Just Flight & Just Trains blogs

Boorman’s new lifestyle costs less

Neil Boorman torched his designer wardrobe and possessions and tried to live a brand-free life for a year - so how did he do?Exactly one year ago this week, I held a public bonfire in central London, whereby I burnt all of my branded possessions. In an article on this website, I explained why.

I suffered from a condition known as obsessive branding disorder - a combination of compulsive shopping and a reliance on status symbol brands for the maintenance of one’s self esteem.

I didn’t buy clothes, gadgets or even food for the basic functions that they performed. I bought them for the way they made me feel.

From Adidas trainers to BlackBerry phones, I depended on the confidence these brands gave me to face the world each day.

I began to realise the more money I spent, the more miserable I became. With mounting debts and plummeting self-esteem, I pledged to do away with these emotional crutches and attempted to live a year of my life brand-free.

By banning myself from the shops I hoped to cleanse myself of a destructive addiction. But the prohibition became a kind of experiment, I wanted to find out if a person living in modern Britain could survive away from the chain stores and supermarkets that dominate our lives.

The first months of my brand-free life were hell. My local High Streets were populated entirely by mass-market brands and I was forced to scour the back streets for alternative spaces to shop.