New at Reason
Kerry Howley asks whether the unwashed masses should be ashamed for craving luxurious goods.
Comments to "New at Reason":
x,y | February 11, 2008, 1:09pm | #
When polled, Japanese say they prize luxury goods for their “durability,” a curious response given the ease with which one could find a wallet of the same or better quality as a Louis Vuitton billfold for significantly less.The same is true here, but I don't think the response is curious. I recently bought a pair of Christian Louboutins (as a surprise, no particular reason gift for my lovely wife). When we're in mixed company and someone asks about the shoes, "durability" is just a stock answer. I'm not comfortable talking about how much shoes cost when I'm around people who do not have a lot of disposal income or whose business I'm trying to attract. It's just a common courtesy that I'm willing to extend. The bottom line is that everyone knows the real reason anyway -- they're the "in" shoe.
Nick | February 11, 2008, 1:20pm | #
I buy two pairs of white sneakers from K-mart each year. The 6 month durability is code for "white turned to brown after a while." $20 each. Comfortable.I don't get rich people.
Kolohe | February 11, 2008, 1:22pm | #
Decent article, but two things that stick outThe openning anecdote about NOLA Katrina seems to stick out. It is a completely different dynamic and really has no bearing on the thesis of the article.
The prevalence of luxury goods in Japan is complex, and an entire field of study onto itself. But one of the most important factors is last the high population density and levels of urbanization make such 'luxury' goods run-of-the-mill, because other modes of consumption would be impractical or indeed overindulgent. For instance, hardly anyone in the Kanto plain (Tokyo megalopolis) has an in ground swimming pool, but are quite common in their social, economic, and climate equivalent in the NYC metro area.
Rain Man | February 11, 2008, 1:24pm | #
K-Mart sucks.You can't have the peasants dressing like the elites. How will you know who to spit on?
madmikefisk | February 11, 2008, 1:52pm | #
You can't have the peasants dressing like the elites. How will you know who to spit on?Or swing your polo mallet at...
Personally, I don't get the fascination with the big names, but if people want them, more power to them. If said brands want to sell to them, even better.
Why belittle a mutually beneficial economic transaction?
Ken Shultz | February 11, 2008, 1:55pm | #
I still associate brand awareness with new money.some fed | February 11, 2008, 1:57pm | #
People replace white sneakers just because they get a little brown?I don't understand rich people. I'd buy bleach or brown shoes. I hate breaking in shoes, besides.
Oh, and some brands of things *are* actually more durable (consider exemplars among tools/hardware, non-American cars, electronics, adhesives, etc.). Durability just doesn't seem to be a priority of women's apparel brands.
some fed, I'm allowed to wear sneakers to work on occassion but they have to be "clean and neat." And the newer pairs do have a little more cushion, so...
kinnath | February 11, 2008, 2:10pm | #
I break down purchases into two categories: use it once and throw it away; or buy the best quality available. Price and quality rarely run on truly parallel lines.Joel | February 11, 2008, 2:16pm | #
I don't get "brand awareness" at any economic level. I've been frustrated for some time at how hard it is to find some types of clothing - sweatshirts come to mind - without great big logos on them while shopping at places like Wally World. I am not a f*cking billboard; if you want me to advertise for you, pay me.Joel, why are you expecting to find sweatshirts at Wally World that are not labeled with Wally World characters? Try K-mart. You'll save money and stay just as warm.
Shirt | February 11, 2008, 2:30pm | #
joel @2:16pm: "I've been frustrated for some time at how hard it is to find some types of clothing - sweatshirts come to mind - without great big logos on them..."Go to WalMart/K-Mart/Target/etc. and you can still find plain cotton sweatshirts and hoodies. And some of them are even waist-length. (Really, what's up with all the sweatshirts that come down to your knees?) It helps if you like black, red, gray and navy blue.
Steve B | February 11, 2008, 3:10pm | #
What seems to go unsaid in the article is the fact that Thomas's complaining about how the riff-raff are now buying all the luxury stuff sounds a lot like the bitching of someone who is mad that everyone else has figured out her trick of how to look like you have more money than you really do. It's the typical attitude of "I've got mine; I want to make sure you don't get yours, now that my foot's in the door."The whining about the decline in quality is particularly telling. Who cares if a brand drops its quality in order to appeal to a wider audience. If you really care about "quality", there are plenty other makers of custom goods that will charge a fortune for a well-made item. The only thing you lose by a brand shifting in this manner is the decline in snob appeal for the logo on outside. If you bought the item originally for its style and construction, that is not changed by the fact that a bunch of low-lifes are now carrying the same label.
If you DID buy it for snob appeal, well, that's a different story - you bought it to advertise what a wonderful person you are. You've exchanged some cache to purchase others opinions. As that sort of person, you should realize that anyone else can spend cash to purchase the same opinion, regardless of your preferences. I'm sure were those that were decrying the fact that outsiders like Thomas were purchasing their beloved Vuitton and cheapening the brand when she was climbing aboard as well.
Am I the only one who finds the Louis Vuitton logo/color scheme about as visually appealing as dog shit?
Why develop a personality if you can just pay for Louis Vuitton's? I never hold a brand of purse against a woman, but more often than not that's probably a mistake.
mk | February 11, 2008, 3:43pm | #
I only buy name brands when they are obviously fakes.As detective Yemana said on Barney Miller, "That's not a Gucci bag, that a gooky bag"
Brand names really do matter. The Rolex watch I bought on the streets of DC for $10 kept excellent time.
Paul | February 11, 2008, 4:01pm | #
The cards carried a note saying they were not to be used for alcohol, tobacco, or firearms.Probably the only three things that would provide people with peace-of-mind, comfort and safety.
Professor Chaos | February 11, 2008, 4:07pm | #
The obsession with status-signaling makes me suspect that Rand was right about most people.*walks off, grumbling about second-handers.
George | February 11, 2008, 4:41pm | #
Really clever piece -- exactly the sort I've come to enjoy from Reason -- extrapolating the big picture from the small (nominally) insignificant actions people take every day.Let us not forget though that Waikiki is actually a neighborhood in Honolulu which is a city on the island of Oahu. I was on Kalakaua Avenue three weeks ago and it is unrecognizable from when I first visited a decade ago.
J sub D | February 11, 2008, 4:42pm | #
Brand names really do matter. The Rolex watch I bought on the streets of DC for $10 kept excellent time.And nobody can tell it's
penxv | February 11, 2008, 5:15pm | #
When polled, Japanese say they prize luxury goods for their “durability,” a curious response given the ease with which one could find a wallet of the same or better quality as a Louis Vuitton billfold for significantly less.When polled, people rarely respond with "because I feel bad about myself and I am shallow." So I don't think that polls are a very good indicator of truth.
LarryA | February 11, 2008, 5:43pm | #
The cards carried a note saying they were not to be used for alcohol, tobacco, or firearms.Yeah, right. I was working in a gun shop almost a thousand miles from NOLA, and sold several firearms on KatKards.
our humble artisans were replaced with bloodthirsty capitalists ripped from the pages of a Naomi Klein polemic.
Somehow it’s always the “bloodthirsty capitalists” who are at fault for giving their customers what they want. What I hear in this is that the peons shouldn’t be able to dress like Dana Thomas and her fellow patrones.
Personally, I have no horse in this particular race. My mama taught me to shop by label. Her technique was to teach me to do my own laundry, and the result was that I look for the words “wash and wear.”
OTOH I’m not completely virtuous. I just tend to send a less nuanced message, with NRA or SciFi T-shirts and sweatshirts.
Which, of course, relates back to another thing Japanese tourists spend their money on. Trips (and photographic evidence of same) to shooting ranges.
Durability just doesn't seem to be a priority of women's apparel brands.
And neither does comfort. That’s what I don’t understand. High heels? Why?
Go to WalMart/K-Mart/Target/etc. and you can still find plain cotton sweatshirts and hoodies.
You just won’t find them near a main aisle. Get back in the middle of the section.
The whining about the decline in quality is particularly telling. Who cares if a brand drops its quality in order to appeal to a wider audience.
Here’s the dichotomy Thomas missed. High fashion brands don’t need to be durable. The presumption is that you’ll wear them one season, then donate them to a thrift shop.
There are brands that run to durability, but the “style” is “classic” and the folks who buy them intend to wear them out, eventually, and replace them with another of the same.
For instance, I buy Roper boots, and plan on a local bootmaker replacing the heels three or four times and the soles twice before I finally wear a hole in the vamp.
wayaway | February 11, 2008, 8:01pm | #
I recognise a genuine Larry Vitton when I see one...David E. Gallaher | February 11, 2008, 8:32pm | #
This is an excellent example of why religious non-profit agencies should be put in charge of controlling our various urges. Dubya meant this when he first talked of compassionate conservativism.If you have urges that lean toward the work of the Devil, your feet should be held to the fire. Or you should be dunked a few times... (water-boarded?)
We must get our urges straight, people!
Then, love, love, love... to beat the band.
megs | February 11, 2008, 8:56pm | #
What I find interesting is the divide between the cutoffs customer buying status symbol goods in Vegas and the fact you already need to have visible status symbol goods to purchase some more in places like New York. I've worked a lot of retail in Alanta, and very quickly learned that the big wigs and people with real cash are the ones who come in to the upscale mall in their sweats. The people dressed up nice are either little old ladies or the people killing time before a movie or dinner. It's very interesting and I'd really like to read more about what people wear and how they present themselves compared to who they are.Perhaps the author of the book made the point, but I'm betting not - luxury goods of quality, which were known by brand because of the quality, were made by an artisan crafter. Not a company. And they made it big because there were so few people who could buy their stuff that only a few purchases gave you a big clientèle. Now that so many people buy the stuff, the artisans are only word of mouth known. But they're out there, making even better quality stuff because of better resources (because of the big business of luxury goods) - and more importantly - there are more of these than ever before. Even with all these big luxury brands. I heart capitalism SO HARD.
Al Feberber | February 12, 2008, 9:47am | #
My wife and I hardly ever to to big suburban malls, but we had occassion to do so not long ago. It wasn't what you'd call a luxury mall, but it was rather upscale, and in the San Francisco Bay Area. Man, it was a numbing and rather grotesque scene. The overwhelming amount of crap (yes, crap) and the hordes of well-groomed people snapping it up was astounding.We wondered aloud, "Where does the money come from to make and market all this stuff? Where are these people getting the money they're throwing around?"
It was truly culture-shock in our own back yard. We never knew, for example, that there are chain stores that sell trendy clothing cut exclusively for obese teenage girls! the one in this mall was right next door to a bakery.
I'm a capitalist, and would never think of placing limits on buying or selling, but the whole experience was very offputting.
On another note, I've done quite a bit of freelance display work for Hermes, and can vouch for the superior quality of their goods and service. Yeah, it's real expensive stuff, (I can't afford it) but it's beautifully designed and executed, and they stand behind it. If I had the money, I'd shop there.
One has to wonder, if some KatKards ended up being used for luxury purchases, it was in trade as a means for its original recipient to aquire cigarettes and/or booze, with the final recipient being someone who was not in as much dire need. I have heard of people trading food stamps to others in exchange for these things (and drugs too).
Kdog | February 12, 2008, 6:01pm | #
One lesson we should learn from this article is that giving people money they have not earned is not a good idea; they will almost invariably waste it on crap.I know little about the luxury goods market, so I won't even discuss that part.
Geotpf | February 12, 2008, 8:03pm | #
I'll bet, dollar for dollar, those cards helped the economy more than the upcoming tax rebate checks.Actually, that would make logical sense. Send out debit cards instead of checks. That would encourage people to spend them instead of saving or paying down debts, and spending money is better for the economy as a whole.
LarryA | February 12, 2008, 9:21pm | #
One lesson we should learn from this article is that giving people money they have not earned is not a good idea; they will almost invariably waste it on crap.One lesson we should learn from this article is that if you give people money it's their damn business what they spend it on, not ours.
Postmodern Sleaze | February 13, 2008, 12:46am | #
Al:If you think the malls in the bay area are bad, I have a word of advice-
Never, EVER, come to Shanghai. Shanghainese excess is enough to turn Ayn Rand into a Maoist. You have to see the department stores... and the luxury malls... and the vast knockoff markets... to believe them. They're like nothing you've ever seen before in your life.
I, for one, think it's a blast. Your mileage may vary...