Am I Materialistic?

Naturally, being in fashion, I have a deep love for things like clothing and shoes, yet I never considered myself materialistic until someone joked about it a couple months ago.  To an extent, like any fashion lover, I am materialistic.  The ridiculous amount of joy I get from a good pair of shoes should technically be enough to send me to an insane asylum, but is being materialistic really just about wanting and liking things?  Or is there something deeper that distinguishes between being materialistic and being a fashion addict?

When you're materialistic, you ascribe value to objects that exceeds the value you ascribe to things such as relationships and other people.  Right off the bat, I don't seem to qualify as materialistic.  I do attribute excessive symbolic value to fashion pieces, but that does not mean I value my handbags over my friends. The value of fashion to me is different from the value of relationships, and the two cannot be compared in parallel.

The value of relationships is the fulfillment they bring - they're what make me happy with the overall state of my life.  The value of fashion is the dose of satisfaction it infuses into my daily life - it gives me confidence and makes me happy knowing such amazing creative talent exists.  There's a difference between what relationships and fashion mean to me, and because of that, I think they can both co-exist in perfect tandem.

Yes, I love fashion, but the physicality of fashion is only half the story.  Behind every fashion piece is a culmination of passion, talent and dedication.  Behind every design is a designer who has slaved over the drawing board to give life to what initially seemed like an ambitious vision.  In the end, a love for fashion is really a love for people!  It's not just about the shoe, but the designers, the suppliers, the artisans, the models, the retailers, and the salespeople who all work together to make the shoe what it is.  I have a love for luxury fashion not because of the material goods, but because there is a real heart in everything that is done.  Sure, a Rolex would bestow upon me a certain reputation, but that's not really what I see. What I see is the quality of design, of mechanisms, and of materials.

So what's the verdict?  Am I a materialist in denial, or is there something to be said about the difference between a materialist and a fashion lover?

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