The Bloggomist: Three Times a Trend
Fashion Opinion

As a long time lover of fashion I have experienced, as with any relationship, my fair share of grievances and complaints. The two main complications in our long term standing being the elitism that runs rampant throughout the business, and the all out obsession with labels and luxury goods. I’ve never understood the appeal of wearing a price tag on your arm, but then again I’ve never really had enough money to be able to flaunt it on my arm, so perhaps I just don’t understand the psychology. It isn’t all of fashion that’s obsessed with this, but for every person who is head over heels for good design, there are 5 more who only care about the name inside (or these days plastered all over) the garment. This is one reason I believe that Americans won’t ever really be “fashionable”, we spend far too much time being concerned with name recognition and branding rather than personal taste and aesthetics.

The $43,000 Chanel Croc Biarritz Handbag

There is no doubt that we like stuff and the worldwide economy all but depends on us continuing to like stuff. But what is luxury, really? Can it be so simply defined as “a nice car” or “a designer handbag”? For many people it’s how a specific item makes them feel, while for some it’s how that item makes everyone around them feel. Here in America our idea of luxury has becoming increasingly aligned with “keeping up with the Joneses” and in a lot of ways keeping up means spending beyond. So instead of being something that we do for ourselves, luxury has become something we strive for in order to prove ourselves to everyone else. A 2009 Synovate research study noted that 17% of their respondents viewed luxury as a lifestyle, as something that wasn’t just an expensive item here or there but an entire way of structuring the day to day. While the study doesn’t further break down the origin of that percentage, what’s clear is that we’ve increasingly become willing to do whatever it takes to attain that picturesque idea of a luxurious life, no matter what the cost.

According to FICO statistics the average household has 9-13 credit cards amounting to just under $8,000 in debt. In the grand scheme of things that doesn’t seem so bad, but tack on the average car payment ($479), mortgage payment ($1,427), student loan payment ($261) or any number of other extended credit options and it seems that our “luxury lifestyle” has become nothing more than a revolving door of monthly installments and accumulating debt. The average American work week is currently up to 46 hours and 31% of college educated males are pulling 50+, yet while we’re one of the wealthiest nations on Earth, we couldn’t even crack the OECD’s list for the happiest countries. Where’s the disparity: We like consuming stuff, we do consume a lot of stuff and we work really hard to consume said stuff, all amounting to that so enviable of luxury lifestyles. So why aren’t we happy?

To get back to the Synovate study, the research also concluded that it was in areas like the UK and the Netherlands that had the most prudent views on spending and luxury, looking at it as something that was well above your means and having a critical attitude towards the ostentatious and flashy. It’s also worthy to note that the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland and Ireland all found themselves in the top 10 of the same OECD happiness study that the US barely obtained an above average rating in. So as we find ourselves in increasingly harder times, working more, taking less time out and pushing ourselves further, has “stuff” taken the place of happiness? If you were to question people as to whether or not $50 million would make them happy, most would say yes. Is it because the money itself would truly make them happy or is it because it would mean no longer having to slave away at a job they hate (because on average about 70% of Americans do hate their job) and worry about mounting financial pressures? As difficult as it is to obtain a certain level, it’s just as difficult to maintain that level and all the expectations that come with it.

The New American Dream?

No one is saying that if you have the money to buy a new logo-ridden bag every season that you shouldn’t be able to, yet when it gets down to it I wonder how many of us step back to consider whether we’re spending for our own personal happiness or spending to maintain an image. It’s easy for those smack in the middle of the fashion industry (as well as many other industries) to go out of their way to make sure that they are in or around the proper thing at all times, and in part it’s their job so why shouldn’t they. On the other hand however, being in possession of the right name in the company of the right people is a poor excuse for “style”, in any form.

While there will always be a part of my heart that lusts for things that are far beyond my income level, I can say without irony that I’ve become happily settled into my “spending within my means” mentality. I am definitely not immune to the daydreams of stuffed to the gills bank accounts and a closet full of pretty things with hefty price tags, but I’ve done the 60 hour work weeks and wasn’t any happier with more money in my pockets than I am right now. As a matter of fact having less and spending less has not only simplified my life but it has also greatly improved my overall well being. Perhaps you think I’m being too brazenly optimistic or just plain lazy but in a world already full of so much pressure, anticipation and uncertainty, why saddle yourself with extra by trying to live up to everyone else’s presumptions and ideals? Because chances are the fleeting happiness that pair of pricey shoes brought you will be long gone and your purchase forgotten to dark corner of your closet before you’ve even amassed the overtime to payoff your credit card debt. Now how’s that for a vicious cycle?

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Published on 16 January 2010 | 4 |