(005) on shopping, saving, and self-presentation
The fashion girlies have the nosiest consumer journey & I've done a lot of shopping since my last email
Let’s talk about it.
In April, I championed the white background, Polyvore-esque, outfit flat lay (which, according to Glossy, is a content style amidst major revival in the beauty/lifestyle inspiration world) as a tool for self-discovery — revealing patterns in shopping, saving, and styling. Last week, Vogue Business dug into Gen Z’s use of iPhone’s native Notes app for outfit planning and Clueless-style wardrobe cataloging to a similar end.
Both my thoughts for an earlier newsletter and Maria Santa Poggi’s insights for Vogue point to a clear shift in the consumer journey. There’s a lot more noise at every stage, from awareness to advocacy, than ever before.
And calling it “noise” isn’t a value judgment — this noise is simply a byproduct of how we've fundamentally changed the ways we consume fashion and curate ourselves.
Vogue’s article leaned towards the business perspective, considering how brands can capitalize on this behavior and infiltrate spaces like the notes app or bring consumers to new spaces (like Wherring [mentioned in the article], Locker [my weapon of choice], or Indyx). The article quoted Whering’s CEO,
, who spoke highly of of a year-end, "Spotify Wrapped” of sorts for your wardrobe. An annual analysis of buying habits and stylistic choices could be both valuable and entertaining, offering a fun "WTF was I thinking?" moment at the end of the year alongside hard evidence of intentionality, overconsumption, and waste. But what year-end data couldn’t quite capture is the role of an audience — whether real or imagined.I am, perhaps, on the more extreme end of the spectrum as (though I hate to say it) I “create content”. I do not consider myself to be an influencer, and I do not have a large following (by today’s standards) on any platform. However, I do save things to my Locker, build edits on ShopMy, and post to @wardrobethirteen on Instagram for an audience. In doing so, I think about how my choices are going to be viewed and judged as a holistic curation of myself, rather than an eclectic list of disparate future purchases. Which, in my defense, is how we are encouraged to think about building our wardrobes. The goal is to make smart purchases, buy garments that work together, and think about pieces as parts of a whole rather than random one offs — it is said to be both more sustainable and more sincere.
Nevertheless, I catch myself saving a product multiple times or moving it around so it fits in better with the saves around it. I can even admit to saving pieces that I know I will never buy for the same reason. And I do the same thing on Instagram. Outfits like this and this will likely never touch my body and are well beyond my current monthly outfit budget, and yet I still love making them. It is a creative exercise, a fantasy, and a performance of my ideal self.
And in a lot of ways, I am invited to think about my choices as such. When someone follows me on Locker, I get a notification that someone “likes my style” (which I love). So I’m not only cataloging my intentions to buy, but also showing my 200-something followers on the platform my level of taste, my ability to find hidden gems from random retailers, and my personal style.
Maybe this is all too 1956-Erving Goffman of me, and I am using Locker in a way it wasn’t quite intended / over-estimating how my Instagram is perceived. So I’ll conclude with something I know to be true: a recent quote my from smart friend
(via her newsletter, pig pen). Last week she wrote:“Enjoying shopping, enjoying researching, enjoying mood boarding, enjoying learning about clothing, enjoying the process of making outfits, enjoying daydreaming, and enjoying being dressed up are all different things.”
The challenge for the modern (often chronically-online) consumer is, then, to know the difference. To reconcile the act of consumption with the joy (if applicable) of gathering inspiration and the self-expression contained in curation & musing — or at the very least, prioritize the enjoyable moments of a noisy journey.
Unfortunately, that reconciliation is only getting harder as we are bombarded with an endless stream of information and imagery — which is why the humble notes app might just be the place to be.
With all this talk of shopping and saving, I feel I owe you a glimpse into my personal archive of pieces & images (I’m constantly musing on Locker, Pinterest, ShopMy, and Instagram).
👀 What caught my eye…
Tory Burch studded flats ($498) — also via
// Nudie Jeans western shirt ($245) + bolo tie ($90) // CJR green Pleated Balloon Trousers ($1,925) // J.Crew white eyelet maxi ($114.50*) // Bottega mini ‘Wallace’ (leather & denim) ($2,400) // Tory Burch studded halter ($899*) // Interior red shirt dress (sold out) // Plexiglass Earrings ($66) // Orseund Iris ‘Aphrodite’ Top ($350)🎁 What I was gifted…
PR from Simkhai (Rubie Hardware Top, Juni Dress, & Kait Dress) !!!
Skincare and makeup from Cassie — I know I don’t talk about beauty here, but these are all serious game changers: ONE/SIZE Ultimate Blurring Setting Powder - Marigold, ONE/SIZE 3D Blush Trio Palette - Gworly Pop, Dr. Dennis Gross Vitamin C Lactic Creamy Cleansing Oil, Better Screen™ UV Serum
🛍️ What I’ve borrowed / rented …
Black aqua bag from my mom // House of CB dress from Pickle for a Boston-Tea-party-themed going away party // Bottega Mini Jodie from Cassie & With Harper Lu dress from Pickle for a wedding
🛒 What I’ve bought…
Cos jacket ($95*) // & Other Stories purple ruffle top ($89) + beaded tee ($79) // NY Knicks Basketball shorts ($22) // Zara polka dot shorts ($12.99*) & necklace (sold out) // Miss circle mini dress ($189) // JW Anderson top ($195**) // Zara black maxi skirt (sold out - similar via COS) & Thin bangles (sold out) // Chanel slingback flats ($537 via TRR) // Loewe sunglasses ($310)
💔 What I missed out on…
Grace Wales Bonner skirt via Net-a-Porter sale (one left via SSENSE) — it’s just so me // Striped Celine luggage via TRR — this is one of the first luxury pieces I fell in love with years ago… I should have bought it the second I saw it.
I want to know what has caught your eye? What’s your favorite recent purchase? Have you missed out on anything good?
I must conclude with an apology for my absence. Frankly, it’s hard to dedicate time to a project that doesn’t pay you (especially in 2024). It’s the double edged sword of the creator economy — being able to mobilize from idea to stream of income so quickly means you can turn a profit with a decent output and a bit of luck. And so the alternative feels lazy and underdone. When in reality, to move slowly, and prioritize the act of doing (when you feel like it) over the ROI, is in fact, the goal of a hobby.
Finally, I want to say thank you! I have quite a few new subscribers since my last email (shoutout to my friend
for recommending my newsletter to her audience) — hello & welcome to the inside of my brain. Thanks for being here.See you next time!
W13
Loved this
We should share the studded flats