Above the Influence

After speaking to my mother I realize that my younger sister was more into consumption than I was.  I feel that the commercialization of childhood is accelerating.  I can remember reminiscing with a friend my own age about the days when our parents dressed us and did our hair.  I started to tell my mum where I wanted clothes from around the sixth or seventh grade.  My younger sister, in contrast, started to influence my mum to take her to certain stores around the third or fourth grade.

My mum doesn’t blame advertising, since neither of us watched much TV, but she does think that my sister’s group of friends influenced where she wanted to get her clothes.  Advertising, or just the general culture of consumption of our society most likely influenced my sister’s friends, who then socially pressured her.  So even the indirect influence of advertising is significant.  My mum would not have chosen those particular stores to get our clothes from if my sister and I had not leaned on her at least a little bit.

Another tension that stands out is when my sister or myself would want something, usually an item of clothing that my mum did not deem appropriate.  She said she wanted us to be proud of our bodies without “strutting our stuff” so-to-speak.  I can remember shopping with mum and her expressing concern that an outfit was “too tight” for me.  Mum said that her fear was that she was too prudish and did not know enough to speak up.  And even now sometimes she finds herself holding her tongue and some things my sister wears out of the house.

When I was younger I didn’t watch a lot of TV and if I did it was mostly the CBC kids programs like “Mr. Dressup” and “Fred Penner.”  Since the CBC has much stricter policies regarding advertising to children compared to the United States, I do not think I was exposed to much televised advertising geared directly to my age group.

I remember we would go to this one store because it was difficult to find jeans that fit me anywhere else.  I continued going to that store until recently when they changed their product line and stopped selling the jeans that fit me so well.

My mum said that when my sister and I were much younger she would shop for our clothes at bigger department stores such as Zellers and the Bay, maybe because it was cheaper considering we’d grow out of everything quickly anyway.  But when we got older we would go to the boutique chains instead, either on the street or in a mall.  My mum and I have never been big fans of the mall, I don’t like the air in malls and we can usually only last an hour at most, so we try to just go in for what we intended and get out as soon as possible.

In elementary school I also remember getting massive amounts of hand-me-down clothes from my cousins.  A lot of their stuff might not fit or wasn’t really my style, but occasionally I’d find stuff that I wanted to hold on to.  There was never too much pressure from my mum or dad about the hand-me-downs.  My mum believed in reusing stuff instead of just throwing it out, but if we were ever short of something she wouldn’t hesitate to take care of us.

I wasn’t too demanding though, I still have a hard time asking my mum or dad to take me shopping for anything.  I think it’s because my mum always made us think about whether we really “needed” something or whether we just “wanted” it.  I still have this guilt hang-up after spending money on myself, and I feel bad if I buy something and don’t wear it or use it enough.

I don’t remember getting into brands that much until I started to get caught up in sneaker culture.  I always wanted Nike’s for walk-around shoes starting later on in high school.  I had one friend who refused to wear Nikes because of their sweatshop practices, but even though I agreed with her, I had to have them.  And when Nike Air Force One’s came out my desire intensified.  All I wanted were plain white sneakers, but for some reason I had to have those, even though Air Force Ones were one of the only shoes that never went on sale.  That continues to this day, except now I like Adidas too.

I can remember once I changed high schools in Grade 10, there was this one trend, and everyone had Jansport backpacks, mostly the plain black ones.  I started to want one, although I didn’t admit to myself why.  They just seemed pretty basic and classic, and somehow it wouldn’t have been the same without the brand name.  I asked my mum and since she’s practical we went out to find a backpack.  I ended up getting a Jansport backpack but not the original one I intended; we got one that would probably last forever and had really comfortable shoulder straps.  I was happy, and I guess my mum made a good compromise; if she were going to get me something, it would be something good quality.

When I started coming to school here I started noticing everyone had these black North Face fleece jackets.  When I found out the price it seemed ridiculous to me that someone would spend so much just for the name.  And yet, when one of my friends had a connection to get one at discount, I asked her if she could help me out.  And when one day I found a fleece in my car I was excited.  I asked everyone who had been in my car if it was theirs, but since no one claimed it…so although rationally I did not understand the use of spending all that money on one, I still wanted one.

But then, I often shop at thrift stores like the Salvation Army and Village des Valeurs (Value Village).  At the high school I went to, people were disdainful of mass-marketed and mass-produced clothes that everyone was wearing, and that mindset wore off on me a little bit.  And it’s fun to dig through stuff and find something with potential that everyone else missed.  In the summer, for example, I found this gorgeous Oleg Cassini dress that fit my friend like a glove.

Besides thrift store shopping, I don’t really like to shop.  I like having nice clothes, but the trying-things-on process, especially in malls is not enjoyable to me in the least.

- Stephanie Lawrence