You are What You Buy: Navigating Hyper-Consumerism in College

By: Anna Everhart

When I arrived at Duke on move-in day, I was wearing my oldest t-shirt and some running shorts as I carried my belongings to my new residence hall.  I was joking with my sisters and looking around at all the other new freshmen and their families.  But soon something became very apparent to me- no one else was wearing casual clothes that seemed fitting to the occasion.  I looked around and learned that it wasn’t just a few other girls who donned expensive and trendy clothes, that was the expectation. 

I don’t know if this was just me, but the first day of college was the first time I had ever heard the phrase “golden goose” and been asked incessantly, where did you get your outfit?  I was very quickly learning that at Duke, you are supposed to show off your wealth with your fashion choices.  So, when it was time for some of the new student programming to begin, my outfit was changed but the feelings lingered.  Am I supposed to be here? This isn’t what I thought college would be like… 

Months went by and I didn’t think twice about the harm of this culture at my school.  I thought maybe this is what all colleges are like and my high school was just weird and different.  Whenever I had the money I would buy new clothes and scour the internet for good deals so that I could wear some of those same brands.  The problem isn’t when certain people like some brands more than others or buy clothes that fit their unique style, this consumerism becomes toxic when you are made to feel like your worth is tied to your material possessions and it has real life implications beyond the damage it does to your mental health. 

This hyper-consumerism is in fact not unique to Duke or even colleges across the United States.  It has become a staple of our global culture.  Trends pass by so quickly it seems that as soon as you’ve bought into one you’re already behind.  This is intentional, and allows fast fashion companies to successfully churn out new products constantly.  Most everyone I know is aware of the dangers of fast fashion for the environment, but how should we navigate this when there seems like no easy solution? Especially in college, are there ways to consume fashion in a way that is affordable and sustainable? 

A good place to start, and this may seem obvious, is simply buying less and focusing on wearing what we already own.  Part of this comes down to the insecurity so many of us feel about keeping up with certain trends and wearing similar outfits to the rest of our friends.  But think about the impact that you could make over time, instead of impulsively buying everything on your amazon wishlist at 2am, you decided to leave it in your cart and center your attention on what you already own.  These kinds of small changes in our individual lives are what can begin to unravel fast fashion at its very core.