The Trend Conversation

I recently overheard a conversation that got me thinking and laughing at the same time; it was about one of my favourite topics – fashion. I am not obsessed about fashion for the sake of it but I have always been fascinated with design – fashion and interior and Arts.

My ears piqued and I couldn’t resist paying a tad more attention to the side conversation. A lady came in and her friend complimented her riding boots telling her she was on trend as riding boots were ‘back’ in fashion. She responded that she didn’t know they ever left.

Everyone, including me, burst out laughing at her matter of fact response to the compliment. It was obvious she wasn’t the sort of person who paid attention to fashion or what was in or out of trend. She bought things that she liked and hopefully they were fashionable and if not, tough!

The entire conversation instantly reminded me of a scene in the movie, ‘The Devil Wears Prada’. The main character, Amanda Priestley, did an analysis of the ‘cerulean’ sweater that her assistant wore that day.

To the untrained eyes, the colour was blue. Amanda said it wasn’t just blue, it’s not turquoise, it’s not lapis but it’s actually cerulean.

She concluded the analysis by saying, “However, that blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs and it’s sort of comical how you think that you’ve made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when, in fact, you’re wearing the sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room.”

That scene stuck with me and made me think of the amount of control the fashion and many other industries have on our buying behaviours with most of us none the wiser.

We think we are making choices when in reality we are conditioned to think and act in certain ways. We define beauty based on what we are told to think it is with many using harmful products because they have believed a lie.

We spend money buying things we don’t need and sometimes can’t afford because we are told unless we have it, life isn’t beautiful yet.

The documentary about second hand clothes brings an ironic twist to the end of this fascinating story with most of those clothes ending up in rubbish dumps in many African countries contributing to poor living conditions and global warming. Yet when we stand in front of the rack or walk into a high end store, we are mostly blinded to the journey that we are about to join.

I got a few lessons from the conversation about the riding boots.

Ignorance can be bliss

Because the lady didn’t know riding boots were supposedly out of fashion and now back in fashion, she didn’t have to worry about affording new pairs to be fashionable. If she had known they were out of fashion, would she have thrown the old pair away, kept them till they came back into fashion or ignore the trend and wear them anyway?

Make long lasting decisions

Since there’s an industry that would prefer for you to constantly buy ‘stuff’ and then tell you those ‘stuff’ are no longer good to wear, why not buy the ‘stuff’ that you really like and will continue to like for many seasons.

Why not buy those ones that will last so you can save money and the planet on the long run?

Mind your pocket and your choices

Think of what you can afford and make choices on that basis. Don’t try to compete with the Jones’; don’t buy because you are told you should buy. Figure out your needs versus wants, understand when society and your peers are putting pressures on you.

Especially understand when you’re responsible for the pressures you are under. As we say in Nigeria, ‘no be by force’ which means many things are not do or die situations, and don’t bite more than you can chew. Take a moment to think things through and make smart decisions.

Thanks for reading my post and please do me the huge favour of sharing it with others. Have an awesome week.