Creating Fantasy Scenarios For The Clothes I’ll Never Buy
Living vicariously through the outfits I’ll never wear
J’Nae Writes is a newsletter exploring fashion, design, and style.
If you like this newsletter and want to show your support, please consider buying me a digital cup of coffee. Thank you!
If you were able to dress how you want too, how you really really want too, what do you think would you look like? I ask because I’m a forever browser, as in I’ll happily spend hours online creating wish lists for things I have no intention of purchasing - maybe items are out of my price range, maybe these items are entirely unrealistic and I have no place to actually wear them. Nevertheless, it doesn’t stop me from hearting and starring something that catches my eye. Are there any other wish list shoppers out there?
I love to create imaginary scenarios for the clothes I’ll never buy, picturing myself in some distant corner of the world in a head-to-toe designer outfit with accessories to match. Maybe I’m wearing that Jacquemus shirt dress in the tropics, maybe I’m wearing those Louis Vuitton puffer shoes skiing in the Alps, or maybe I’m at the Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo in oversized Balenciaga (what from Balenciaga isn’t oversized?). Either way I can picture what I’m doing at an exact time and moment, who I’m with, where I’m going, I can place myself in situations that I’m almost certain will never happen - all based around my outfit. Is that crazy? I like to live vicariously through outfits I'll never wear, and something tells me I’m not alone in this.
Fantasy window shopping
I’m certain that fantasy window shopping has become a pandemic pastime for people all over the world. What else was there to do apart from wondering what our lives would be like once we were out of lockdown, and imagining what we would wear when it was safe to re-emerge? As the world came to a standstill, this left us questioning everything. In terms of fashion we questioned the need for trend-led clothes in amongst the chaos, we questioned the effect of the fashion industry on the planet, we questioned the endless repetitive fashion cycle we’ve come to know. We were left wondering, pondering, thinking. We reassessed and reevaluated just about everything as we desired comfort and familiarity. This hunger for normality created an appetite not just for our lives in the ‘before times’, but for a world markedly different from anything we’ve ever known. We craved better, and we yearned for more.
I’m someone who’s very much in my head. I'm a Capricorn, an only child, a thinker by nature. I’ll ponder over the smallest of decisions, I’ll question something that happened years and years ago that I just happen to remember. What I’m getting at is how over the past few years I turned to my safe space, my imagination, where I could be in an alternative reality. I could be anywhere, places new and places familiar, I could even be in the world I was suddenly cut off from. So naturally I turned to apps, shopping websites, and any place where I could browse for things I thought I would wear when it was time for me to brave beyond the boundaries of my home. My Pinterest and Instagram saved folders are now flooded with street style imagery. I placed myself in imaginary situations that were far from my current lived experience, fantasy window shopping became key to getting me through.
Fashion escapism as a release
Daydreaming plays a huge role in our behaviours and consumption, and is a key trigger in our emotional reactions towards the products we view. It’s somewhat of a mediator, it’s the space between thinking about purchasing something, and taking the action to actually purchase it. Daydreaming, or creating fantasy scenarios for clothes I’ll never buy, is the impulsive prompt that makes me add things to my basket with no intention of checking out. It’s pretty harmless for the most part - as long as you don’t accidentally get stung with an eye-watering bill you can’t pay. As humans, it’s natural for us to consume and want new things. It’s normal to dream about these things, to covet them, to imagine a world where you’re surrounded by all you desire.
There’s a reason the term “retail therapy” was coined, shopping can give us a temporary adrenaline boost and make us feel better when we’re stressed out or going through a rough patch. It’s a way to mentally escape triggering situations - such as the events of the last few years - and indulge in something that makes us feel good again. I know my online shopping perusing rose during the pandemic. It was a way for me to forget about our new grim reality, even if only briefly. Using fashion as a form of escapism has been the case throughout history; such as with the glitz and glamour of the Roaring Twenties after the end of World War One and the Spanish flu, both which left a death toll in the tens of millions worldwide. Fashion in times of hardship is about anything but reality. It’s about daydreaming, fantasy, it's about being anywhere but in the here and now.
I've worked in fashion for long enough to know that the industry can seem fake, superficial even. Fashion can seem entirely detached from current events that have real-life implications. I sometimes question the emptiness of fashion versus its actual importance, but then it has a way of surprising me when I least expect it. Digital galleries and the joys of online window shopping have gotten me through a wild few years, they’ve allowed me to plan ahead and dream of adventures I hope to take in the not-too-distant future. My hypothetical wish lists are now so long they’re hard to keep track of, but they’re a form of escapism I can’t let disappear. If they help me keep a sense of peace, a theoretical reality that's only apparent to me, is there any harm in living vicariously through the outfits I’ll never wear?
Let me know your thoughts and feedback on this post, I want to know what you want from J’Nae Writes. Comments are open…
Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram and Twitter to see more of what I’m up to, and I’ll see you back here soon!
Catch you next time,
J’Nae
You're reading J’Nae Writes a newsletter created by yours truly J’Nae Phillips. To get the latest editions delivered straight to your inbox, make sure you subscribe here.