Consumptive qualities

So I had my refresher driving lesson today, ready for my full licence test (in New Zealand you go from learner's to restricted, which I'm on, and then progress to full). It turns out that all those years of talking in class and being sent out of assembly for chatting have finally paid off. Part of the test involves identifying hazards on the road, out loud, and giving a running commentary on everything you're doing to avoid them. I am apparently very good at this. Not surprising, as I give a running commentary on everything anyway. Yay! Now I just need to remember to actually stop at stop signs, rather than just slowing down.

I have been thinking a lot recently about consumption. As in, the commerical consuming of products, not the nineteenth-century disease, fascinating as that is. As you can imagine, the consumption of clothing is something that interests me particularly.

There was no culture of shopping as a hobby in Zimbabwe, as there is here in New Zealand (and in other developed countries). There were fewer shops, for one thing, and there was certainly a lot less money to spend on leisure and treats. When we moved to New Zealand, I found the malls completely overwhelming. They still make me uneasy, if I'm truthful. Since there was not an endless supply and dazzling array of cheap, readily available products, we made do with what we had, made things we needed out of whatever was to hand, repaired things to within an inch of their lives and recycled everything we could. Pretty much all of my clothes were hand-me-downs, and, when I outgrew them, they were hand-me-down-ed again.

The war years of the 1940s, especially in Britain, really resonate with me - I think because I see many similarities between life then and my life in Zimbabwe in the 1990s. My great-grandmother, who is still with us and who I love and admire greatly, was a mother during the Blitz in London, and has told me many stories about hiding with my grandmother in an air raid shelter. She always looked absolutely gorgeous and dressed like a dream - still does - but would never have dreamed of buying dozens of cheap, poor-quality, mass-produced garments and then throwing them out when they were no longer wearable. She bought - and still buys - quality. And when that quality garment eventually wears out, she repairs it. And then repairs it again.

These days, I am definitely guilty of excess consumption when it comes to clothing. I buy second-hand, yes, and mostly from charity stores, but there is still a mountain of Stuff that results from my hobby, no matter how little money I spend on it and no matter where that money is going. I acquire mostly clothes and books, and have ridiculous amounts of both. I have been trying to edit my wardrobe lately, ready for our move, and I am also trying to cut down the amount of Stuff (it needs a capital letter) that I acquire. I am never going to be a minimalist, but I would like to only own things that I really love, rather than collecting magpie-like everything that catches my eye.