Buying Happiness: The Checkout Line of the Soul

Fast fashion refers to quick designer clothes and trendy clothing with the newest style which is mass-produced to sell the product as fast as possible. Stores like H&M, Urbanic, Zara, and Savana have revolutionized the fashion industry by selling trendy clothes at lower prices. This has made people who like to stay in trend with affordable prices buy more to keep up with the trend.
However, this consumer ship has a much darker side to it. It has created a vicious cycle with consumers as the trend changes so quickly, that they impulsively buy products, and using it once and discarding it to the pile of last year have been fashion. It also created unjust working hours and violation of labor laws and made employees work for the company's profit. We can also observe that “This Fashion” trend has not only affected the earning section of society but also affected the young growing generation as they want to buy products, and clothes like their favorite influencer that they see online and are pressuring parents.
In the latest research, environmentalists have discovered that because of this, the fast-fashion companies mentioned above are involved in deforestation to plant more cotton fields and produce more clothing articles to feed people's obsession with fashion. This has also created many one-use plastic products that will take thousands of years to dissolve in the earth, harming the earth’s biodiversity.
FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) has become a common phenomenon in our modern lives, and a huge part of it is due to social media websites. The constant need to buy more trendy products or wardrobe must-haves by looking at influencers' portfolios online can create an overwhelming desire to be part of the crowd. Whether it's seeing influencers promote a new collection or scrolling through an endless stream of photos showcasing new outfits, the pressure to conform can become suffocating.
Having 10 pairs of pants, 5 pairs of white shoes, and 3 coats in winter does no good to an individual. It only creates a mess in our homes and a dent in our bank accounts. It just creates clutter and a hassle for us to pack these things and keep them organized in our homes.
The reality is that FOMO, while deeply ingrained in social behavior, can prevent personal growth. When someone is too focused on accumulating clothes to fit into the ever-changing Mold of what is “in,” they may neglect deeper forms of self-improvement. True growth comes from nurturing our skills, relationships, and well-being—not from chasing trends that are here today and gone tomorrow.
Self-improvement is the process of making positive changes in your life to improve your quality of life and reach your full potential. And fashion plays an important part in reflecting one personality, but it shouldn't define a person’s worth. So how do make go from FOMO to self-improvement? We can buy products and clothes judiciary and keep a daily budget or a monthly budget to keep one in check. An individual can start his or her thrift store or website and give their clothing for rentals as a side business. He/She/They can also spend money on timeless pieces rather than investing their money in dupes.
For self-realization, a person can have a journal of his/her/their needs and wants for the season and not to give in what they see on the internet.
An Influencer Monica Ravichandra goes under the handle glow_monica on Instagram has been promoting such ideas by telling her followers as well as other content creators to host or organise giveaways and give dedicated followers PR packages that the content creator is not using or maybe the company has sent more than one box to them. It makes people not invest their money into their desired product and also makes the audience feel connected to their favorite content creator. It also makes a good PR for them and makes a strong rooted and loyal audience genuinely enjoy their content.
Self-improvement will take time and will be a pain but, in the end, instead of wasting money and buying dupe products, individuals can invest in luxury products that are timeless and give more confidence while wearing them.
Especially when you’re constantly trying to keep up with fashion trends, especially when you’re dealing with FOMO, it’s easy to forget the most important things. The important thing isn’t to constantly change your wardrobe to the latest and greatest but to realize that if you feel good and confident in what you have, then that’s okay. True personal development isn’t about what you wear, but about understanding yourself, how you’ve grown as a person, how you’ve contributed to the world, and how you care for yourself and others. The journey of self-development is unique to each person and doesn’t require constantly wearing new clothes. By moving away from the fast pace of fashion and adopting a mindful and thoughtful approach to fashion, we can move beyond the