 Wysłany: 10 Temat postu: Dress For Success Under Duress |
|
| Dress For Success Under Duress
I have one question for the high fashion females currently mincing the streets of New York City. ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MINDS? Seriously, can it really be worth it? Who are you dressing for? Yourself? It makes you feel good about yourself? I think your feet/lower back would violently disagree. I get fashion, truly I do. It's an art form. An expression of ones' self. I understand. I dig a fabulous ensemble as much as the next gal. Piecing together a killer style from the shit hanging in your closet is commendable, not to mention frugal. You can express yourself in a variety of ways with cheap clothes. So my question is directed at the Carrie Bradshaw wannabes of the world who swaddle themselves in everything from Armani to Versace and stroke the latest Louis Vuitton purse like it's a beloved pet. Do you need all that expensive "expressing yourself" to feel good about yourself? I know you just adore that sweet little pair of for $600, yet once again, that purchase begs the question; ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND? I challenge any fashionistas out there to successfully justify to me the purchase of a $600 pair of shoes. There is no justification. Anyone who would even attempt to justify something like that needs to be shot. If you hate that I just wrote that sentence, then you need to take a good long look at your priorities. Here is how I roll. Name brand? Fuck off. Does it look nice? Yes? Sold! What's that you say? It's Old Navy? I could give a fuck. In fact, I'm proud of my Old Navy jacket for $19 and my $30 Chuck Taylors. Wanna know why? Because they were $19 and $30! And they're comfortable as hell. I wouldn't be caught dead in Gucci or Prada or Givenchy or whatever The Beautiful People consider "couture". unless said item was given to me as a gift and even then I'd feel prettys shitty if someone saw the label and assumed I was one of "those" types. If fashion is an art form, an expression of ones' self doesn't it follow that if you, the lady who works as a publicist for, oh say, $70,000 a year, yet somehow manage to clothe yourself in Prada or whomever THE IT designer is, doesn't it follow that the way you're choosing to express yourself is as a shallow horse's ass? A fucking sucker. A sucker for Vogue and all the celebrity claptrap Paris Hilton stands for. At least she can afford it which is still no excuse. Not only that, not only are you flushing your hard earned money down the toilet, but you are obviously supremely uncomfortable all. day. long. They say women dress for other women, not men. If so, women are spending millions of dollars to outdo each other on the fashion front and men could give a fuck. Throw a pair of $3,000 Escada jeans on a nice ass, then throw a pair of Old Navy or Levi specials for $20. Dude doesn't care, does he? Dude can't even tell the difference! If he can and he cares you shouldn't want to date him anyway! Chicks are either dressing for other women (shallow! waste of time! nobody thinks about you THAT much) or they're dressing for themselves, so they "have confidence" and "feel better". Please. Go fuck yourself. If splashing hundreds no thousands, millions of dollars for the "right" clothes instills you with confidence then you got some real problems. And it ain't that the Manolo Blahniks you just bought are too tight. thank you for a great, great post. in gratitude i present you (all) with clothes swap instructions to update your wardrobe for free. you need a) a few girlfriends of various shapes and sizes who have closet clutter, one of whom will be the 'auctioneer' and one the 'dealer' b) a deck of cards c) snacks drinks 1. invite girlfriends over with all clothes (shoes, purses, jewelery etc.) they no longer want 2. dump items in giant pile on floor and sit around it3. auctioneer holds up articles one by one for all to see4. interested parties call out 'card!' (if nobody wants the item, it goes in the goodwill pile)5. dealer gives interested parties a card (dealer can get a card too and so can auctioneer)6. high card holder (ace is highest) gets the item 7. dealer gets all the cards back (put em on the bottom of the deck and peel new cards off the top)8. repeat until auctioneer has gone through pile9. tear off your clothes and try on your new stuff10. give items that don't fit you after all to your friends who desperately were hoping to get em.11. bring goodwill pile to goodwillhints: go ahead and bring ripped, stained and generally terrible clothes. some girls use em for sewing. yes bring boy clothes. some girls might know one who'd like it. some girls use em for sewing. their presence makes some girls uncomfortable with participating in number 9. when they're around. some girls just leave before 9. she has to change her position to be closer her to auspicious birth element feng shui direction. and that it's just nice to spend time with your friends. then your night will work out great no matter what. I totally agree 100% with everything that you just said! I once knew this girl that just had to have name brand shit and was totally in to how much it was a blah blah blah. Bugged the hell out of me! She would spout off names and I had no clue who those designers were!My Aunt is the exact same way! She told me that when she was in Paris (or somewhere) that she just had to get a Louis Vuitton Purse because it is "juuust the best leather" I wanted to throw up! She spent $1,000 bucks on that purse!!!People who are all name brands can just KISS MY SKINNY ASS! I agree that spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on any clothing or accessory item is excessive and an attempt to compensate for some insecurity. I can't help but think that money could be donated. However, I think there's a medium somewhere. It's not either Gucci (you're shallow) or Old Navy (you're down to earth). I like nice things and to feel comfortable. I am neither rich nor poor, and sometimes I'll indulge in a nice lipstick or perfume. I just bought a coat for $120, but this is pretty rare. I also like my 99 cent skirt from Old Navy. I just would hate to be judged for my clothing, whether its expensive or moderately priced or cheap. It may be shallow of me, but I DO judge someone by their clothing just not in the way you'd expect. I don't see anything wrong with the occasional splurge, but when I see someone dressed to the nines in Gucci, Prada, whatever. It's a turnoff. Far from being envious, I assume they're an ass that is waaaay too concerned with exterior and keeping up appearances. Of course, as I call them shallow for wearing all that crap, judging someone for what they wear is just as shallow. But I can't help it. Futhermore, I could understand a bottle of perfume or even an expensive hair product before I could understand ridiculously uncomfortable clothing and shoes, especially when you've gotta walk everywhere in NYC. It just seems like label whores are making up for lack of internal substance. Paris Hilton, anyone?By the way, cool idea Gina. A friend of mine organized one of those parties and I was all stoked to go. then she had to cancel. Great post! Am totally with you. Invite girlfriends around with clothes they no longer want2. Dump all the clothes in a big pile in the middle of the floor3. Drink lots of wine4. Dive into the pile, strip off your cothes and try anything on that you might want5. If clothes are left at the end, hold them up and see if anyone wants to try them if not they go in a big bag to be given to charityI highly recommend it! It is great fun and you always get a bargain. i work in the fashion industry, and i'm appalled by $600 shoes too, but i love beautiful clothes. it's superficial, but it's something i really enjoy. and i think people choose to treat themselves in different ways. and a lot of them probably never pay full price. Smaller designers who pay their workers well, and deal with the best factories who use the most well made materials, have to charge a lot for their product. For Old Navy to be able to sell a shirt for $19, that means they paid less than a dollar to have it made. But I've also been known to spend a few hundred on a pair of shoes or a purse that I truly love. What gives you the right to judge me, or anyone else that does the same? Is every penny you spend put towards a more noble cause? You can put down a couple of bottles of wine in a night, I spend my money on shoes. I said it was judgmental of me. But judgmental in the same way I don't dig dudes who highlight their hair and fake bake. I immediately assume the dude is high maintenance and nine times outta ten, I'm right. Anybody decked out in Prada all the time I think it's safe to assume they're a little preoccupied with the wrong things. Sounds to me like you and I are on the same page though. I rock the TJ Maxx and I'll occasionally splurge on a coveted item. That's not what I'm talking about though. Back in the day, when the Kate Spade craziness first hit, I bought a basic black shoulder bag from Eddie Bauer to use for work and hauling my shit around. I was out for drinks one night at the Soho Grand, and a friend of a friend said "oh, look at you with your Kate Spade bag"! All sweet and girlfriendy, and I seriously couldn't keep a straight face mine was like $20. She just assumed I was in finance like my friend, and that the bag wasn't a knockoff I didn't even know it was a Kate Spadelookalike, that's how out of it I was. That's funny you wrote this today. I saw a woman trip coming down the subway stairs. She was wearing a pencil skir and sky high stilettos. I had to smirk. I don't understand the point of wearing those kind of shoes if you have to truck around Manhattan. As far as dropping a bunch of money on expensive stuff I suppose if somebody earns the money, they have every right to spend it on whatever they want. That said, I'm the kind of girl that buys clothes because I like how they look on me, not for the name brand. I do understand the annoyance though. SO many women in New York are dripping with ridiculous clothes. What kills me is when it's the ugliest outfit ever but they think they look hot because it's Armani or some other expensive brand. Most of us on this board are women and lets not kid ourselves kids we are the cattiest bunch of judgmental people on the planet! Women are the worst and all of you judge people daily. IT IS HER OPINION PEOPLE. Let her judge. I love fashion and happen to agree with her 100%. This is the nastiest, most judgmental, self rightous (and dare I also say hypocritical) post I've ever read here, or on any blog for that matter. I'm awaiting the firing squad right now to strike me down per orders from Monica for my sins of designer shoe shopping and fashion loving. Personally, my priorities are in perfect order, and those who suggest I should be "shot" for my love of fashion and my purchase of designer shoes are the ones who might want to take a look at themselves a little more closely. The contempt in your post for those who are different from you is striking and ugly. Additionally:Chuck Taylors are NOT comfortable. Walk in them for more than maybe 510 minutes, and you find that their thin soles and flat bottoms make them no more suited for walking than the sky high heels you've posted above.A Park Avenue Princess following the trends of her social group is no different than a Brooklyn hispter doing the same thing. Worrying about what people will think of you based on a label you're wearing could be considered the height of superficial. Harshly judging others for being (what you consider as) shallow and superficial because of how they dress can be considered the height of superficial. Judging others for being superficial based on superficial criteria, especially when you are guilty of much of what you accuse others of, seems absurd.Buying from Walmart, Target, Old Navy, Gap, etc. is not something to be proud of. These and other low cost stores almost exclusively use sweatshop labor, engage in poor employment practices, and otherwise harm our economy and workforce. Look up the evils of Walmart if you think shopping there is so much better than shopping at Chanel. and the rest of the world. Cheap items come at a price; the price is human suffering and the end of independent business as we know it and the dominance of big box stores, no health insurance for workers, no fulltime retail jobs, etc. By trying to save money for yourself, unless you've fully researched where you're shopping and know its practices, you make sure many others, and society, have to pay dearly. This is a serious social issue about which many articles have been written and films have been made, especially recently.Many designer HIGH HEELS and wedges are MORE comfortable than cheaper, or flatter, shoes. You could take the literal interpretation of the saying to heart, and try walking in the shoes you judge before you judge them. Many are in fact quite comfortable. (And I think everyone has had the experience of blisters and uncomfortable shoes, whether they've paid $200 or $2000.) And while most cheap clothing deteriorates and turns to crap over the years, more more expensive clothes and shoes often remain in great shape and are of classic styles that can still be enjoyed decades later. When buying more costly items, many people take into account the price per wear facor, and if the item is one they'll wear for many years, the price per wear can often come out cheaper than a bunch of cheap clothes that within a year or two have made their way to Goodwill. And even if the item is never worn, it has value as a piece of art, and is no different than any other piece of art which one appreciates for its beauty. If that piece of art is worth $600 to someone, then that's what it's worth. Designer clothes are attractive. They are hot. Unless you are an "imitator". These things are expensive and well known for a reason. They have intangible image value that justifies their price. Personally I like to wear nice clothes. I like to spend a little. But it is a little foolish to splurge on Versace or Prada if you cannot afford it. I don't know. I see Monica's point but I think she is a little to "thrifty" you know what I mean? You have to have a happy medium. She would look really hot in designer clothes (wellafter she hits the treadmill). Damn I would look so hot in that "if I could afford it". No worries you're not alone. I do like the fact that to a certain extent these clothes are "proof positive" that you can afford it and are "successful". Just like a nice house and a nice car. An image if you will. People respond to it. I'm telling you I never get treated better on a first impression basis then when I'm in a good mood, wearing a starched designer (or not) dress shirt with pressed pants and a silk Gucci tie pulling up in my Range Rover. I like the big sunglasses that sell at that shop down the street in Manhattan Beach for $1000+ Dolce Gabannas etc that girls wear. People are buying them. But mostly rich spoiled brats that have never had to work a day in their life. And I honestly cannot stand these "kids". Not at all. People that have had to work hard for their money understand the value it. The craziest thing about many rich people that I've met is how low key they are. You would never suspect that they are rich. But it's all good because I am just trying to put forth a professional image in a mindset. On my "down time" I don't dress up. What's the point? Just slap on the surf threads and chill. That being said I have a serious problem with "business casual". I hate it. You know who you are. You people are BUMS that look like you roll out of bed, get in the car and watch the clock hit 5 waiting for the next paycheck. How can you pretend to act confident when you look like shit? I'm just waiting until the day I get sued by the ACLU for trying to enforce a dress code. One thing that does make me feel like a sucker is the fact that many of these "designer" clothes are not even being made in Europe anymore but in China along with all "regular" clothes (old navy, Gap etc) are made overseas for $2 a shirt and $4 a pair of pants. Then you pay $40 and $60 respectively. Now THAT makes me feel like a sucker. But then there is the image. I don't know. It's so confusing You're judging me for judging her who judged the other person? What happened here? Who knew expensive clothes was such a hot topic? Monica is a cool chick and she was just saying that people look like assholes when they are gaudy and obviously obsessed with the exterior. After she clarified, I completely see her point. It's true that indie rock hipsters take on a jock like a superiority complex and pat themselves on the back for being "critical thinkers" that have evolved and no longer need mainstream goods, but if you read this blog regularly you know Monica isn't really like that. I mean, she said she shops at Old Navy and that is about as mainstream corporate as it gets. I seriously doubt she would agree with sweat shop labor. I agree that the there was a bit of vitriol in the post, especially the "need to be shot" and "go fuck yourself",[url=http://www.sport.fr/business/louisvuitton.html]louis vuitton paris[/url], but why attack her? I feel bad that she goes through the trouble to blog and we come here and enjoy the entertaining writing and the connection to her honesty and when we don't agree with her opinion she is attacked. Wowza. Sling a couple arrows at the Prada wearers and they flip. Dude, why is everything written on the internets taken so seriously? If we were at a bar and I said "anyone who buys a $600 pair of shoes needs to be shot" you'd hardly flip out. It's an expression, so stop already with the mygoodnesssuchviolence. Though y'all make some good points, I stand by my post. Do I come off as selfrighteous? Lemme break it down for you. I could give fuck all about sweatshop labor. I know, FOR SHAME! But I'll betcha most of the folks who buy Givenchy ain't really giving much thought to sweatshop labor either. Trust me, that isn't why they're buying the label and you know it. Is there something you've read previously in this blog that had me pegged as a political dogooder or an earth mother? I don't think so. I recycle not to save the planet but to avoid getting The Stink Eye from my neighbor. Honestly, I dig the fireworks and should bait you all more often. It makes the comments so much more interesting. I ain't a hipster but I can understand the confusion; Hipsters get off on looking disheveled and perhaps raging against the corporate machine by shopping vintage. Me? I honestly don't give a fuck either way. WalMart, KMart, Tshirt from the MiniMart. Whatever. Which is not to say I don't follow style trends. it means I don't care too much about it all and I'm not going to splash out thousands on such an endeavor. If shit in my closet happens to work with a current trend fine. If not, maybe I'll go buy a new item (skinny black GAP jeans come to mind) but I'm not going to spend more than a hundred bucks on a pair of jeans. Am I opposed to the occasional splurge on a lovely pair of shoes or bag? No. But it disgusts me when people put so much time, effort, money etc. into what they wear or how they look. When I see that, I assume (maybe mistakenly) they're spending so much time with the outside they're neglecting the inside. too concerned with how they appear to the world or status elevation or name brands. If justifying your $600 shoes as art, or that they'll last longer makes you feel better about spending. rock on with your bad self. That's your thing. I was just sharing my opinion and I still don't think the main reason you're buying the shit is because it lasts a long time or you view it as art. Your buying the name brand. If those shoes looked the exact same, were of the same quality but didn't have the Blahnik name brand I doubt you'd pay the same amount of cash for them. Those lines are just justification for ridiculous spending. When I se |
|
