Buy-It-Yourself: How DIY Got Consumerized

Authors

  • Elizabeth Chamberlain University of Louisville

Keywords:

DIY, fashion, blogs, punk, resistance

Abstract

Looking at do-it-yourself (DIY) fashion blogs as a test case, 'Buy-It-Yourself' considers some of the consumerizing pressures that can turn an anti-consumption movement into another tool of the corporate machine. I examine the punk roots of the DIY movement, the recent flurry of maker activity, and a sampling of DIY fashion blogs from their 2009 heyday through the present. Ultimately, I suggest that online activists consider DIY fashion blogs as a warning tale: as a counterculture movement begins to pick up steam, it can morph into something that betrays its original goals.

Author Biography

Elizabeth Chamberlain, University of Louisville

I am a doctoral candidate in rhetoric and composition at the University of Louisville, KY. I grew up in sunny, dry California—where I received my MA in English from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and my BA in English from California State University, Los Angeles. My dissertation research compares publication practices in academic journals (both open-access online and traditional) and web magazines, with a focus on citation.

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Published

2015-10-15

Issue

No. 14 (2015): Craft Rhetorics

Section

Issue #14: Craft Rhetoric

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