So this rant kind of ties into the last rant, which will also tie into the following rant. As I've just mentioned, people like to buy stuff, a lot of which they have no use for. One of the reasons for this is popularity. Keeping up with the Smiths. A great way to do this is to buy whatever is cool at the time, regardless of quality, or price. I'm talking of course about brand name whores. Now there is a fine line between that, and spending more money to get a better product. "You get what you pay for". I agree with that phrase, sometimes.
Say there is a new pair of shoes coming out. They are made by a high end designer. You can only buy them in fancy stores downtown. They cost $600. Everybody is going to want them. Why? Because they can't afford them. It's a fantacy. If you find some extra money, or get a bonus on your pay cheque, or have room on your charge card, you just might be able to afford them, but not really. Anyone wearing them, clearly has more money than you, therefore is higher up the ladder of life, and must be a better person than you, right? So you have to have those shoes! Think of all the people who will envy you, and want to be you. You've made it in life if you can just buy those $600 shoes!
Now lets say Walmart gets the contract to sell these shoes. They are selling them for $34.99. It's the exact same pair of shoes, but you've lost the urge to buy them. Why? Simple. Now every redneck, trailer park trash, welfare, deadbeat can afford them. The shoes aren't a status symbol anymore. Do you want to be seen wearing Walmart shoes? Only people at the bottom of the social latter wear Walmart shoes, and you my friend, are much better than them.
So you see my point here? People are willing to spend $600 on a pair of shoes if they are trendy, but not $35 on the same pair if they are not.
I feel sorry for these people. They must have no self esteem. They are convinced people wont like who they are as a person, and feel the need to make up for it with designer clothes. A co-worker of mine, who is younger and likes going to night clubs, explained that it is important to him to wear expencive clothes when he goes out, because it makes him feel more confident in the clubs. If you can enter a club wearing a $100 Ed Hardy T-shirt, $120 jeans, and $200 shoes, it makes you feel like you are as good, or better than other people in the club, because you have money, or at least look like you do. But the problem is, what type of people are you going to attract? If you are looking to attract a member of the opposite sex, what type of person would it be? Someone that sees you wearing expencive clothing and thinks "clearly this person has a high paying job and money in the bank". So right off the bat, this person is interested in you for money. Not a good start. Not to mention, when the person finds out all you clothes are on your charge card, and you don't have a penny to your name, the gig is up. If you are not capable of going out and meeting people, and making friends doing so, you probably do need to change something, but it's not your clothes.
But every day we see it. People with $150 sunglasses, $500 purses, $100 T-shirts, and yes, $600 shoes. Now people will argue that you are getting a better product if you spend more money. To an extent, yes, but not like they think. Is the quality of a $5 pair of sunglasses different from a $30 pair? Probably. You will probably get a lens that is more clear and a frame that is a bit stronger. Is a $150 pair better than a $30? Probably not. Just like a $1.99 T-shirt probably will fall apart after a couple of washes, but a $10 one should last a long time, but $100 T-shirt is not going to last 10 times as long as a $10 one.
If your arguement is that you don't care about the brand name, you just want the better quality, how do you explain knock-offs? If people only cared about the quality of their $100 T-shirt or $5000 Rolex, and not the name on it, why would people make cheap knock-offs? Oviously people don't care about the quality, they want the logo on the front, and if they can get that logo for cheaper, even if it means it's lower quality, they will. You can buy knock-off Oakleys, Rolex's and Affliction T-shirts at a fraction the price, and lots of people buy them. They want to look like they are rich and important, even though they aren't.
It's up to you to decied whether the items you buy, you are paying more for, because they are better quality, or because it's got a brand logo on it. If there is a lot of knock-offs sold of that brand, you are probably buying it for the logo. Would you spend $500 on a Prada purse, if you were the only person that would ever know it was Prada? Probably not.
Some of the best shoes I ever owned were Adidas. They lasted forever and were very comfortable. I buy that brand of shoes regularly. They are about $60. Some of the worst shoes I have ever owned were Nikes, at $100 a pair.
You do need to spend a bit more money to get quality, but just because you are spending more money doesn't mean you aren't just paying for a logo and nothing else.
So let this me a message to all the single people. Next time you are out at a bar, or club, skip the losers wearing the Ed Hardy, Abercrombie and Fitch, Prada and Lulu Lemon. They have no money, or personality. Look for the well dresses people, without the brand name logos on everything.
Better yet, try meeting people not in a club.
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