The Hoarder, the Oniomaniac and the Fashionista in me: A life histories perspective on self-concept and consumption practices

Increased negative media attention has focused on the environmental impacts the fashion industry has on the natural environment, thereby calling for solutions, focused on clothing purchase, use and end-of-life treatment. This research explores the relationship between consumers and their clothing consumption (from purchase through to disposal), through the lens of life histories, and thus exploring what impacts on end-of-life clothes treatment. The novelty of this study lies within connecting fashion consumption practices with the self-concept in the context of clothing consumption (pre- purchase through to disposal), from an individual’s life history perspective. This qualitative enquiry utilised life histories, thereby conducting 20 in-depth semi-structured interviews that were analysed through a grounded approach. Findings indicate that fashion consumption is heavily influenced by an individual’s ‘self’, in that those that have a positive perception of themselves have reduced shopping habits, whilst those with a negative perception increase them. Our results show that our participants go through various consumption practices (hoarder, oniomaniac, and ‘fashionista’) that co-exist within them and are influenced by the individual’s self. Our study calls for more intergenerational studies exploring fashion consumption and disposal and the effects on the self