The cost of fulfilling the superficial self - a look at Macklemore's "Wings"

Recently, I've developed an obsession with Nike Free Run trainers and not just for gym purposes, but for casual daywear as well. Why? because fashion has taken us this far - to this point whereby wearing colourful trainers and sneakers is trendy. My latest issue of ELLE can attest to this, as it portrays the immense liking the fashion industry has taken towards this new fad, including pictures of the editor, Jackie Burger, and her team wearing different variations of such sneakers to the office. If anything, this issue made me all the more crazy for this fleeting trend. By this time next year I can imagine that my Free Run trainers will be strictly for gym again.

This makes me think back (not too long ago actually) to a time when one would be ridiculed for wearing a pair of trainers for any other purpose besides fitness, but now because a heavy price tag is attached to them and our glossies endorse them, we are all running to sportswear outlets. Even so, it is still only a certain kind of brand and specific make that is acceptable.

Wings by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis portrays to us how we have become slaves to consumerism and materialism. It shows how even from a very young age we are made to believe that our superficial self is an important part of ourselves to fulfil, but this comes at such a high cost - not just literally, as is illustrated by the lines below:

"Yo, I stick my tongue out so everyone can see that logo
Nike Air Flight, book bag was so dope
And then my friend Carlos' brother got murdered for his fours, whoa"

We buy into fads so easily and so often that we do not even realise it anymore. With buying into fads comes the "which brand did it best?" mentality, thus turning it into a survival of the fittest. The brand which churns out the best fad (relative to its competitors) will surely make its way into one's closet faster than the one which paid no attention to detail i.e. red sole vs. ordinary sole. Same pair of shoes, but because Polo has made the soles of their loafers red, you're going to opt for them over the now ordinary Woolies loafers. It is all part and parcel of fulfilling the superficial self, which exists in all of us. We forfeit functionality for aesthetics.

I am not saying we should just purchase our material possessions for comfort, practicality and functionality, because honestly that would take all the fun out of shopping. What I am saying (and I think Macklemore too) is that we ought not lose our identity over material possessions. What we have in our closet should not determine our worth.

I love fashion. I love good quality things. I like being lavish from time to time. I shop way too often, but I do this all within my means and I do it for MYSELF, not to prove to the next person that I can afford to wear such and such a brand, because trying to show off is what causes some people to lose themselves ultimately - exhibit A: Skhothanes! A matter that has been trivialised and laughed at, yet goes far beyond the act of just "showing off" to peers.
Wings is a beautiful, well written song, which highlights the issue of consumerism very well and with a concluding line like this: "It's just another. pair. of. shoes." it really makes one think.