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Over the Christmas period, spending 24/7 with family can be hard. As a break, I often checked my Newsfeeds on Instagram and Twitter to find people uploading pictures of their new Cartier Love Bracelets and Louboutins from their partners; and I find myself asking, ‘Why isn’t this me?’. We should be grateful for what we get at Christmas, because there are many people who get nothing, but some ‘Insta-famous’ people that I will not name are showered with high-end gifts, and I can’t help but think I need everything they have. Am I the only one who thinks this? If so, is that terribly shallow and vacuous?
Not just at Christmas, a lot of people post pictures and tweet about their collections of Hermes Birkin and Kelly bags as if they’re a commodity. This makes me, and many more people with the same salary want things that we either, cannot afford, or spend 3 months wage on something and not eat for that period of time. It is our obsession with celebrity culture as a nation and our want to live the glamorous life that creates ‘the want’ for materialistic things. Where does ‘want’ end, and greed start?
Photo from @EC24M on Instagram
Celebrity culture shows us what we don’t have, rather than what we do; It makes us think ‘I wish I could have that’ for aesthetic purposes. An item of clothing or a pair of shoes shouldn’t define who we are as individuals, but should show your personality through self-expression.
Social media has blurred the lines between the ‘Fashion Elite’ and the Fashion lover. The iPhones of fashion celebutants such as Bryan Boy or Susie Bubble have made it applicable to view exclusive fashion collections minutes after they are showcased on the runway via uploading them to twitter or Instagram; as opposed to 10 years ago, where you would wait until the next issue of Vogue came out; Fashion has evolved, it is now for the masses. It brings other creative minds together, not necessarily famous people, to showcase amateur work as well as professional. It’s the new way of finding out about job opportunities, events, even buying and selling ,and is completely inclusive. Fashion is forever changing; seasons change, and along with it comes a new wardrobe, and the ‘must haves’ for said season. Fashion conscious people follow it for no other reason than the way it makes us feel and the status is gives us. Growing up in a location where I could not be myself and wear what I found to be ‘fashionable’, now being a 22 year old male, I am no longer bothered about what people think, and will dress how I want. Things like Twitter and Instagram let me share my opinions and things I have worked hard for to achieve to the rest of the world, and in effect, people who are like me. It gives younger people who are scared of being themselves, a voice. Gay rights has propelled forward in the last few years due to online campaigns such as the ‘It Gets Better’ videos on YouTube along with celebrities endorsing these beliefs. Without the viral spread of social media, we would not be given such a powerful voice of gay rights.
As a nation, we are intrigued by celebrity status, and more so what they have. It’s curiosity more than anything, closely followed by envy. It won’t change and will probably only get worse, so don’t feel vapid when scrolling through Kim Kardashian’s Twitter images.
By Joe Wells
