“The Gilded Cage: Social Media and Fashion Consumption” (2022-2023)

Explicating the relationship between consumerism and the increasing reach of the digital world was my primary focus in this piece. Clothing and fashion mean a lot to me, and I consider myself pretty well-versed in the fashion industry, mainly just from scrolling on my phone and following accounts to keep updated. However, even before writing this essay, I felt somewhat implicated by algorithms that are intended to influence taste, manipulate consumers, and emphasize the importance of constant consumption. Rather than ignoring this feeling, I decided to lean into it, using my own perspective as a habitually online member of Gen Z as an investigative tool.

Interestingly enough, the conclusion of this essay ended up in a place that I wasn’t necessarily expecting when I first started. By diving deeply into my own habits and experiences, I felt freer to explore my ideas rather than just writing a “good” essay–whatever that means. Consequently, I was actually able to follow my own line of reasoning through the drafting stages rather than simply rehearsing a pre-determining an argument and paragraph structure. 

Although this essay is largely framed through my own personal lens, it began with a cultural question: what is the impact of constant consumption? What happens to individuals in a digital culture where we are constantly saturated with content? Sure, it may not be a bad thing that there is a new Netflix show every week, or that Instagram can always be refreshed to display innumerable new posts. Yet, isn’t there something ruinous about the complete saturation of our material world and, more specifically, the world of fashion by online content? Returning back to these essential questions helped me track my thoughts, ultimately allowing me to explore my own habits, views, and experiences fully within my writing process.

Aidan La Poche, ‘25, is a rising sophomore at NYU Tisch’s Playwrights Horizons Theater School who concentrates on playwriting, directing, and design, with a specific love for fashion and costumes. As a gender-fluid individual and native New Yorker, Aidan’s artistic process and selfhood are deeply intertwined with fashion. This essay explores Aidan’s deep care for clothing, tying it to contemporary modes of consumerism that haunt us all.