Expensive Trends = Bad Habits

After listening in class about docile bodies and how people change certain habits or ways of life to fit in with the crowd, I have come to the decision that I too have become swept away with the hustle and bustle of judgment on appearance.  I have been a dancer for all of my life and it has become clear to me that I have changed my habits on fashion based on what my teammates thought was “in style”.   My original style was usually jeans my sister bought me from the clothing store she worked at and a t-shirt I pulled out of the closet.  It wasn’t long before I started noticing others on my team getting complimented on their outfits.  Back in the day, Limited Too was the store to shop at.  It was considered “designer fashions” for children wearing sizes kids 4-14.  You were considered “popular” if you were to wear something with this logo.  As the years advanced, the next big thing for dancers was coach purses, Abercrombie and Fitch, Hollister, and Juicy Couture sweat suits.  I come from a family that does not make the kind of money you can just spend whenever and wherever you want.  If I wanted something expensive, I had to work for it and use my own money.  As the fashions grew more and more expensive, I could not purchase these specific items and I felt as though I was being looked down upon from my teammates.  So, I worked hard to earn money to purchase a coach purse just to fit in with my teammates.  It is interesting to look back upon and notice the difference in how I was treated with and without a coach purse.  Things began to get even tenser when the fashion became designer jeans.  TV advertisements have shown, such as the photo above, that only woman in designer jeans and heels with contract attention.  Men are drawn towards this image because it shows the females butts in “perfect” butt enhancing pants.  Women now days would give anything to look even a little like the models chosen but it goes to show that people will spend hundreds of extra dollars on a pair of jeans just because they THINK their butts look better in them.  I am guilty of this as well.  In order to fit in at dance I purchased several pair of jeans that cost over $200.  Without them I felt lost.  This was a step in the “right” direction for me because it allowed me to be on the in with my team, even though I couldn’t afford the $600 outfits like they wore every day.  Ads like the one shown above takes an image such as women wearing jeans, and makes it into a sex appeal seen to attract the attention of males, inspiring their sex drive, and attracts the attention of women by showing them what they “have to look like” in order to gain the males attention and attraction.  Due to these advertisements, many women feel the need to change their bodies and change their appearance to look as sexy as the supermodels.  There is no need for $600 dollar outfits and there is no need to change your appearance just because others are doing so.  Ever since we were children we were told never let anyone define who you are, let you be the judge of your own character, so why are we letting advertisements and clothing companies decide how we should look?