Fast fashion brands have peddled the promise of a shiny new outfit resulting in happiness for more than two decades, which is just enough time for most of us to recognise happiness is not really what fast fashion delivers. But given how easy and cheap it is to buy, and the way a cocktail dress or pair of shoes can follow us around the internet, breaking up with fast fashion can be difficult, even for the most conscious consumer.
According to psychologist Chris Cheers, sometimes the first step to changing your behaviour is noticing the beliefs that are happening underneath it. He says since, psychologically, fashion can be based on comparisons or meeting expectations, your brain may understand clothes as a space where it has to avoid the threat of not dressing up the way you’re meant to. In other words: fitting in.
