'underconsumption core' is nonsense... 🤨 | Internet Analysis

TIME STAMPS:
00:00 - intro
3:19 - tracking the tiktok trends
3:47 - underconsumption final boss
5:09 - underconsumption core
6:01 - romanticize it! ft Norah Jones, "Don't Know Why"
7:26 - thanks to Warby Parker!
8:32 - critiques of underconsumption core
10:41 - what does this trend really accomplish?
11:43 - is this for poor people? middle class?
14:21 - get max use out of your stuff! (empties, project pan)
15:11 - buy it for life!
17:01 - is this just the new minimalism?
19:08 - maximalism, grandma-core
20:13 - this aligns with developing personal style
21:44 - are these just classic young adult realizations?
23:56 - pregnancy & maternity leave updates

MY RELATED VIDEOS:

B-ROLL:

TIKTOKS:
itssimplyzoey

Tiffany Ferguson (she/her), 28 years old. #internetanalysis

This episode was co-written by Sheriden Smith!

[tiffanyferg]

hi !! yes I'm a bit late to this convo LMAO but there's still much to say... enjoy!!

[falsegarden]

I'm drinking water right now, I'm so water-core. Super hydrated aesthetic

[idioteza]

tbh as a formerly poor person i hate all those "oh but poor people don't have a choice don't romanticize it" No!!!! Romanticize I would've loved to see my room made of mismatched hand me downs and my wardrobe a good five or ten years behind the current fashion as as aspirational!!

[akhirahughes]

“Do you really care about cutting down on waste, or do you just want to look like a person that does?” - THIS! This is an important point. ❤

[luvisamixtape]

To me it’s crazy seeing this trend because I remember the beginning of January seeing people fighting over Stanley cups now this

[juliajs]

Regarding "how to actually use what you have" - learn maintenance and repair. Being able to repair an item, even if it's just good enough to keep using it, is a great skill to have. You don't need to re-roof your house yourself, but "make do and mend" is still valid. Same with maintenance. Treating your shoes with leather care products will make them last longer. Not washing your clothes on the hottest, longest setting will make them last longer. Treating your stuff with care will make them last longer.

[gemmaryan]

My teenage sister is very susceptible to tiktok trends and is constantly buying trendy things, but last week I ran out of my moisturizer and asked her if she wanted to come to ulta with me, and she said “no, I’m okay, I’m trying to be in my underconsumption core era.” I of course laughed to myself, but I actually think it’s great that this trend is (however temporarily) keeping her from mindless spending.

[RockingNeverland_]

I see the underconsumption trend more as a way to show gen z and gen alpha that the overconsumption, that is pushed on them practically 24/7, is not the only way. Millennials and older generations remember the times when advertising was way less intrusive and not in your pocket all the time. Many of them probably don't have a comparison to that lifestyle. It's refreshing to see stuff that's not this polished, curated highlight reel and I think younger people need this as a counter weight to everything I've mentioned.

[rachelm]

I’d also say, as a member of the younger generation, I’m so overwhelmed by the amount of advertisements and products that are constantly being pushed infront of my face. Obviously this is capitalism, but I’m so fatigued by it. I don’t want to buy more stuff!!! Instead of buying stuff that makes me look like I fit in a certain aesthetic, I’m just using stuff I have and making it my own!

[W-Edesigns]

The shoe thing was written about really beautifully by author Terry Pratchett in one of his books, to the point that it gets quoted in discussions about British economics: "The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. ... A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. ... But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet"

[makaylamikesell]

girlie I love your videos sm but please don’t feel any pressure to post at all during your maternity leave. take as much time as possible for yourself and your baby and your family, we will still be here when you get back (and I will be rewatching all your older videos) ❤

[chelseaalmost_]

"Maybe the real ✨underconsumption core✨ was the friends we made along the way" 😂 Cackling

[lightsideofsin]

From my own experiences, poor people are never very minimalist because we HAVE TO hold on to everything. My partner's grandmother recently passed away and we raided her house for everything we could still use. His grandmother grew up post war and hoarded everything she could which helped us immensely because we needed cookware and cutlery and some decorations because I refuse to live in a bunker instead of a home.
I grew up with a very "underconsumption" mother who would tell us to get rid of anything that we haven't used in the last 2 years. We could only keep sentimental stuff if it fit into one shoebox. Nowadays I don't do a big sorting out every 2 years anymore. I hold on to every bit of joy because I can't just buy more joy.

[BigleBee]

The night light that the last tenants left is amazing, legendary, and can never leave that space.

[emilyrox]

they could never make me hate underconsumption core. we desperately need to UNnormalize the insane level of consumption going on rn and I think romanticization is a powerful tool. I've been thrifting 90% of my clothes for years and am a superuser of my neighborhood Buy Nothing group so I have the creds to back up this opinion!!!

[Lyryn]

I wish the idea of "appropriate to me core" would become a trend. I had a foster child with severe multiple disabilities (and lots of equipment) which changed how much furniture I had, where I placed things, and the things that I needed for the child. When the child moved into her own home with supportive care, my home needs changed. I acquired a roommate, a very social extroverted roommate. We got along very well and, introvert me needed a quieter room. So, just a bed in the bedroom became a bed, desk, chair, and bookcase. As time passed and I aged, my hands became less reliable and I replaced my original garage sale, thrifted heavy pots and dishware with lighter weight still solid, durable less and dish/glassware that doesn't break as easily. What I cook and the volume of what I cook has changed so I have a more "minimal" collection of cooking things. I routinely pass along the things that no longer suit my life.

[Meowzels]

As someone who makes 30k a year and was miraculously able to buy a home (be it an older non aesthetic home) I love seeing people make content that doesn't promote living beyond their means. Under consumption core says to me not only do I not need to feel guilty or embarrassed for having old things but I am also not alone.

[teamarie]

I feel like my consumption went down a lot after I turned 25. Like idk if it was the frontal lobe finishing up or something but now I’m like on trend without buying shit haha.

[juliajs]

I think you have a point with the "not like other girls". After years and years of "look what I bought, look at my haul, look at my closet!"-videos, now it's time for the ones who are "not like those girls" to step forward. of course they do so in exactly the same way as the over-consumers, but at least actual "underconsumption core" or minimalism can help people feel better about their mismatched cutlery and the second-hand shoes they have, instead of trying to act as if making shein even richer is the way to go...

[Mandaoof]

You hit on why i do actually like this trend- yes, it has very valid critiques, but i think the overall messaging of focusing on *using* what you already have versus minimalism that has this pressure to get rid of stuff, is a much easier step for folks to take that do overconsume. In this age of all this pressure to buy more, to buy new, to buy this, this feels a lot less toxic and harmful than all the other trends that encourage some form of consumption that actually isnt necessary