Evolution of Culture and Clothes: A Study on the Select Novels of Sophie Kinsella’s “The Shopaholic Series”

Abstract

Chick Literature, or “Chick Lit,” represents a distinctive literary form that explores the lives, aspirations, and struggles of contemporary women. This study focuses on Sophie Kinsella’s The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholicand Shopaholic Abroad, examining how fashion and consumerism intersect with identity formation in postfeminist contexts. Using theories of fashion, consumer culture, and gender, this paper investigates the protagonist Rebecca Bloomwood’s relationship with shopping and how her obsession with clothes reflects broader social critiques on consumerism and femininity. Employing qualitative close reading, this paper connects Kinsella’s narratives with postfeminist discourse, exploring how Becky’s compulsive shopping simultaneously empowers and traps her. The study contributes to Chick Lit scholarship by linking fashion, identity, and consumption as evolving symbols of selfhood in the 21st century.