Our Obsession with Brands

It’s true; we, as gals, have an obsession with brands.

I’m really guilty of doing this. Whenever I see someone buy brand items like a gorgeous MA*RS set I go, “Ooh it looks pretty! I want it! I’ve got to buy it! I bought it.” A couple of months ago I bought a MA*RS dress for £92, and it didn’t really look as if it was worth that amount of money. 

Why did I do this? Because I felt that Japanese brand makes you more gyaru.

After this I decided to cut all costs of buying MA*RS and go back to being a budget gyaru. It was really difficult at first because I was like a addict who’s prized possession was taken away from them, but it got easier after a week or two. Even now I’m not so desperate to buy any brand items and this makes me try and think of more ways to wear the stuff I’ve got. It has really saved my bank and I just feel a lot less guilty now that I haven’t bought MA*RS when I should really be buying uni supplies.

My “addiction” is probably due to the way our community values brand items. Like I said before, we have that mindset where if we wear gal brand we are more gal than the person next to us who is wearing local brand. If gal fashion was easier to replicate from our “own” western brands than there wouldn’t be so much hassle trying to look like the best gal in the world because you have hundreds of gal brands.

I guess that’s why I’m kind of okay with this new trend of “casual gal”, because it’s starting to become easier to buy local brands and look gal. It reminds me of that video that was posted nearly two years ago where the gals where whatever they want (see below). I kind of agree with this, but I always feel more gal whenever I wear my complete MA*RS set than my “normal” clothes. Now I’m not trying to say how we should abandon our interest in gal brands because to be honest, that’s never going to happen.

So what am I trying to say? I guess I’m just trying to understand why we have this obsession, and perhaps ways to try and ween off it for those who want to go back to being on a budget because they simply can’t afford brands anymore (like me). I think that we should try and break out of this mind-set that gal brands instantly makes you more gal and better than any other person in the world. We should start looking at our own brands to see if we could do something similar and not treat it like a competition.

Here are some of my thoughts on focusing on other aspects apart from brand that makes you feel more gal:

• False nails 
• Having dramatic hair (or at least styling your hair)
• Good makeup 
• Nice accessories
• A local branded-item that looks quite similar to gal brand
• Heels or cute shoes

I don’t know if anyone else feels this way as well? Are you secretly obsessed with gal brand? Are you, like me, are trying to ween off it and wear local brands? Please comment below, I’d love to hear your views on this!