I love fashion. The ideas, colours, textures, opportunities for self expression...the whole medium appeals to me for its creativity and frivolity. But while I may enjoy the drama of design, my low bullshit tolerance keeps me critical of the fashion world, and my practicality (and frugality) make me unwilling and unable to buy into much of what it's trying to sell me.
For example, when I hear billionaire designers pontificating about their importance in the world, I can't help but laugh. Bitch, please - designing clothes mass-produced under horrifying conditions in off-shore sweatshops is not exactly Mother Teresa-eque behaviour. Kindly remove your head from your ass and get on with your day.
But, here's the obvious issue with that reaction: As someone who wears clothes everyday - sometimes even more than one outfit - I am an active participant in the process. Having not yet mastered the ability to make my own clothes, I do need those self-important virtuosos to (literally) cover my ass.
I love to invest in quality vintage and/or classic pieces I can easily see myself using over and over again for decades to come. But when I talk about "investing," I'm not talking about throwing down the kind of money for a handbag that I did for tuition. (FYI - a $20,000 Birkin bag is more than I paid for my university education at a world-class institution, a fact which turns my stomach. I hope it turns yours, too.)
The most expensive piece of clothing I own cost less than $300 (on super-duper sale), while the most expensive piece of jewellery I own cost $400 (and is worth about $100-200 more). To me, those sums still represent a TON of money and major splurges, but in the (developed) world of fashion, they're a drop in the bucket.
Why?
I am continually shocked and appalled by what some people are willing to spend on their "wants," and the justifications they offer when so doing. (Which, I believe, speaks to the idea that deep down, they know they're not making the best possible choice.) The argument I find particularly disturbing in this regard is when someone claims to "deserve" some item which is clearly inconsequential to their daily survival.
How, exactly, do you come to "deserve" a $20,000 handbag? What are the criteria employed in determining whether someone "deserves" an item of such grandiose expense?
For those of you out there who feel you "deserve" a $20,000 handbag, how would you make a determination as to what others in this world "deserve" as compared to you? For example, is a single parent who works two jobs to support their kids but still can't make ends meet less deserving than you are of owning something s/he really desires? What about the 9-months-pregnant mother in rural Rwanda who's out in the fields working from dawn to dusk just to put some food on the table? (If you think the latter is simply a made-up example to tug at your heartstrings and underscore my point, trust me, she's not - I've seen her firsthand.)
How can anyone look at those examples and think they aren't deserving of some luxury and self-indulgence? And yet, you will never see them storming the counter of Hermès!
Fashion is fun. But when serious money is thrown down to simply keep you from walking around naked, I think we'd do well to remember how many people in this world could benefit from some help.
Don't they deserve it?
For example, when I hear billionaire designers pontificating about their importance in the world, I can't help but laugh. Bitch, please - designing clothes mass-produced under horrifying conditions in off-shore sweatshops is not exactly Mother Teresa-eque behaviour. Kindly remove your head from your ass and get on with your day.
But, here's the obvious issue with that reaction: As someone who wears clothes everyday - sometimes even more than one outfit - I am an active participant in the process. Having not yet mastered the ability to make my own clothes, I do need those self-important virtuosos to (literally) cover my ass.
I love to invest in quality vintage and/or classic pieces I can easily see myself using over and over again for decades to come. But when I talk about "investing," I'm not talking about throwing down the kind of money for a handbag that I did for tuition. (FYI - a $20,000 Birkin bag is more than I paid for my university education at a world-class institution, a fact which turns my stomach. I hope it turns yours, too.)
The most expensive piece of clothing I own cost less than $300 (on super-duper sale), while the most expensive piece of jewellery I own cost $400 (and is worth about $100-200 more). To me, those sums still represent a TON of money and major splurges, but in the (developed) world of fashion, they're a drop in the bucket.
Why?
I am continually shocked and appalled by what some people are willing to spend on their "wants," and the justifications they offer when so doing. (Which, I believe, speaks to the idea that deep down, they know they're not making the best possible choice.) The argument I find particularly disturbing in this regard is when someone claims to "deserve" some item which is clearly inconsequential to their daily survival.
How, exactly, do you come to "deserve" a $20,000 handbag? What are the criteria employed in determining whether someone "deserves" an item of such grandiose expense?
For those of you out there who feel you "deserve" a $20,000 handbag, how would you make a determination as to what others in this world "deserve" as compared to you? For example, is a single parent who works two jobs to support their kids but still can't make ends meet less deserving than you are of owning something s/he really desires? What about the 9-months-pregnant mother in rural Rwanda who's out in the fields working from dawn to dusk just to put some food on the table? (If you think the latter is simply a made-up example to tug at your heartstrings and underscore my point, trust me, she's not - I've seen her firsthand.)
How can anyone look at those examples and think they aren't deserving of some luxury and self-indulgence? And yet, you will never see them storming the counter of Hermès!
Fashion is fun. But when serious money is thrown down to simply keep you from walking around naked, I think we'd do well to remember how many people in this world could benefit from some help.
Don't they deserve it?
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