Less is More and Influences

So I been thinking about the past couple of months and how our society is going into. The economy has been bad as many of us have known, and it's definitely affected us. Because of this economy, people have been consuming less, and it has shown. Before this compact challenge, (in which I use to go to the mall almost every weekend), the mall would look exactly like this in the picture to the left.

It wasn't like this say a year ago. However, every time I go to the mall now, all I see are SALES, OUT OF BUSINESS, and alot of spaces to walk around the mall, due to the fact that there's rarely anyone anymore. So I pose the question, is this economy helping us consumers? The mentality of Americans have definitely change when it comes to consumption. Findings have shown that people are starting to move on to the trend of "less is more", buy giving away their non used clothing, and any unnecessary stuff they don't use anymore. Garages and work offices are more clean because of this. So in my opinion, this economy is in a sense helping us think about consumption in a way we never thought of before.

With people getting into this mindset of consuming less, it's more than just that. People are living more of a simplistic lifestyle, but minimalizing what they need. People have stated that they aren't trying to live a cheap lifestyle, but it's more that they realize what are "needs" and "wants". Because of this economy, people are now realizing and are able to distinguish this. Who knows, maybe having a bad economy now and then, can change alot of our mentality about consumerism, and we can get use to it even when the economy is back to normal, and still consume less.

So on to another topic that has caught my attention. Last week we watch Hip Hop Immortals, and it has got me thinking. Our young generation are so influenced by these celebrities and stars, and it has affected how we dress, and what we buy. If you think about it, what we wear reflects what these celebrities have worn already. If you saw your favorite artist wearing a clothing you like, most likely you'll go out of your way to the mall and buy a very similar style like them. We as consumers are imitators. Like Kawamura states in her book, "consumers are perceived as fashion victims who imitate fashion leaders" So I want to challenge the celebrities to be more green, hence making their fans be like them. You don't think, if say a very popular celebrity sported Eco-friendly clothing, alot of people like us won't start doing the same? I think it's up to the high uper echelon class to start this movement, if we want our world to be a better place and environment to live in. Even after finishing our research paper, I found that celebrities have so much influence on us. The reason why we buy Nike shoes is because guys like LeBron and Kobe advertise it, and it's a must have thing. However, if someone like Kobe Bryant were to start wearing ecofriendly shoes, wouldn't we all follow him? So although, I don't have a solution for this, I just thought it was maybe something interesting to point out. However, I don't think we can persuade celebrities to push for this, when why should they care? They make millions of dollars, and consumption doesn't affect them at all.

In conclusion, I like to wrap about that, sometimes having everything isn't everything. The way I look at it, the more simplier you are the better the person you are because you aren't a victim of consumption. When you realize this, you'll see how much extra money you save and that bank statement increasing dramatically. It's a very good feeling.

TUNG VO
BLOG #5

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/work/farewell-consumerism/article1162091/
Hip Hop Immortals Video
http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/be-ecochic-green-fashion-week-460908
Kawamura, Yuniya. Fashion-ology.