The Devil Wears Prada

Saying it “is all about 'investment dressing' - buying one piece and loving it for a long time”. (Siegle, 8) When buying a product the shopper should not be afraid to spend a little extra cash so it won’t have to be disposed in a few months time. Making more of a relationship to care for what is in their possession. And repair the clothes they have since “just 2 per cent of the average clothing budget goes on services that repair or lengthen the lifespan of our garments and accessories”. (Siegle, 9) She goes over how the more you buy fast fashion the higher the price and the cheaper the material will be. Ending up in the garbage and repeating the cycle of devastating effects on the

While “Two Cheers for materialism” by James Twitchell explores the extent to which materialism has become an ample and important aspect of everyday life in our society, the text also highlights our tendency to disregard and question the moral appropriateness of this very integral aspect.

“The Devil Wears Prada” is a movie about a naïve, yet smart young woman named Andrea Sachs, and her journey to becoming a journalist. Andrea, also known as Andy, graduated from Northwestern University and interviewed for a job at Runway, a major fashion magazine in New York City. Being a simple young woman, Andy wasn’t necessarily up to speed with the fashion industry, but ended up landing the job. Miranda Priestly, editor in chief at Runway hired Andy because she was “different” from any of her previous assistants. If Andy worked as an assistant to Miranda for at least a year, she was under the impression that she could easily be hired as a journalist in the future. The only problem was

If Tyler Durden from Fight Club was sitting inside $340,000 Lamborghini Aventador, his hatred towards materialism probably would have driven him to accelerate the car right into the ocean. If James Twitchell was sitting inside of it, he probably would have just left the car in a parking structure with the keys still inside. Chuck Palahniuk’s novel Fight Club and James Twitchell’s essay “The Allure of Luxury”both take negative against the concept and phenomenon of Western materialism, where society indulge on luxurious items to the extent of being the focus of life. In Fight Club, the idea of anti-materialism is taken to a great extent, with the book’s main character and Tyler focusing on destroying the materialistic society with violence to restore a more primitive way of living. However, in Twitchell’s piece, materialism is taken more moderately, describing how materialism has rapidly expanded throughout the Western nations, questioning the if it is beneficial or malicious. I believe that materialism does provide great benefits that allowed us human beings to advance as a society. However materialism introduces numerous complications that impact our society on a macroscale. Before comparing and contrasting my view of materialism, we will first explore Twitchell’s essay, then Fight Club to first better understand their stance and concept of materialism.

Materialism is a poison to society that prevents people from doing what is necessary for them. The novel, “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer demonstrates this. The novel is centered on Chris McCandless. He was on his way to graduate from a well-known university. He decides to leave, donating his money and burning the rest. He went into the wilderness, living off the land. He demonstrates materialism by taking only what was on his back. Materialism is a tendency to consider material possessions and physical comfort as more important than spiritual values. The average person requires possession of physical objects in order to be content. Chris shows through his actions that having physical comfort is not needed to acquire satisfaction. In “Into

Transcendentalist author, Henry David Thoreau sees materialism as the destruction of society and one’s mind. He articulates this in Walden, “Cultivate poverty like a garden herb, like sage. Do not trouble yourself much to get new things, whether clothes or friends. Turn the old; return to them. Things do not change; we change. Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts. God will see that you do not want society.” These strong views from Thoreau are not subject only to him, fellow transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson shares similar views from Self-Reliance, “Men have looked away from themselves and at things so long that they have come to esteem the religious, learned and civil institutions as guards of property, and they deprecate assaults on these, because they feel them to be assaults on property. They measure their esteem for each other by what each has, and not by what each is.” These two influential thinkers agree that materialism is ruining civilization and free thinking.

Fashion is everything to society and the media. The fashion industry has transformed into a necessity in the life of people. Everyone wants to look good, feel fabulous and feel as if we belong with everyone else. The envy and desire to wear certain things and look a certain way all come, from wearing the latest fashion handbags, accessories, dresses, shoes, and the list goes on. But, when is considering fashion into an individual’s life going too far to the extreme? Many do not consider the whereabouts of fashion materials and how the environment is affected by the mere existence of certain garments. Some may believe these objects grow on trees. But that is clearly not the case. Even though it would be nice. The fashion industry as a

The movie highlights the idea that fashion is a form of self-expression by showing the significance of the outfits each character decides to wear. An example is when Andrea first started working for Miranda, she was the outcast of the office by not wearing high fashion clothing. Receiving multiple insults and running tedious errands transformed Andrea from a conservative person who was a pushover, to someone who was confident and stood up for what she wanted. Andrea had a choice to make, continue working as Miranda’s assistant, or move on with her life to follow her dreams. She was strong enough to make the courageous decision for herself, family, and

If Tyler Durden from Fight Club was sitting inside $340,000 Lamborghini Aventador, his hatred towards materialism probably would have driven him to accelerate the car right into the ocean. If James Twitchell was sitting inside of it, he probably would have just left the car in a parking structure with the keys still inside. Chuck Palahniuk’s novel Fight Club and James Twitchell’s essay “The Allure of Luxury “both take negative against the concept and phenomenon of Western materialism, where society indulges on luxurious items to the extent of being the focus of life. In Fight Club, anti-materialism is extremely prominent with the narrator and Tyler are focused on destroying the materialistic society with violence to restore a more primitive way of living. However, Twitchell takes a more moderate stance on materialism has rapidly expanded throughout the Western nations, questioning if it is beneficial or malicious. I believe that materialism is a very misunderstood concept that I will describe later in the essay. Before comparing and contrasting my view of materialism, we will first explore Twitchell’s essay, then Fight Club to first better understand their stance their concept of materialism.

Materialism is a timely, social problem which is evident throughout history and in today’s world. Materialism is one issue where people may blind themselves from their moral values and drift away from family or their true selves. It can run and/or ruin a person’s life. Material parenting and the unhealthy lifestyle of a materialist are just two areas where leading a materialistic life may be fostered or lead. The materialistic world may be filled with joys and riches, however the material objects can not bring true happiness to any one person.

Andy is in the fashion business, and what captivates women about the movie or book in particular is the glamourous culture in which the job is based.

This report is about how materialism has been around people since prehistoric. According to this article adapted from James B. In Twittchell’s book, it is stated that even though Materialism is a social illness, it may also serve more positive functions in the modern world (1). In this piece, the author tells us that materialism has been spread around the world. For example, nowadays people from many countries like to buy more and more stuffs. Now; for instance, we have a materialism culture, and commercialism helps to increase this kind of lifestyle. Moreover, there is a stereotype that portrays women as the most consumers; however, historians has contradicted this by saying that “in pre-industrial world men were the chief hunter-gatherers” (390). From my point of view and based on this article, I consider that materialism does not bring any kind of positive functions in our world; on the contrary, I think that nowadays materialism is

A survey taking place in Connecticut showed that two thirds of 1,134 people would only marry a decent looking person, if they were wealthy (More americans Say They Would Marry for Money-- Even If It Doesn’t Buy Love). This shows that a large amount of people only care about the amount of money a person earns. This is seen greatly in the play “The Taming of the Shrew” by William Shakespeare and in the movie 10 Things I Hate About You, 10 things. The theme of superficial love is shown in different ways, in both stories, there is a form of fake love present, seen through the main characters. It shows that money goes deeper than true feelings in society, people look at the social acceptance level before their feelings for an individual.

Andrea is fresh out of graduating from university in hopes of finding a job to help reach her dream of becoming a journalist in New York City. However she is sent to Miranda Priestly – the chief editor of Runway, a fashion magazine, for an interview as an assistant. She reluctantly gives it a shot in knowledge that a year of being an assistant for Miranda would open opportunities for her to become a journalist anywhere she pleased. Although Andrea lacked in experience and knowledge about the fashion industry, her credentials and smart thinking won her the position. Andrea, also known as Andy finds it hard to fit in with the lifestyle of the fashion absorbed. Through the instigation of Miranda and the people around her, Andy

The Devil Wears Prada was released on June 30, 2006 in the United States and has since then climbed to worldwide fame. Based on Laura Weisberger’s novel of the same name, the film stars Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly, a high-powered head editor for a fashion magazine, and Anne Hathaway as Andy Sachs, Priestly’s newly graduated co-assistant. The film spans the course of eight months as Andy not only becomes accustomed to her new job in the fashion industry, but also becomes accustomed to the movie’s portrayal of the cutthroat professional world. Due to the heavy emphasis on the fashion aspects of the story, as the film progresses, Andy finds herself being transformed physically through her hair, clothing, and makeup by the world around her. This change in looks signals to the audience that Andy no longer has to fight to survive in the professional world, but has learned to thrive in it and manipulate it to her own gain. In The Devil Wear Prada, the film uses Andy’s physical transformations throughout the story in order to brings to light the need for and the validity of professional attire.