From kurtas to crop tops: A theory of postliminal self-transformation

Abstract

This research theorizes postliminal self-transformation, the process by which consumers adapt to new status positions following major life transitions. Prior consumer research emphasizes liminality—the “betwixt and between” ambiguous phase— but overlooks what happens after liminality as individuals attempt to fit in. Drawing on qualitative data regarding young Indian women migrants to metropolitan corporate contexts, we reveal that transformation does not end with liminality but unfolds through a reflexive and effortful postliminal process. Women strategically use consumption—particularly of clothing and accessories—to bridge self-discrepancies, mitigate exclusion, and gradually internalize their new professional identities. This stagewise progression moves from observation and mimicry to embodied transformation and identity mastery, often under constraints of patriarchy, class, and gender expectations. Contrasting with traditional (Western) models of adulthood that emphasize settling down, the women's postliminal adaptation is emancipatory and nonlinear, updating scripts for marking adulthood. By theorizing this postliminal adaptation, we challenge assumptions of instantaneous reincorporation, extending understanding of identity work. Our framework advances consumer psychology by showing how consumption facilitates ongoing self-reconstruction in dynamic and inequitable social hierarchies.