be that the fashion industry has done little more than a disservice to women everywhere. Although initially established on the principles of creativity and self-expression, through the constant pressure to follow the latest trends consumer culture has turned fashion into a beast of its own. It's the brands you know and love who remain responsible for perpetuating a growing world of insecurity and body dysmorphia.

I recently began working at Urban Outfitters. Although Urban’s clothing successfully reflects the diverse styles of self-expression that exist within our generation- it seems that even they are not removed from the conversation surrounding fashion and self-perception. When working the dressing rooms the other day I asked a girl trying on clothing how her experience was, as I always do. This time instead of receiving a generic answer like “Oh, they just didn’t fit right” the girl said that there was nothing wrong with the clothing and that it was just her body dysmorphia acting up. This comment stuck with me for the rest of my time at work and made me start questioning the relationship that girls have with clothing in the 21st century. Why is it the case that she is blaming herself for not liking the clothing on her body? If fashion was formed on the basis of self-expression, why are we allowing popular brands and influencers to perpetuate a relationship with clothing that strays from this foundation? It seems like we all need to take a lesson from Lizzo about body positivity, because after all she said it best-

"I'm tired of the bullsh-. And I don't have to know your story to know that you're tired of the bullsh- too. It's so hard trying to love yourself in a world that doesn't love you back, am I right? So I just want to take this opportunity to feel good as hell. Because you deserve to feel good as hell. We deserve to feel good as hell"

I know firsthand what it’s like to see a girl sporting a fire outfit and wanting a sneak peek into her shopping cart, but the idea that you can create your own look by replicating someone else’s wardrobe is simply unrealistic. People should choose clothing that speaks to their style, not subscribe to the pattern of social buying for the latest item on their “for you page”; because let’s get real, the name “for you” means nothing when it’s also “for everyone else”.

With the massive increase of influencers and market mavens using their platform to share their style tips, girls have become carbon copies of one another and the idea of personal style has gone with the ways of the fax machine. So while I’m not saying that you shouldn’t look to the experts for tips and tricks, it's important to put your own personal flavor on these trends and resurrect personal style from the stone age.

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Unfortunately, the toxicity of the fashion industry has not only impaired personal style but has begun impacting body-image as well. With tremendous pressure to keep up with trends, that more often than not only suit one body type, we have been thrown into the constant battle of feeling good vs looking good with no consideration of the way in which the two are intertwined. Girls think that keeping up with the latest trend will make them happy because they are fitting in with popular culture, but indulging in low-quality clothing, that does nothing for your figure, only continues to perpetuate the unhealthy cycle of body distortion that plagues so many young women today. I know I'm not the only one out there who has tried on style after style of “trendy” clothing only to be disappointed in the way that It looks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Au62AcSDsw

To make matters worse, fast fashion tycoons like Shein and Forever 21 have capitalized on this tautological ideology as they continue to produce cheap “trendy” clothing for less than the price of a cup of coffee - making it that much harder to resist the toxic cycle. Now, you have girls buying mass amounts of clothing that sits in the back of their closet for months because they don't feel confident to wear it. And the only thing that they are left with, other than an empty bank account, is the feeling of not being good enough.

I am not here to stand on a soapbox and pretend like I don’t entertain the same exact cycle of behaviors. Rather I hope to use this platform to incite a change in our relationship with clothing. We should not continue to allow clothing to bring us down, assuming we will receive cultural sanction if we don't fall in line with unrealistic beauty standards. Instead, we need to use fashion to uplift us and accentuate the parts of ourselves that we love.

But I want this blog to be more than a social commentary so I thought I would share here are a few tips that I found helpful with my personal style journey-

1. Have a Date with Yourself

Take time to develop your own style based on your preferences and body type. At the end of the day, it is foolish to think that the same styles will look good on everyone. Remember that you are the main character and allow your individual differences to shine through your clothing.

2. Shop with Purpose

You are going to get as much out of your a shopping experience as you put in. So if you impulsively hit “buy” on a cart of clothing that you haven’t given the time of day, you shouldn’t expect to get years of wear out of that clothing; because let's get real, when has an impulse purchase ever gone right. Gift yourself the same intention you give others.

3. Shopping is an Investment

Shopping isn’t only fun and games; it is part of building your personal brand. You are not only investing in a wardrobe, but in your confidence and ultimate happiness. It is a building block of self-expression and a HUGE part of self-love. So just like you wouldn’t want to buy someone else clothing that they wouldn't feel good in, why would treat yourself this way?

While this blog may only be the beginning of the conversation, I hope it gives you a bit to think about before your next purchase.

XX,

Maddie

Word count: 1078

Value-added pieces: Quote and GIF from Lizzo, Video of Lili Reinhart on Body image, Image from Pinterest, GIF about self love

Citations:

Babin, B. J., & Harris, E. G. (2018). CB: Consumer Behavior: 8th Edition. Book. Cengage Learning.

Duhigg, C. (2014). The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business. New

York: Random House Trade Paperbacks.

Links to Non-Owned Images/Videos:

Pinterest photo→ https://www.google.com/urlsa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2F744923594593043082%2F&psig=AOvVaw15wYqorBlQbIHwvRN9YX_&ust=1636573568639000&source=images&cd=vfe&ed=0CAsQjRxqFwoTCLC63uOFjPQCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD

Youtube video --> https://youtu.be/-Au62AcSDsw?t=241

CB Concepts:

Consumer culture- A culture that represents commonly held societal beliefs that define what is socially gratifying acceptable within a given society

Social Buying-consumer buying behavior that takes place on social networking sites

Cultural Sanction- penalties associated with performing a nongratifying or culturally inconsistent behavior

Market Mavens-a consumer who spreads information about all types of products and services that are available in the marketplace.

Popular Culture- cultural trends that shapes norms and sanctions within society.

Indulging (indulge-restraint)- Indulgent cultures value immediate gratification, particularly for natural human needs associated with fun and enjoyment

Individual Differences- characteristic traits of individuals, including demographics, personality, and lifestyle