A Materialistic Society?

[tott]

i believe there's been a rise in conscious consumption, from clothes to coffee..

For the past few years, people have become "connoiseurs" or wanna-be connoiseurs, haven't they? In all kinds of areas. I think that's what you mean?

I can freely admit that I do enjoy good food, for instance, but there is a certain cost and sophistication limit when food doesn't really taste better, just different. Super chefs are struggling to come up with more and more strange combinations to be more cool and hip.

It's the same with clothes, people are struggling to be more hip and cool.

It's not that everything's been done, but people in general really are more conscious than ever about image, aren't they? It'll probably backfire soon, with people going back to the roots and showing off how they make fabulous with basics.

I'm just rambling. I'm dead-tired.

 

[Lena]

just curious, what makes you think so?

i see this from my friends, mainly in Paris, they try to buy fair trade in anything they spend money on, from furniture to coffee and clothes
there are many fair trade organisations on the go at the moment,
working mainly with third world nations

see, there is always the 'other side' its only that we seldom talk about the 'good news'

 

[rhiannonmars]

It'll probably backfire soon, with people going back to the roots and showing off how they make fabulous with basics.

Ala Coco Chanel!

 

[Lena]

For the past few years, people have become "connoiseurs" or wanna-be connoiseurs, haven't they? In all kinds of areas. I think that's what you mean?

I'm just rambling. I'm dead-tired.

no tott, i mean 'conscious' like thinking where/why they spend their money and what effect their consumer's choice will have.. like they spend more 'ethically'
of course its a niche thing, but its a socio/economic trend with strong dymanic for expansion and tends on affecting also mainstream consumerism

 

[travolta]

oh, sorry lena i misread you. i thought you said ' there is a rise in consumption' that is nice of what you speak of though

 

[tott]

no tott, i mean 'conscious' like thinking where/why they spend their money and what effect their consumer's choice will have.. like they spend more 'ethically'
of course its a niche thing, but its a socio/economic trend with strong dymanic for expansion and tends on affecting also mainstream consumerism

Sorry, I misread "CONSCIOUS" as "CONSPICUOS"! I guess I'm used to you bashing conspicuos consumerism. Sorry!

And yes, there is a rise in conscious consumerism, ever so slowly...

 

[Lena]

Sorry, I misread "CONSCIOUS" as "CONSPICUOS"! I guess I'm used to you bashing conspicuos consumerism. Sorry!
...

yes, thats me tott, your anti conspicious consumerism buddy

 

[travolta]

lena, we are just going to twist your words around

anyways, those who are interested in some clever anti-corporate fashion ( when you buy i believe you become a share holder) , check this out

http://adbusters.org/metas/corpo/blackspotsneaker/articles/index.html#hitting

 

[Lena]

love addbusters travolta

 

[travolta]

thanks, i really should give praise to my exhaustively socially conscious friends for keeping it 'real'! compared to them, i'm practically satan!

 

[Paullw]

I meet girls online who buy all these purses, none of them really matching in style, all just the "hot" thing. It doesn't make sence to me that someone can fully realize the styles of what they buy. So you are a boho, baby doll, goth, punk rock, elegant person? I see they want the purse not because it fits with their style, but it fits with everyone elses views of what is style in magazines. Comming from so many points of views, it turns into this ugly conglomeration of clothes that just don't go, but they are so "have to have", they buy them anyways, and sometimes don't even use them! That is where I think consumerism has gone wrong. I'd rather that money go to a starving child, a drug abuse program, etc.

Don't you think its a bit much to say that people can spend their money on clothes if they use them to put together a set style? What if they want to look uncoordinated, maybe they like that. If anything, the going for one 'set' style is more influenced by magazines and society. I don't think you can say that some people can buy clothes but others would be better giving money to the poor because they buy the 'wrong' clothes.

Materialism and consumerism runs through all parts of society. We now even have cosumerism where people pretend that they aren't materialistic, because they are anti-label or whatever. Someone here buying Ann Dem or CCP is just as bad as those people mocked in the Nouveau Riche thread for buying LV monograms in crazy colours. The friends of either of these people will approve and compliment them. The buyers will feel good, in both the compliments, and that they like the way they dress.

There's even some argument (I'm not saying its a good one though...) that if someone buys a fake LV its better than buying CCP. At least they aren't putting such a huge amount of money into something so materialistic, and generally the vendor is going to be a poor market salesman, and its going to be made in a poorer Asian economy (where the people, do actually welcome even sweatshop labour, its better than nothing after all!), so it benefits the poor. Whereas buying the CCP/Ann Dem benefits a big department store thats already hugely rich, and the rest of the money goes to some Belgian who's poofing around all day making up new words to describe just how pretentious he is.

Along with that, I have to admit that I am, obviously, just as consumerist as everyone else here is. Whilst I'm sure many people aspire to being better people, they also aspire to get in just a few more clothes, and that tends to come first. It is human nature, its present in all animals, its survival instinct, but we get as much of everything that makes our lives nicer/easier as we can, we no longer need to stockpile food just to survive, so we get other things instead.

 

[AlexN]

Materialism and consumerism runs through all parts of society. We now even have cosumerism where people pretend that they aren't materialistic, because they are anti-label or whatever. Someone here buying Ann Dem or CCP is just as bad as those people mocked in the Nouveau Riche thread for buying LV monograms in crazy colours. The friends of either of these people will approve and compliment them. The buyers will feel good, in both the compliments, and that they like the way they dress.

There's an enormous difference between buying for beauty and buying for obvious logo display, which is the point of the Nouveau Riche thread. But if you totally disregard all of that, then sure...you're right. It's the exact same thing.

 

[travolta]

Someone here buying Ann Dem or CCP is just as bad as those people mocked in the Nouveau Riche thread for buying LV monograms in crazy colours. The friends of either of these people will approve and compliment them. The buyers will feel good, in both the compliments, and that they like the way they dress

i agree w/ this.

 

[meme527]

i know that the san francisco bay area is not typical, but i think that fair trade has a lot of support there, and not just among the wealthy and middle-class. the idea is gaining more and more momentum, mostly around food and organic gardening, but also extending into clothing and toys and furniture and musical instruments....

rogan's past quality issues aside, i would happily give edun a try. because once i became conscious of this issue i felt kind of trapped. there didn't seem to be many alternatives, unless i wanted to wear guatemalan textiles or something else similarly inappropriate for me. i think it would be a great relief to buy clothing that i KNOW wasn't made in sweatshops, that is organic and processed without toxins, that's cruelty-free - and that looks good on me, that expresses what i want to express, that feels good on the body. that would be worth much more money to me than a designer label.

this is why i want, more and more, to make my own clothing and jewelry, when i can. because i don't really want to depend on the industry so much; i'll be my own little knock-off artist!

and for yet another website: Global Exchange is a great resource for information on fair trade -
http://www.globalexchange.org/

mama meme

 

[AlexN]

It sounds nice, but my husband had a pair of Rogan jeans. They fell apart in a day.

As much as I hate Rogan, could you put this in more detail? What exactly do you mean by "fell apart in a day"? That makes it sound like they literally began to disintegrate as soon as he put them on, and I'm pretty sure that doesn't happen.

 

[rhiannonmars]

The jeans inner waistband lining (it had a fabric lining) came un sewn in after about 2-3 wears. Then he wore them for 6 months and there is a huge cheek to cheek hole in the bum, bottom is all ravled, and big hole in the knee. We sewed the bumm up a few times, but the jean is so thin, it wouldn't take!

 

[Lena]

There's an enormous difference between buying for beauty and buying for obvious logo display, which is the point of the Nouveau Riche thread. But if you totally disregard all of that, then sure...you're right. It's the exact same thing.

exactly

 

[Paullw]

anyways, those who are interested in some clever anti-corporate fashion ( when you buy i believe you become a share holder) , check this out

http://adbusters.org/metas/corpo/blackspotsneaker/articles/index.html#hitting

Sorry to keep bashing stuff but that interview is a bit odd. They can't find any union factories in Asia, so they seem to be giving up and investing in the US, where there are already lots of union factories. Surely the US, with good working conditions doesn't need the money, whereas Asia does. Agree to invest in Asia, but demand that they improve over a certain period.

The problem is that big TNCs need to encourage sustainability and good working conditions as much as they 'encourage' big profit margins. Many of these are more powerful than countries governments, the factories can't get better without getting more expensive, and when they get more expensive the contracts move on.

 

[AlexN]

The jeans inner waistband lining (it had a fabric lining) came un sewn in after about 2-3 wears. Then he wore them for 6 months and there is a huge cheek to cheek hole in the bum, bottom is all ravled, and big hole in the knee. We sewed the bumm up a few times, but the jean is so thin, it wouldn't take!

Ah, thank you. That makes more sense.

 

[Paullw]

There's an enormous difference between buying for beauty and buying for obvious logo display, which is the point of the Nouveau Riche thread. But if you totally disregard all of that, then sure...you're right. It's the exact same thing.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Maybe to them the LV is beautiful, and the CCP is ugly, worn out and pretentious.

You can't just decide for other people that they're wrong and anyone else is right. I'd rather own CCP than LV, but you've got to admit, I would be buying it for essentially the same reasons as anyone buys LV. I like it. For whatever reason, construction, design, material, because it will get compliments. If I go out now and buy a CCP jacket I can post a picture in Secret Shopaholics, and I'll get compliments. How is that any worse than someone buying LV to get it noticed?

I'm not saying its worse, I just think that we aren't any better than them. A lot of people do tend to defend themselves, or what they see as similar to themselves rather overzealously. Everyone has good and bad points, and overall we all come out pretty equal.