I've had these thoughts for some time, but it wasn't until this summer that I realized why, in my opinion, hauls are such a huge attraction for so many people: they are a form of justification for illogical purchases we often can't afford. On RedditLaqueristas, I see posts fairly regularly that are titled something to the effect of, "I really couldn't afford this, but look how pretty it is!" or "I have no money in the bank now, but these polishes were totally worth it!" When girls post hauls, those often get upvoted far more than the nail art that I joined the subreddit for does. They will often title it something like "My first big haul! How'd I do?" as though they want affirmation of their shopping habits. And I believe that's exactly the point of hauls. Somehow, sharing your purchases with others who have the same interest as you allows you to justify items that you shouldn't have bought. Invest as much as you want in your hobby, but it should never be such an excess of spending that you're almost totally depleting your bank account to do so.
At this point, I likely sound fairly judgmental. Well, in a way, I am. I strongly disapprove of this lifestyle, but not because I don't understand that passion at all. Rather, I understand it too well, and I've realized that life can be a whole lot more fulfilling without it. When I was in an unhappy relationship, attending community college with no job and no friends, I'd spend all the spare cash I had buying bags and bags of clothing from the thrift store, and makeup on clearance. The thrift store by my house had these HUGE bags, probably about the size of a 13-gallon trash bag, and on Wednesdays ($2-5 clothing an additional 50% off!) I'd routinely come out with half a bag full of new clothing that I couldn't wait to show to my YouTube viewers. But then I'd never wear it. Sure, there are some pieces I used. There are some I used a lot. Years later, one of my favorite semi-nice shirts came from there, and I've worn it dozens of times. But at least 50% of the clothing never even got worn, and of what did get worn, about 75% of it was never worn more than a couple times. All the excitement came from showing it off in a video, to strangers I'd never meet. These were the only people who would truly appreciate my purchases. I felt like nobody else would care much what I wore anyway.
Now, I get really sad when I see girls falling into the same cycle I was in. Shopping shouldn't be your main source of happiness, especially if you go shopping just to buy things, and then don't really get any use out of the items once you've bought them. Of course it's fine to go every now and then. I've tried both extremes, and I don't think that trying to stop shopping entirely is any healthier than shopping in excess. But at least what I've noticed for myself is that since I stopped posting hauls and showing off everything I bought to people online, I've stopped feeling so compelled to buy more things. I'm not perfect, and I still catch myself thinking of what I'm going to say in my video about each item as I'm placing it my shopping basket in the store. When I get home, though, the only enjoyment I can get out of that item is the enjoyment I get from using it, and so I've found that I'm much more inspired to do creative things with the stuff I've acquired (mostly nail polish, but also clothing and makeup). Rather than show a product in a video, swatch it, then toss it in a drawer, I've been leaving new nail polish purchases out on my desk for a couple weeks, finding ways to use them in manicures, and then by the time I finally put them away, they've been used, often several times. Similarly, with clothing, I hang it on my bed (I have one of those futon-bunk thingies now that I'm in an apartment and out of the dorm, so I've been using the side rail as a clothing rack like I did at home), and then I see it every day as I'm getting ready, and feel a lot more inspired to use it than I would if it were with everything else in my closet.
I'm not saying this is the perfect solution; it's just an improvement. Ideally, of course, I'd have just a moderate amount of clothing in my possession, so that I wouldn't have to keep new things out in order to be reminded to use them. But I doubt I'll get over my excitement at new clothing any time soon, and as a $20/month or so activity I enjoy, I think buying 2-4 new items that I actually really like is much better than buying 20-30 new items just because they were all less than $2. Since most of the clothing I've bought (I've only bought about 5 items of new clothing from stores in the past year) is from thrift stores, I really don't feel like I'm doing very much evil as a consumerist American. Even if Goodwill isn't the most upstanding organization one could support.
As nice as it would be to start a revolution, I have no delusions of grandeur. I'm sure this post won't reach a large enough audience to effect a change across the blogosphere, but I hope that by sharing this, I can at least reach a few people who will be positively influenced by the opinions I've presented here. I hope that even if it's just for one person, the next time you're out shopping, you stop and think about what you're buying, and whether you're buying it just to be happy that you bought it, or if you genuinely want it and will get good use out of it. Using a $30 nail polish once, in my mind, does not constitute "good use," but of course that value is assigned by each individual to their own purchases. I don't advocate not buying, I just want people to think more before they buy. Here's a video I made when I first moved to Washington for college. While my thoughts have changed somewhat, I still think it's a fairly good summary of my mindful shopping strategy. I enjoy fashion, makeup, and nail art. I'm not going to stop just because a small part of me wishes I'd never stopped being the tomboy who never dressed up or even owned much makeup. I'm always going to love having things I love using, but this is how I try to ensure that everything I have is something I actually love using.
No comments:
Post a Comment