Sunday, April 26, 2009

Alternatives for Obtaining "Designer" Clothing

When I first heard about this compact challenge on the first day of class, I realized that this would be impossible for me. I am probably the biggest culprit to this consumption society we live in. I can admit I go to the mall every single weekend. The least I would spend is about $50 each time. Shopping is a hobby of mines, and a damn expensive one to say the least. So after hearing about this challenge, I thought about how I would be able to do this. I wanted to see if I could do it, so I started the challenge a little over a week ago. (April 17th). I'm a very selective shopper, as when I go to the mall, I only go to 1-2 specific stores. I always end up buying something at my favorite store H&M, and Urban Outiftters.

Everytime I go, I always buy the newest stuff they have out that week. I would say I spend about $300-$500 a month on clothes alone. Then there's shoes. I have over 20 pairs of Nike SBs and Vans. Shoes are the 2nd most important part of an outfit that's how I see it. Rarely will you see me outside in public, where I am not matching from head to toe.


Lastly, I am a denim fanatic. I love wearing designer brand jeans such as Rock and Republics, True Religions, and Evisus. Jeans are the most important aspect of an outfit in my opinion. Most of my designers cost about $200+. To me, Fashion is a way of distinguish class, and I'll admit, a part of me wear designers just to be "better" then the next person. In Fashionology, Kawamura, states that fashion is a social custom. It is a much larger perspective then just clothing. It's also about social and classification.


So you ask how and why am I able to consume so much and not feel the economic consequences. Well the truth is, I'm usually broke as a result of shopping too much. The past several months, my shopping and consuming ways has decline somewhat. I've found other alternatives to buying these designer clothing I like. Just last week, there was a denim sale going on right here in Davis.
They were selling designer jeans for 40-60% off.

Other ways I have been saving money, but at the same time still consuming these clothes were from earlier mentioned on this Blog was from trade Exchanges. Like the Buffalo Exchange that was recently mentioned, there are Dunk Exchanges that occur in San Francisco that I go to, that sell used Nike SBs for very cheap. I actually also have been going to Thrift stores a lot lately, and I am fascinated by the clothing they have their. You could easily take these clothes and create your own style and fashion from scratch. Also, my ex girlfriend use to be a major thrift store geek, who always bought stuff there, told me about it. I'm still dependent on H&M and Urban Outfitters for my source of clothing right now, but I can see myself going to thrift stores more. It's been almost 1.5 weeks, and I have yet to buy a single piece of clothing. I'm finding myself with about $100 extra this past weekend. I spent that money and treated my friends out to a dinner at Tony Roma's.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=62341691871
http://www.dunkxchange.com/
Kawamura, Yuniya. Fashion-ology. New York: Berg Publishers, 2005

BLOG #1 Tung Vo

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