Natsumi Moudry
Blog 6
Inside Source: “Fashion as an
Institutionalized System.”In Fashion-ology.
Reflection on the compact challenge: I
believed that preventing myself from buying any new items would not be that
difficult because I am generally not interested in popular stores like
Forever21. I am a fan of clothing but the only stores near our campus is
Forever21 and Gap. I believe that if I was in Japan it would have been a lot
more difficult for me to follow through the challenge. I believe that if I was
in Japan, I would be more tempted to buy items because there are generally lots
of stores in Japan that are not big box industries. I believe big box
industries do not sell clothing with much uniqueness, so I am generally not
interested in their products. Japan has many small businesses and stores
without a big name. America is filled with chain stores such as Forever21, H&M,
etc.
Fashion in America relies on gatekeepers like
magazine editors who control what type of clothing/ material items get
displayed in magazines such as Vogue. The designers that are already known by
the gatekeepers keep having their products published in the magazines, and
continue being successful in their business. The designers who are invisible to
the gatekeepers keep seeking to be discovered by the gatekeepers. These
designers, whether the population may like their products or not, are not able
to advertise their products as effectively (Kawamura, 41). I wish America had
more small businesses, and not big name stores that only the designers approved
of.
Update of the compact challenge: I really
did not have a problem not buying any material items until this last week. My
headphones stopped working in both ears, and I was no longer able to listen to
my music. A lot of times I like to listen to music just to keep me concentrated
on studying, so this week I purchased a new set of headphones. Although I am
not addicted to shopping frequently, there are some items like my headphones
that I feel like I need to have because I am so used to having it. I almost
made it through the challenge, but unfortunately I did not.
I believe going to thrift stores like this
week is a fun way to shop. I definitely saw some clothes that were made of better material compared to lots of clothes in the mall. I will definitely check out some thrift stores during winter break. The Youtube video that I posted shows a woman who went shopping at thrift stores. She shows that rather than buying items at big box industries, she can buy clothes at a cheaper price and higher quality.
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