Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like.
– Will Rogers

Over the years, the need to have a name of a fashion designer plastered across your chest has only heightened. If you aren’t wearing the latest Rachel Roy then you are not fashionably correct. If your bag doesn’t showcase a familiar logo then you might as well carry all items in your pocket. If your lipstick doesn’t begin with an M and end in a C, you should probably just wear Chapstick. And how dare you grace the streets wearing nothing other than a “red bottom.” Blasphemy! The world of glamour has painted a picture full of logos and names we mispronounce on a daily basis, as the things we must have to be fabulous. These same things are what leave us frustrated with social acceptance, self-esteem, and that little devil we call, debt.

The journey to your false fabulous begins like it does for most of us, as kids. Imagine being teased for not wearing the latest sneakers, off brand clothes or having a non commercial hairstyle. Instead of begging mom to save for your college fund, you beg her to buy you new shoes. Why? Because you HAVE to fit in. Your need to be the cool kid is more important than reaching any other goal at this point, because it doesn’t feel good to be an outsider. Teasing cuts like paper, silently, but deep enough to burn and scar. So, you get the new clothes, shoes and accessories. Along with this come friends and enemies. I like to call them “frienemies.” But slip up one time and that short ride to popular becomes a long drop to a “nobody” again. The obsession with fitting in only gets deeper and deeper. We want more so we can “be” more. Fast forward to adult life and it’s only gotten worse. Your paycheck now belongs to Neiman’s and Jimmy. They are your new best friends.

The price that we pay to resemble what we see in the media is far from priceless. The price tag for social acceptance is extremely high. The amount of money we spend each year to keep up with the Jones’s is astounding. The people who suffer from this issue are not the high class citizens of Glamourville. It’s the people with regular 9-5′s. It’s the feeling that we must buy this expensive bag to get into this expensive place to hang with these expensive people only to feel like this bag isn’t expensive enough. Get me?

By Kia Chenelle

Creative Director: Chameka Ponder