The rise of ‘Underconsumption Core’

It’s 9:30 on a Saturday morning, you slide open the mirrored door to your built-in closet and begin to flick through the mismatched coat hangers. As your fingers lightly graze each article of clothing, deep-buried memories begin to flood in. There’s the tank top you bought on a whim in 2020 when butterflies and pastels were all the rage on TikTok. Beneath it lies a box. Its contents? Your Adidas Superstar Originals, tags and all, which you purchased because you saw Zendaya wearing them on Instagram in 2016. Pair it with the pleated mini skirt from Shein that you begged your mum for back in 2018, and you’ll realise that the target on your back has been painted, and consumerism is holding the bow.

But what if this didn’t have to be the case? What if we could be freed from the shackles of microtrends?

The death of this mindset might be closer than we thought. After years of being bombarded by relentless promotional content from public figures, and stretching budgets thin due to the fear of missing out on trends, it seems we may be entering a new era in which rummaging through your closet is the new online shopping. Enter, ‘Underconsumption Core,’ a trend that has gained millions of views on TikTok and features thousands of videos under the hashtag #underconsumptioncore. These videos include users proudly showing off their minimalist lifestyle – like sticking to one eyeshadow palette, or repurposing old clothing items until they’re threadbare instead of until they’re unfashionable.

Like most Millennials and Gen Z, I blame the influencers of my generation for the way I decide to spend my adult money. We were set up by the Zoellas and Jeffree Stars of the world because no 12-year-old lower-middle-class girl should have been asking Santa for the Anastasia Beverly Hills Dip Brow or the Urban Decay Naked 3 eyeshadow palette. Do you see the irony in that?

The rise in these ‘Underconsumption Core’ videos is a true reflection of how long this generation has yearned for a return to normalcy in our relationship with material items. It raises the question: when did wearing clothes for decency evolve into having 3 outfit changes in one day? Fashion is undeniably a very important part of our culture and that is not likely to change. However, even though fashion designers might consider #underconsumptioncore a threat, that needn’t be the case.

Sophie Sinclair is the founder of the small fashion brand Cielo Rose. And she is bold. What others may deem a challenge too daunting to face, she embraces and adapts to as the times change. Although she is only at the beginning of her journey as a designer, her passion is undeniable as she views trends like these as an opportunity rather than a threat.

“I think it’s a great movement! It is encouraging consumers to slow down and to value their purchases and what they’re investing in,” Sophie said.

“TikTok and social media have definitely contributed to the increase of overconsumption and the rapid turnover of trends, so I think it’s nice to see a more mindful approach to consumption especially in the fashion industry.”

Designers adopting this way of thinking hints at positive changes within the fashion industry that have been a long time coming. The real impact of purchasing high volumes of fast fashion clothing is highlighted in the concerning statistics provided by Clean Up. On average, every Australian buys 56 items of clothing yearly, with the majority made from non-sustainable materials. Shockingly, Australia is now the second-highest consumer of textiles per person in the world, disposing of an average of 23 kilograms of clothing to landfill each year with the average person only wearing 40% of their clothes.

Evidence like this is confronting and could indirectly promote the “Underconsumption Core” movement and help people realise that every decision they make, big or small, could assist this already out-of-control issue to grow even larger.

Scrolling through TikTok and being told to buy less is quite a jarring experience that makes you question everything you thought you knew about yourself. Wait… You’re telling me I don’t want that eyeshadow palette that’s peach-scented? But I’ve always been so insecure about how my eyelids smell!

Thinking twice about materialistic purchases is a hard skill to master but with time your closet will be spacious and your wallet will be heavy.

This was the case for Shaniya Odulawa, a creator with over 64,000 followers on TikTok and a self-proclaimed “shopping addict.” Shaniya used her large platform to inform others of her sustainable fashion practices to influence people to think about the environmental repercussions of everything they’re being sold on social media and simply spread the message that you don’t always NEED it.

“I’d tell anyone following ‘Underconsumption Core’ to start by looking at what they already have,” she said. “If you’re an average girl in your twenties with more clothes than you need, you’ll often forget what’s there. Sometimes I’ll go through my wardrobe, find something I forgot I had, and get that same serotonin boost I look for when I’m buying something new.”

Although we still might be a long way off, It would seem we are inching closer to where sporting a more humble and simple look will be just as widely accepted by society as the ever-changing parade of fast fashion. Embracing this mindset allows everyone to be mindful of what they buy and to consider the environmental impact of their choices.

So join the revolution and do it for the environment, or if nothing else, do it for your wallet. Make the switch from ‘buy now, regret later’ to ‘think twice, enjoy forever.’ By embracing a more mindful approach to consumption, we can pave the way for a sustainable future, one reused outfit at a time.

As the late, great Vivienne Westwood wisely advised, “Buy less, choose well, make it last.”