As a high-schooler in the 1950s, Kay Washburn babysat for 50 hours to afford her $25 dream dress. After spotting the moss green, knee-length frock with matching bolero jacket in the window of her local J.J. Newberry’s five-and-dime store, she worked for a month and a half to pay it off in installments, wearing it for years until it all but disintegrated.
In the intervening decades, as Americans turned from being primarily the makers of stuff to the buyers of it, Washburn’s consumption soared. She no longer saves her pennies for clothing and has become accustomed to buying what she wants, when she wants it. The now 89-year-old recently clicked “purchase” from her bed on a pair of lightweight capris from Chinese fast-fashion retailer Shein. The pants cost $5.95, less than what she pays for a burger and fries from In-N-Out, her favorite fast food chain. She plans to wear the pants for just a season or two.
Much of the clothing, homeware, tools and toys that Americans now buy is so inexpensive that it can be purchased almost without thinking. That has fueled an addiction to cheap stuff. No matter how quick the shipping time, the rush we get from our personalized phone cases and matching pajama sets is shorter: We throw many of these items out after only a few uses and start the cycle all over again. With the approach of Black Friday, the most visible display of America’s shopping compulsion is just around the corner.
President Trump’s tariffs and his vision of restoring America as a manufacturing powerhouse are challenging this “buy now, worry later” mindset.
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Still, psychologists and analysts of consumer behavior say it will take a prolonged period of higher prices and lower availability, along with a broader shift in our collective mindset, for shopping habits to change for good.
“The fact that it feels good to buy stuff isn’t going anywhere,” said Stephanie Preston, a psychology professor at the University of Michigan who researches consumerism. “People still have this expectation that they should be able to buy these things. They will just be more and more mad about how much they cost.”
