Hoarding is more than collecting old newspapers and rags, for some future use that often never comes. Our modern, more wealthy society allows some of us to hoard valuable works of art, rare cars, and yes, more hoarding choices including fashionable goods too. We explore this phenomenon which is by no means new, as we learned from our school history books.
Are We All ‘Guilty Of The Same Sin’ Too?
We try not to judge at Avery Associates. We are all in this boat together, and we each have our own weaknesses and strengths. Fashion Psychology is on point when it remarks we all have a hat, a backpack, or a teddy bear that were the height of fashion once, stashed away somewhere. And of course, we cannot bear to be parted from them either.
Everything in moderation the old folk may have taught us. However, there comes a point where we have to ask our hoarding friend “How come everything you own has a memory embedded in it that you simply cannot shed? Should you not perhaps be more selective in your hoarding choices, and send some of this stuff to the charity shop?”
If Only Hoarding Choices Were That Simple
Amassing personal possessions because of a desire to keep them is compulsive behaviour. And this, the American Psychiatric Association tells us is driven by an obsession to do something. So affected people can’t just ‘snap out of it’ as some say depressed folk should do.
‘Compulsive hoarding’, in as few words as possible, is accumulating an excessive amount of something usually in secret, and for own personal enjoyment. It falls within the same cluster as overspending, and compulsive shopping, according to Fashion Psychology. Perhaps this calms us for a moment, and quietens unstable emotions.
More About the Motivation Behind the Behaviour
We generally choose behaviours that benefit us, or satisfy some need. And these in turn trigger the hoarding choices of people thus affected. We narrow our focus now to fashionable goods, as we ponder over what desires drive this, and why the cycle is so difficult to break.
Why Clothes of All Things?
We all develop an attachment to certain items of clothing we insist on wearing, even when they are becoming thread-bare. A research paper in MDPI suggests we relate to clothes similarly to people. The relationships are complex as we “fall in and out of love with them”, they say. However, some wearer-to-clothes attachments are even more binding.
Shakaila Forbes-Bell has a master’s degree in fashion psychology. She once said “Clothes are like memory banks, they constitute a powerful tool that can trigger nostalgia which in turn breeds happiness and lifts your mood. If a garment gives you the ability to harken back to the good old days, cherish it for a little while longer.”
Thus it follows that our emotions embedded in clothes can keep those feelings alive longer. The actual memories of the occasion may have faded, but the subconscious sensation is still there. This is quite natural. We all have special feelings for certain clothes. So how come some of us are in love with our entire wardrobe?
Laura Horton described in VOGUE Magazine how she became caught up in the clothing hoarding cycle, but broke it. “Over two weekends, I sold more than 400 items of clothing. Adrenaline kicked in, and apart from a few moments of panic where I wished I could stop time and keep everything.
“But I actually really enjoyed myself. I got to know lots of my neighbours, women who didn’t love high-street shopping – they got the benefit of my time spent at sample sales, and I was able to let things go … I still have an appreciation for beautiful things, but I have hugely curbed my shopping.”
From Personal Hoarding Choices to Excess
It’s quite okay, even healthy to hang on to a few special clothes that enrich our lives with precious memories. Signs of early fashion hoarding disorder may emerge from purchasing decisions. Fashion Psychology cites the example of a shopper who purchases an item in all the colours available, just for the ‘feel good factor’.
Bulk clothes shopping may become a coping mechanism to deal with lack of social contact, and / or an ineffective relationship. Hoarding disorders are best treated early before they become too embedded. However at this stage the person themselves may not have spotted the trend.
Managing Fashion Hoarding Choices With a Friend
You may be reading this article because you have a friend with the condition. You should not attempt to address the underlying causes unless you are suitably qualified. The best you can do is to help them shop more selectively, and with a bit of luck persuade them to send some of their collection to the charity shop.
This article comes to you with compliments of Aviary Associates, bespoke valuers of special things that you and we love.
