underconsumption era?
at the same time loads of unnecessary splurges, from belts to toys
Hey, it’s Ashe! Quite a few of my friends are choosing to go completely ‘offline’ this summer.
They’re ditching Instagram, WhatsApp, and all social media and smartphones to “focus on living their own lives instead of vicariously through online posts”. This digital detox isn’t new, but the intensity of disconnecting is— ❌ smartphones, ❌ apps—just calls, SMS, and GPS (not even e-readers).
These connections once promoted by social media now feel like they’re disconnecting us from ourselves. The addictive nature of these platforms makes us feel like we're performing life rather than living it. We're trying to escape that "entertainers vs. observers" dichotomy Britney Spears sang about—we don’t want to feel like we’re part of a [digital] circus.
There are even events for this! A church in Amsterdam hosted a night for reading, music, crafts, and chilling to help people disconnect and meet new folks.
The debate on social media's impact is old news, but with companies exploiting our data, what can we do? Going stone-cold social media sober isn’t really on all our plates just yet - but hey, trying at least 24 hours without it might be a start. But maybe not the best time to mention… we’re starting an Insta account?
Back to the regularly scheduled program - trends we spotted this week:
Non-negotiables
Inspired by The Bear, people are sharing their own lists of non-negotiables for dating, daily routine, working from home, and life in general.
F&W asked real-life chefs to give their kitchen non-negotiables [article].
On the topic, a psychologist quoted in a The Guardian article had a point saying that while such rules can provide a sense of direction in a world overflowing with choices, they can also be paralyzing and lack flexibility.
Underconsumption Final Boss
Underconsumption-core is all about showcasing ways to reuse items and reduce consumption, often using things until they break (and sometimes beyond). If it works, why buy new ones?
Finding the ‘underconsumption final boss’ is the new ‘core’, but some might say it’s just how many of us are normally living (underconsumption to them is people who live heavily minimalistic lifestyles e.g. producing no trash, backpackers etc).
To others, this trend stands in direct opposition to the influencer-driven view of consumption we’ve normalized. Instead of having a pristine almost shop-front looking collection of items, this trend showcases people showing off, well, how we usually just have things and don’t need more necessarily.
Parts of the beauty community are embracing a ‘Project Pan’: setting goals to use up all their products (of a type) before buying new ones. Especially in these socio-economic conditions, it’s too smart and sustainable for any of us to complain.
I ❤️ tees
Some cool girls been rocking the tourist shop classic “I heart [name of a city]” tee. But be careful what you express love for as Berlin brand Namilia recently was slammed for I heart Ozempic tee.
Bagels
No city trip photo dump is complete without a sexy snap of a bagel sliced in half. Bagel is the sourdough of 2024, particularly in London, where both old but gold (Bagel Bake) and new (It’s Bagels) shops have folks queuing up.
Other cities also have seen an uptick in bagel shops: Bagelboy joining Amsterdam’s roaster of bagel shops, Budapest Bagels recently opened in Berlin, and Bagel Bake offering a bagel fix in Istanbul.
Gucci belt
The blast from the past, the gaudy double-G Gucci belt is gaining momentum as seen on the waists of Bella Hadid and Miley Cyrus.
The IG account @databutmakeitfashion already noted an 18% daily increase in the belt’s popularity in June, and the trends seem to keep growing.
Vogue says all logo belts are crawling back to our closets.
Cucumber Cravings
We know it’s hot in a lot of Europe right now - but not where we’re at - and people are having some cucumber cravings. Loads of people want a refreshing and chilling snack - and eating whole cucumbers have become part of people’s personalities.
Remember Logan - the guy who went viral for making Korean cold noodles back in the day? Well he’s now posting recipes where he makes a snack with one large cucumber (and a variety of other ingredients). He’s not the only one - we’ve seen many people just grab it and munch on the berry (yes, cucumbers = berries)!
+ pssst, we heard last year that eating a whole cucumber may prevent a hangover… anyone wanna try this out or are we all sober now?
Word on the streets of…London
Everyone is obsessed with Jellycat - even bringing their Jellycat plushies as a desk-buddy at work. Jellycat is a (originally British) soft toy company that people have graduated to from the Squishmallow collection addiction. The quirky but cute nature of these plushies seem to be captivating many Brit’s hearts - they’ve got everything from the regular animal soft toys, to some less regular animal plushies, food-themed plushies, and even some random objects (ski goggles?). Their recent pop-ups have people grabbing their wallets: one in Selfridges was even fish and chips themed (with fried fish and peas plushies). Hey, it’s not like we were gonna afford a house anytime soon anyway, right?
Let’s end on a cute note: Loewe sent some goodies to our fav fashion influencer couple. If this is what retirement looks like, where do we sign up?
