Honestly, as a reformed female clothing junkie, I think it grows in part out of being intelligent -- thus easily bored -- and visually inclined. Getting a certificate in GIS and running my own websites helped cure me of interest in both fashion and decor. I can search for new skins for my blogs or twiddle with the font size or whatever instead of rearranging furniture and trying on the same pants with 27 different tops. It is just as mentally satisfying to that part of my brain. But clothes and decor were the only "appropriate" outlets for it when I was a homemaker/living like I was "supposed to" as a woman.