Great American Apparel Diet: A peer support group for people who mindlessly buy too many clothes

[marmar]

from OnTheCommons.org:



The Great American Apparel Diet
A peer support group for people who mindlessly buy too many clothes.

By David Bollier


Lots of people rail against the excesses of American consumerism, but no one seems to actually DO anything about it. The Great American Apparel Diet wants to change that. TGAAD, as the website calls itself, is a self-help group of mostly women and a few men who have decided to completely stop buying new clothes for a entire year. The “diet” started on September 1 and continues until August 31, 2011 – although people can join the effort at any time. The diet is now in its second cycle.

An apparel diet is an inspired idea for trying to re-engineer peer pressure to fight compulsive consumerism. Instead of spending more than they can afford on clothes that they don’t really need, the participants – who blog about their experiences throughout the year – make do with what they already have. Radical! The diet makes an exception for footwear, accessories and underwear – which, I suppose, for some people, could be a problematic exception.

In this land of hyper-consumption, there is something daring about voluntarily not buying any new clothes for a full year. For many, of course, it’s a way to make a virtue out of necessity. Still, there is much to be said for forcing a richer interior dialogue about why we buy. It’s often difficult to home in on the many stupid, quixotic emotional impulses that impel us to buy gratuitous things we don’t need and can’t afford.

TGAAD entices new dieters with this come-on: “Devour your closet until you are satisfied, not stuffed. Chomp through your drawers until you are brimming not bloated. Within days you will feel lighter, brighter and more confident. In one small year (that’s 365 days, 8760 hours) you will be satiated without the unwanted weight of debt, overstuffed closets and apparel hangovers.” .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://onthecommons.org/great-american-apparel-diet

[madmom]

1. Gee... I've been on this "diet" for several years now.