overconsumption & the commodification of identity

yes girl that outfit IS so “clean girl old money tomato girl office siren” core! Whatever the fuck that even means…

The devil works hard, but the fast fashion industry works harder (and even more unethically).

It seems that we’re all collectively going through, and have been for a while, an identity crisis. Nowadays you can go on the internet (mainly TikTok and Instagram), search up any combination of words and up pops a post with the words “aesthetic” or “core” after it. Each one with its own lifestyle to follow, fashion brands to shop from and traits to perform.

Whether it’s tomato girl summer, coquette vintage Lana Del Rey red vinyl or indie sleaze, whatever vibe you want to subscribe to this month, there’s a carefully curated list of things waiting for you to buy to emulate it.

The rise of aesthetics and “cores” can be directly attributed to the rise of TikTok and Tumblr. Before social media, the trend cycle in fashion was primarily spring/summer and autumn/winter, with brands curating collections around this, but now any number of trends can emerge and disappear in the blink of an eye. “Cores” specifically originated on Tumblr during its height in the 2010s. It started as an extension of the hipster Tumblr aesthetic, specifically in neurodivergent spaces to describe a group of people with similar hobbies. Examples like weirdcore which overlapped with horror writing and created space for people on the psychotic spectrum; and goblincore, which included a mix of mismatched maximalist DIY crafting hobbies, such as taxidermy and odd jewellery making. These “cores” both often coincided with neurodiverse feelings of alienation and inhumanity imposed on them societally. So while the terminology started as a way to create positive communities for people, its current use is in commodifying identities and overconsuming, rather than the original intentions of the labels of “cores”.

So, what do you do when the corset top you bought yesterday is being replaced with a pinstripe button up?

The rise of an aesthetic normally begins with having a strong figurehead at the helm of it. The way Sofia Riche is the face of the old money aesthetic because her wedding “is so quiet luxury” says the girl in your phone, how Gigi Hadid brought back indie sleaze for like a day with one effortless Instagram post, or how Lana Del Rey is the face of the coquette aesthetic. Whether these women like the pedestal or not, they are placed there as soon as the internet decides they can project some ideal they have in their heads. Some of them lean into it, like Sofia Riche with various brand deals, but did Gigi Hadid have the thought “this is so going to bring back the tumblr indie sleaze aesthetic” when she was posting on her Instagram? Lana Del Rey actually doesn’t know what being a “Lana Del Rey red vinyl girl” even means.

Whatever the case, people seem to need someone to base their personalities around in some parasocial embrace. Someone to tell them what to do, what to read, where to shop and most importantly, how to emulate their own carefully crafted (read: fake) identities.

But we as the normies, forget that for celebrities and influencers, it’s their jobs to sell things to us. Their lives are based around their brands, and their brands are imitations of themselves. With the rise of influencers since TikTok’s launch, people whose job it is to literally have their lives be their brands, it’s no wonder everyone else is doing it now too.

People want so much to have a distinct look, that they’re willing to go into debt to achieve it. Buying new things over and over again to try and keep up with a trend cycle that never stops – like a hamster on a wheel.

And the thing is, it’s all about outside perception. It’s not about actually reading Sylvia Plath; it’s about giving off the vibe that you could be someone who reads Sylvia Plath.

Once you start commodifying your identity, contorting it into words you see on the internet, you start losing any real and authentic parts you ever had, selling them away to be seen as any version of “cool”.

An easy example of this is the viral Birkin bag. The Birkin bag is probably the most expensive and exclusive handbag in the world. So exclusive that no amount of money can just get you one tomorrow, there’s a goddamn waiting list to get one. The bag, named after Jane Birkin, was originally designed by Jean-Louise Dumas in 1983 as a functional bag for women, after he and Jane Birkin were seated on a flight together and he saw all her things fall out of the straw basket bag she was carrying.

What started out as a real functional piece of fashion has now turned into a symbol of nothing but wealth and status by the rich.

The bag seems to have lost all functionality along the way too. Jane Birkin is famous for decorating hers with many souvenirs from her life and using the bag until the leather was torn and ready to break. But now, people are seen with their perfect mint condition Birkins, which they refuse to really utilise and probably keep in a glass display behind lasers to keep the dusk specks from reaching it.

Jane Birkin used her bag, it was a genuine reflection of her life, she wasn’t trying to be perceived as anything, not rich or cool. These symbols did not define her, they were merely a product of her.

I never believe people actually have the lives they show on their social media. It’s so heavily monitored and curated to appeal to their followers. Aesthetics in real life started as old fashion movements went out of style, the 70s and 80s goth and punk aesthetics stemmed from music and political subculture and gained the look of them as the people started buying the second-hand leather jackets of the 50s Greasers. They reused clothes that had technically gone out of style and gave new life to them, because to them it was functional, they didn’t have money to go out and invent something entirely new. Instead they recycled items they had access to. But aesthetics today have been co-opted by the fast fashion industry. The mass consumption they produce and promote is not something I can get behind.

Months ago I watched a TikTok of a girl saying that no one understood that she was wearing her hunter green boots in a “Kate Moss at Glastonbury” way. I believe I’m quoting another TikTok that stitched the original girl when I say that while fashion is an art form, it is also functional.

For the everyday person, fashion is simply the clothes on our backs. And that was how Kate Moss wore her hunter green boots. She was at a muddy music festival in England, so she wore gumboots. She didn’t wear hunter green Kate Moss gumboots; she just wore gumboots. She wasn’t trying to be “Kate Moss”, she was being practical.

Fashion itself has lost all practicality in the flurry of trends going in and out. The loss of sense and functionality is only powering the overconsumption train, as we hurry to buy the new latest hottest in-nest thing, discarding whatever we bought last month to go and sit in landfill.

The trend cycle in the fast fashion industry in particular feels like watching a TikTok in 2x speed. You’re watching the world turn over new looks every day. I think about the time I bought a new pair of high-rise jeans, just to go on TikTok and hear someone telling me “high rise jeans are out, low rise jeans are in”. It’s exhausting trying to keep up, and while I wasn’t going to discard my new jeans, I still felt some level of expectation set on me as an enjoyer of fashion to always be on top of the trends.

It's led to the look of “the microtrend final boss”, a bunch of disjointed pieces that have no meaning other than you bought them when they were trending.

As massive fast fashion companies continue to pedal disgustingly underpaid and literal slave labour, see: Shien, Temu, probably any shop you’ve bought from. We must think and shop more intentionally, through the tunnel of the constant overturn of yesterday’s items for tomorrow’s trends.

For a while, it seemed that thrifting was the answer to this. People recycling items and giving new life to unwanted clothes. But even that was promptly ruined with people going and cleaning thrift stores and op-shops dry of any “good” items. I see massive hauls of people who went thrifting and bought probably $200+ worth of clothes. And for what? To resell online for a higher price. Feeding into the endless cycle yet again. Not to mention the massive excess Shien hauls of people buying 100+ items, that can only be worn once until they break down.

Let’s also not forget there are real people who shop at thrifts and op-shops. Your trend is their lifestyle. And how much good does thrifting really do if you’re still grossly overconsuming? How much room can you have in your closet for all those new things you bought without getting rid of everything else too?

What happened to everyone’s cow print jeans from 2020? They ended up in landfill. Why would you pay $30+ for an awful sweater made of plastics, that’s been remade by 50 other Instagram boutiques and fast fashion brands. Your money is worth more than plastics, it’s worth more than sweatshops, dangerous machinery and chemicals.

The overconsumption is so blatant in people participating in every trend they can get their hands on. The internet is filled with propaganda of people getting entire new wardrobes or getting new haircuts for every new aesthetic on their for you page at that time. I’ve seen countless influencers who redo their entire closets, buying new shirts, shoes, pants, dresses, the whole nine yards, just to keep on trend and hopefully not lose their relevancy; their status symbols. Even though at the end of the day, they all end up looking the same anyway.

How many fashion girls do you know that have Adidas sambas or gazelles, a lacy see through skirt or dress and carrying a vintage Dior or Chanel or Prada bag? And how many of them were once dressing for the blokette aesthetic, in the oversized jerseys that probably said “Brazil” along with midi skirts? Which of them were also running to buy the viral House of CB yellow floral print dress when cottagecore was the mainstream thing? Or when the amazon corsets were going viral?

Celebrities and Influencers are not exempt from these criticisms. They are the ones pushing every new thing down our throats, they are the ones who get massive boxes of PR that probably goes to the bin when they don’t want it, they are the ones who urge others to aspire to their lifestyles even though the average person could never meet such unattainable standards.

And all these items alone are completely fine, but it’s when they’re packaged together that the association forms and they become how you want to be perceived. The commodification of your identity starts on the internet and manifests into real life much faster than you can comprehend.

We are constantly being sold one thing or other, in the real world and online, we unfortunately can’t escape our capitalist society. And it’s no singular person’s fault for liking things, wanting to buy one thing. But maybe if we used a bit of critical thinking, we’d realise that the pinstripe matching skirt set with the low-cut v neck top actually wouldn’t be office appropriate. Maybe we’d save ourselves some dollars and stop one outfit from going to rot in landfill after one wear.

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Hello! Hope you enjoyed this read!

I’m so so proud of it, probably my favourite thing I’ve written so far.

Huge thanks to the people who read the first draft and helped me edit it: Leilarni, Muna, Andie & Izzy. I love you guys very much and appreciate every time you help me out!

I’m sorry for being a bit m.i.a in writing/uploading for the month, but I’ll be back after the new year with an update post.

So for now, wishing you all a late happy holidays and early happy new year.

I’ll be seeing you soon!!! -Nisha