‘Styling’ teenage private space: Identity, fashion and consumption in girls’ bedrooms

Abstract

Abstract Drawing on the example of the teenage girl and her bedroom, in this article I argue that personal and private spaces such as bedrooms are not just ‘hubs’ of social and cultural activity but are important sites within which teenage girls’ social and cultural identities are continually ‘styled’ and represented. As a key space of expression, identity and consumption for girls experiencing their teenage years, I examine the concept of ‘styling’ in teenage girls’ bedrooms as an ongoing process of identity formation and experimentation. In doing this, I explore the interplay between the public and private realm in the styling of personal spaces, whereby teenage girls’ practices of identity flow between the two, can intertwine and are inextricably mapped onto one another. In exploring the relationship between teenage girls, consumption and identity, and specifically focusing on the role of ‘space’ in this relationship, I take the example of fashion stores such as Topshop and Urban Outfitters to explore the ways in which elements of public spaces of teen consumption are ‘taken home’ to be recreated and rearticulated back in the bedroom as a stylistic statement about a teenage girl’s identity. In doing this, I argue that teenage bedrooms are important sites of contemporary youth identity construction and display and that teenage girls’ emerging adult identities and patterns of consumption are articulated through the ‘fabric’ of bedroom space.