05Jul09

Where Ralph Buys Blouses

I found this really interesting article way too late, but it’s funny like that, just when I’ve been thinking about this for the last couple of days.

“You can either buy a $50 pair of pants or a $500 pair. They’d probably both be just as durable but there wouldn’t be fashion. There’d just be …stuff.”

I can’t help but agree. But thing is, how many of us really know about fashion? How do you define fashion? Is Topshop fashion? Is Zara fashion? And really, how many of us can afford $500 pants on a regular basis? Not me, that’s for sure.

I guess the bottom line is the pleasure you get from a particular, certain designer and the value that you’ll let yourself tag on a purchase from that designer. There isn’t really much about clothes except whether they fit or not – and certainly there isn’t always a difference between a $500 pair of pants and a $50 pair of pants and especially, there is no guarantee that you will be wearing that pair of pants for the next 50 years.

But sometimes, we just like the story behind the person who creates those items, don’t we? We are romantic about our clothes like that.

We all love expensive labels – but I think we must first know the stories behind them to really appreciate them, not just because.

I have utmost respect for (some) designers who manage to make it big – and even though it’s not everyday I’m willing to fork that huge an amount of money to make a purchase, the least I can do is not buy counterfeit goods. But I am fine with well-made label inspired products, knowing that there will be things that you’ll be sacrificing in the process – the initial concept, the details, the quality and especially the story behind it, but it works well for economical decisions. Not counterfeit products though. It’s a whole different story there.

I guess for people like me, we buy the best we can. It makes no sense to save up an entire year just to buy a pair of Lanvin pumps when I can get 30 pairs at Charles & Keith for the same amount. Which ultimately boils down to just this: the value that you’ll let yourself tag on a purchase from that designer.

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