Contemplating Fashion.

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Yesterday I saw this post on The Daybook and was immediately inspired. Do you ever feeling like your "fashion-self" or your "personal style" is unfulfilling? I'm dying to admit, I kinda do! Don't get me wrong, I get so much excitement and happiness out of material consumption and fashioning myself according to what I've come to see as my "personal style". I love it. I love it so much that I wonder why I love it so much. Because in addition to becoming increasingly obsessed with it as of late (perhaps since starting up this blog last August), I've also become aware that it's a never-ending process. I buy and I buy and I create and I create and I perform what I've bought and created and it keeps going on. There is no end point where I've finally achieved my personal style. There is no sigh of relief and no break and no "ahh, I'll take a step back and relax now". I'm constantly working and stressing and wondering if my style is good enough, close enough to the fashion trends, if I have enough of what I "need" and "want" to keep up my personal style. Like many women, I've been socialized to desire and literally embody the fashion industry and its dependence on material consumption and capitalism. Look at the first photo. Girls are taught to consume from an early age. (Also, why are all the girls in the photo white and thin and conventionally good-looking?) But it can be tiring, and, as Sydney pointed out, it sometimes feels trivial and even narcissistic (as I've said here and here). There are is so much oppression in Canada and the U.S. (caused by the very systems that I utilize and enjoy!) and here I am obsessing over a Roots bag that I got on sale and I am so so so happy about it. I'm not trying to make us feel guilty for material consumption. I just wanted to express how this negotiation of fashion and personal style, at least for me, is ripe with complex feelings that are often very difficult to negotiate. Do you feel this way, too? What are your thoughts? xo Caroline