last entry

I can't believe that I have survived almost a month of not buying clothes. I can honestly say that I did not think I would survive this long. I admit that I have had a few slips a mascara here a bikini top there but, that is nothing compared to things that I would usually get that would just be "excess" according to Kawamura. I will attempt to make this last for another month because I think it would be challenging for me and plus it would definitely help my wallet. A confession I have is that when I felt I was getting weak and was going to buy something I would go on the Nike website and look at all the shoes and I would think about the fact that they would use slave labor and that their workers would be underpaid. By thinking about how unfair these corporations treated their worker it gave me more self empowerment not to buy things. This idea especially worked for Forever 21 because before our project I would buy things at Forever and would not give a second thought about it but, now that I am more socially aware, I think about the social conditions that these garments were made under and it disgusts me to think I am contributing or have been contributing to these unfair working conditions. I am really glad we did this project because not only did I save money this month but I am more aware about the things that go on around me and I feel less ignorant about the world =D

designer bags

Over the weekend I was hanging out with my best friend Liza and out of the blue she told me that she was going to buy something that she swore to herself she would never do...I paused for a bit wondering what she was talking about and whether it was illegal or not..after she interrupted my contemplation she told me that she was going to buy a designer handbag *sigh of relief*. However, this got me thinking about designer handbags because honestly what are DESIGNER handbags these days? What are they worth after the invention of knockoffs? When I was younger I was all about designer handbags because it was trendy to be seen with one but, now that I'm older and wiser, I'm beginning to rethink the whole concept of shelling out big bucks for these handbags. I was first introduced to designer handbags in my freshman year of high school by my friend Vi. We would spend time on the phone talking about the latest LV or Gucci bag obviously we could not afford it ourselves but, our parents could. Despite being a newbie to the craze I was a smart shopper so I would look up articles on how to spot a fake because in my high school having a designer bag was one thing and identifying a fake was another. I would spend hours looking at these articles and now, looking back I realize it was such a waste of time. Anyway, back to the present I decided to go shopping with my best friend for her "designer bag" and on the way there I would spot tons of LV bags carried by women and men of all ages. This is made me realize how widespread designer bags really were now. They are completely accessible to the general population via a knockoff or Ebay. This accessibility of certain designer handbags was definitely an example of the trick down effect that was talked in the haute couture article we read earlier in the quarter. The question in my mind was whether the accessibility of these bags through knockoffs were hurting the credibility of the bag. In my opinion I think it does because nowadays when I see someone carrying Gucci, Chanel, or LV to name a few, I think about the authenticity of the bag. I also think knockoffs have made designer bags more generic like a Jessica McClintock dress for prom( no offense to anyone who wore this to their prom).

entry 4

Alright, I am not proud to admit this but, I did in fact slipped last week and bought something that I did not need. I did not even realize I had bought something until it was too late. I bought blue mascara and I'm pretty sure I bought it because I saw an advertisement for it in a magazine and that somehow sent a subliminal message to me. After I bought it and realized that we were doing this project, I felt like the epitome of consumerism buying stuff that is advertised. However, while I was looking for the mascara I had time to look at advertisements for different make up brands and I noticed the one that of the brands had a collection that was suppose to be "colors of the East" or something similar to it and my first immediate thought was Appropriation. The funny thing is after I walked out of the store I saw a Caucasian girl wearing a bindi and I just wanted to go up and rip it off of her head despite the fact that I was not Indian. I felt frustrated because I wondered if she knew the significance behind wearing it or was she doing it for fashion? I also thought about how I did mehendi when I was younger and how I did not know the significance of it but did it because I thought it looked "cool." After taking this class I have noticed how ignorant I have been. I am glad that I can recognize the theories that we've learned in class and apply it to real life. By applying these theories to real life I am able to understand how I contribute to consumerism and it also makes me socially conscious when I buy things.

ok so I did slip (entry 3)

Okay, I admit that I did slip over the weekend but, in my defense I blame the long weekend. I bought a bikini top that went with a bikini bottom that I had bought two weeks ago while on a shopping excursion with my aunt. I found the bikini top on Ebay and was not hesistant whatsoever in purchasing it because it completed the set! After I had bought it them I realized that I was the epitome of consumerism buying things that I did not need however, since I did buy it on ebay I'm not sure if it is new or not. I still feel guilty about going on Ebay and doing online shopping because all that did was tempt me even more. One thing I noticed about myself even more was that shopping is a HUGE part of my life especially when I'm bored. I caught myself shopping online five times already today alone and today is not even over yet! This is why I decided that in order to avoid tempting myself and buying something else I will focus all my attention on my papers and studying for my final. Hopefully by channeling my energy on something extremely time consuming I will not think about shopping or worse buy something. My addiction to shopping reminded me of Kawamura's article and I remembered in it she talked about how fashion is excess while, clothing is a necessity. This quote really made me think about the useless items that I buy on my weekly shopping rendezvous. During moments of my weakness I would usually come up with reasons to justify my purchases such as "Potato sacks are making a comeback this year..." sarcasm aside, I would come up with any reasons to make me feel guiltless about wasting money. I remember there was this one purchase that I made that I highly regretted till this day; it was a Sanrio handbag that for some reason appealed to me at the time and despite my denial of it now there was a small part of me that thought I could rock the whole Japanese cutesy look. Reminiscing about this reminds me of the article on Japanese street fashion that we read in class a few weeks about the variety of streetwear that Japanese teen would wear. Even though I was not aware that I was being affected by the influence of it at the time I realize now that I was. This was an eye opener to me and I think the next time I do shop I am going to think about the reasons why I buy certain things and where do these influences come from.

I almost slipped

I have to admit that this weekend was the hardest for me especially with all the sales that were calling my name and the fact that I usually shopped when the weekend came around to release stress. It was also torturous sitting through my daily conversation with my best friend Liza who was incessantly talking about her recent purchases at Nordstrom during their annual sale which is advertised as "the biggest sale of the year." However, I could not completely deny myself of not going to the mall, so instead of shopping I went window shopping. I was surprised to find out that there was a Steve and Barry that had opened up so I decided to check it out and see what it had to offer. Since the store was celebrating its opening there was a store wide sale and everything was 8.98. This sale spelled T-R-O-U-B-L-E for me but, fortunately I was able to restrain myself and started to focus on where certain items were made and imagined the process of production of those items to distract me. One item that I noticed were the sneakers from Stephen Marbury who designed the shoes specifically for Steve and Barry. The idea behind the everyone unlike Jordans or Nikes that run for hundred of dollars. These sneakers were also made in China similar to Nike and Jordans but unlike, its more expensive counterparts the price of shoes is a form of advertisement itself. I thought that this was a smart marketing tool compared to the glitz and glamour of Nike commercials. However, I bet the process of production is similar to that of Nike through the usage of sweat shops in China and Vietnam. After my little contemplation about sneakers I headed to Forever 21 to look at the new dresses that had just come in and I was not surprised to find styles that were exactly designed like some dresses that my cousin had in his boutique. I was amazed at the fact that despite Forever having so many lawsuits against them they are still infringing copyright laws to bring new designer styles to the masses. In a way I think Forever 21 is like the David to the big designers Goliath. However, I do think twice about buying things from Forever due to their poor treatments of their employees now.

I was pretty skeptical on the first day about how I was going to go about doing this project. I had to admit I was excited and scared at the same time. Shopping is an essential for me it is a way for me to relax, waste time, etc..I did not know how much embarking on this journey would affect me until yesterday when I was forced by my friends to go shopping. When I entered the mall I was faced with all these products that I totally could have bought but ended up just staring at and drooling after for a bit. The trip to the mall was completely torturous for me and my friends didn't help either with tons of questions about why I couldn't buy anything or they would give me really cute shirts and take them away from me. However, I did notice that many clothing items are made in China, not that I'm saying I did not notice this before but, it seemed that there were more items from China. An interesting thing I found out while shopping was that I was paying more attentions to the labels and where certain items were made instead of the item itself. I also tracked the process of production in my head and I would ponder about the labor conditions that items were made under. I also was more socially aware when I walked into Forever 21 especially after learning about all the lawsuits they are facing along with the labor laws their factories are violating. I am proud to say that despite the mall being a torturous experience, it was definitely a learning one as well.