The fashion community versus overconsumption

I’ve been into fashion and putting outfits together since I can remember, into thrifting since I went for the first time in middle school, and into vintage clothing and runway shows since high school. These days, my wardrobe is overwhelmingly thrifted or bought second-hand (I’m an eBay fiend). I’m obsessed with watching thrift hauls and shopping adventures online, but also with seeing influencers unbox PR and models walk in new releases. It seems that the online fashion community has really grown over the past few years, and there’s been a conversation around young people growing more interested in style. I think this is a great thing, but it is interesting to think about the balance between self-expression and community, and the ways it can simultaneously drive consumption and brand loyalty. For me, watching and engaging with this content really satisfies my interests and inspires me to try trends and styles, but there’s also another side of fashion content that more directly drives consumption and clothing sales.

One factor that may have contributed to the growth of the online fashion community is the appeal of being able to show off your outfit online. Even people who may not be the most confident walking the streets in a new outfit may feel comfortable enough to share it online, where strangers are more likely to show support and give compliments. This feedback drives more sharing, which adds to the ease of becoming “fashionable,” since you can build confidence and exchange opinions and ideas within anonymous online communities. Since so many fashion creators exist, this also feeds a cycle in which new people are exposed to the content and then convinced to start posting videos of their own. Whereas before, you would have had to deliberately think about common themes within recent runway shows, celebrity photos, clothing drops, etc., now you scroll past endless videos of people telling you about current and up-and-coming trends, or repeatedly talking about the same types of pieces. It simplifies the process of building and staying on top of trend knowledge, which you can then incorporate into your own style.

Another driver of growth seems to be the dual rise of influencers (with large spending power) and dupes. It’s very typical for content creators to post the high-end pieces they buy or receive, which, although out of budget for a lot of their viewers, may inspire them to look for similar, less expensive pieces. As a result, viewers popularize similar, cheaper versions, while the original piece also gains traction. There’s clothing available at basically every price point you could ask for across all of the budding trends, from $2000 luxury skirts to $10 Amazon shirts. So when viewers see a clothing item they like, it’s not implausible that they could find it at any desired price or quality point. This accessibility, combined with how easily social media spreads trends, has made being “fashionable” and “trendy” feel far more attainable.

The uproar in fashion communities online and such interest in seeing people style outfits is great. What does bother me is how it contributes to increases in overconsumption. A lot of creators have links in their bio to all of the things they buy, with clothing being a big portion of that. People may have Amazon storefronts with dupes and cheap clothing, or just general shopping links to everything that they consume. The shift to buying from these links is much more frictionless than previous ways of purchasing. It eliminates the pause between seeing someone online wearing or promoting something and the viewer owning it themselves. The constant presence of direct links turns inspiration into an instant transaction. When every outfit comes with a shopping list attached, it subtly encourages you not just to admire the look, but to replicate it immediately. The immediacy and ease of purchase make buying feel much more casual and low-stakes, which increases both the urge and the frequency of buying.

Online shopping has been around for a long time now, but it’s interesting to see how much easier it’s becoming to purchase online. We see this everywhere, from one-click purchases on Amazon to TikTok Shop allowing you to buy things without leaving the app. While not all of these purchases are clothing, of course, the clothing purchases are what interest me. It shifts the intent further toward buying clothes for one-time use, for hyper-specific scenarios, and to follow micro-trends. You see the item one time for ten seconds, and now it’s being packed up to get shipped to your doorstep. The fast purchases take out the intentionality that comes with typical shopping. The time it takes to go to the store, look at all of the clothes, and try things on really slows down the decision-making process and forces you to think a lot more about what you purchase. So while fashion has long been a contributor to waste production, the ease of purchasing has only worsened that reality.

I love the increased interest in fashion and personal style, but I think that this increase comes with consequences. It may be different people who post their renewed personal style versus those who “one-click” purchase clothes from influencer links, but the community is all interconnected and affects one another. For me, I constantly try to remind myself that I can appreciate style without needing to own every piece of clothing that I like, and also that I can follow trends in my own way without needing to buy new clothes all of the time. Ultimately, I think the same platforms that have made fashion more accessible and communal have also made it easier to consume without thinking. The challenge, at least for me, is figuring out how to stay inspired and continue enjoying the content while still approaching style with intention, and to continue treating fashion as a form of creativity rather than something to continually spend on.