on the subject of conspicuous consumption and conspicuous thrift:
-flaunting expense or thrift, some ponderings on same by the very smart barry over at 3stylelife
-the case against thrift (from salon) and conspicuous thrift (from the la times) (both via nubby twiglet)
myself? well, i've always had more of a thing for showing off my thriftiness in a conspicuous way (proudly advertising my love of thrift store clothing), or at least sharing my love for new nicer things in a quieter, more mixed up way (i.e., no logos, no/or few obvious of the moment, instantly recognizable uber trendy pieces), rather than buying and wearing a lot of fancy, trendy, omg it's "THE THING TO HAVE RIGHT NOW" stuff just so others will know how much i spent/how much i am allegedly worth.
anyway, so...the trend now is toward playing style down, away from showing off. it's been brewing for a while, an artifact of this deepening recession (depression?), to some degree and just am equal and opposite reaction to the way things were (the reverse) not so long ago...and frankly, you know? i kind of like it.
i'm thinking, and have thought for a long while, that it might be good, on a culture-wide, world-wide level to go the other way, the opposite way from all that hyper-consumption, to scale back, step back, to be more careful, more cautious, at least when it comes to spending habits. maybe it's a good idea, on a broad level. but maybe not. maybe just a personal level? but then again, if lots of persons do it at once it does become broad...
i don't know, maybe i'm just really desiring a paradigm of moderation, not extremes with mass over spending or under spending.
but anyway...
are you feeling it now too? this turning away from crazy spending? were you not feeling it before, but are feeling it now?
is it, in any way, a good thing, this retraction, reaction, to the former trend of conspicuous consumption?
or will it bite us in the ass somehow?
if we stop spending altogether, will the whole capitalist 'system' collapse, as some fear?
any economists (or amateur economists? heh!) with a fashion bent lurking out there want to chime in on this subject?
i always had this feeling that fast fashion retailers were lurking around street fashion/fashion-sharing websites/fashion or style blogs, and pilfering ideas. my suspicions are now confirmed. see: websites feed fast fashion inspiration (via the international herald tribune)
how do YOU like being watched?
do you realize they are watching you and what you like to look at (street style blogs) in order to better sell to you? do you realize that money is being made off of you?
how does that make you feel, this being watched? are you okay with it?
quick and dirty, just like you like it:
-via incense and peppermint, in a post over in the wardrobe_remix discussion forums, comes word of a lulz blog that takes the piss out of lookbook.nu, called lolbook.nu. it's pretty darn funny. gotta be able to laugh at yourself and take fashion (and photographing your style and self) less seriously sometimes, i say!
-woo, a fannypack tute! (via craftster.com)
-these DIY-ed "slide-dyed" denim jeans on finnish blog nelliinan vaateheone are pretty damn hot! the text of the blog (and the post in question) is in finnish, but the resulting jeans are so stunning, they speak for themselves. go on and replicate them! (via outsapop)
-craft: has declared march to be mending month, and as such, they have been posting (and are planning to post) great little ideas for mending and making do, as they say. i particularly like this recently-posted, easy (and cute!) elbow patch how-to!