Why Are We Fighting At All?
Does this bother anyone else? Or am I missing the part that makes this not nauseating? From USA Today:
Juliet Sandler dresses in the latest $650 dresses and $400 shoes from Parisian fashion house Lanvin. Juliet is 3.
Her mother, Dara Sandler, says she dresses her daughter in the latest fashions because Juliet is a reflection of her — even though her daughter can't spell the names of the designers, let alone pay for their clothes.
"I dress my daughter exactly the way I dress myself," says the 33-year-old Manhattan mother, who spent $10,000 for her daughter's summer wardrobe. She plans to spend a few thousand dollars more for fall.
Is it me?
It is? Okay. Maybe I'm being too....what's the word? Judgmental?
But what about this:
Sasha Charnin Morrison, fashion director at Us Weekly, admits that some of the clothes are outrageously prices. But, she says, things like $200 Gucci sneakers make her kids happy.
"They're a walking billboard of you. They're a reflection of who you are, so if you are someone highly stylized, then you want to make sure your kids are the best-dressed kids out there," she says.
If you are someone "highly stylized?" If this is what American culture has come to, maybe we shouldn't be fighting so hard to save it.
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Comments:
Re: Why Are We Fighting At All?
These are wealthy people on their way to being poor. They have always been with us.
Jun '10
Re: Why Are We Fighting At All?
I am not fighting to save her. I am fighting to save the liberty that allows her to pursue her happiness according to her conscience. And I am not fighting for her liberty per se, but for the freedom of those I love and respect, who will use that freedom to broaden the human horizon.
Re: Why Are We Fighting At All?
I wonder what it says about me that my kids all wear handmedowns that have been worn by at least two other children before them.
I suppose my sweet little walking billboards say, "My mom is lowly stylized."
Then again, I've always been that way. I spent my childhood in my brothers' patched jeans. But I was ... I don't know ... happy? Makes me think there's an inverse relationship between price of child's clothing and happiness of child's home.
There you go for judgmental.
Re: Why Are We Fighting At All?
Paul Rahe always nails it, in as few words as possible.
Re: Why Are We Fighting At All?
Ursula Hennessey: I wonder what it says about me that my kids all wear handmedowns that have been worn by at least two other children before them.
I suppose my sweet little walking billboards say, "My mom is lowly stylized."
Then again, I've always been that way. I spent my childhood in my brothers' patched jeans. But I was ... I don't know ... happy? Makes me think there's an inverse relationship between price of child's clothing and happiness of child's home.
There you go for judgmental. · 5 minutes ago
"Happy but Unstylized" is not a bad way to be.
Sep '10
Re: Why Are We Fighting At All?
Milan, darling. Milan!
May '10
Re: Why Are We Fighting At All?
The phrase is "fashion victim".
Jan '11
Re: Why Are We Fighting At All?
Do you know how much I paid for those sneakers? I paid $200! If I see a smudge on them, or if I see you playing basketball in them, you can sit in the corner for a month!
And you! $650 dollars for that dress! If you spill chocolate milk on that dress, you'll be grounded until college!
(It's a good thing that I'm poor. I couldn't handle the stress.)
Dec '10
Re: Why Are We Fighting At All?
Face it, Rob. Deep down you love all the Lew Rockwell anti-bankster stuff. Come on in. The water is plenty warm, and there's still lots of room in the pool.
Remember: What is good for Wall St. and their hangers-on is not what is good for markets.
Re: Why Are We Fighting At All?
When I was no more than 2 or 3 years old, my mother was a nanny for a very wealthy family that had a young daughter a few years my senior who insisted that I wear all of the designer dresses that she wore. So the wealthy mother bought me carbon copies of the $300 dresses that her little tyrant donned, all while paying my mom something like $8 an hour. I couldn't have cared less at the time, but it all seems awfully perverse when I think about it now.
Jul '11
Re: Why Are We Fighting At All?
These are some of the folks I work for. I don't think value system is worth a darn but I don't care how they spend their money as long as they pay me.
Apr '11
Re: Why Are We Fighting At All?
My mom used to laugh at me when I asked for Air Jordan's. I am glad she did.
Feb '12
Re: Why Are We Fighting At All?
The prices are hard to swallow, but the idea of my child being a PR rep for campaign of me? Wow!
If we become this way, liberty will unburden itself of us.
May '10
Re: Why Are We Fighting At All?
While it was open, there was a place we shopped called "Clothes by the Pound" which was where all the miscelaneous odds & ends from the local Goodwill stores ended up. So our kids (mainly) but my wife & I too were wearing stuff we bought at the remainder outlet for the local Goodwill stores.
Still, there was a lot of good stuff like a genuine rabbit fur coat my one daughter still has.
Nov '10
Re: Why Are We Fighting At All?
What this says to me is that some folks need to spend some time here to get some perspective...
Aug '10
Re: Why Are We Fighting At All?
Methinks Mr. Wilde nailed it long ago.
"....and the value of nothing."
Mar '11
Re: Why Are We Fighting At All?
Over time I've come to the realization that, even in my darkest days, I would not trade my problems for those of others. Rob's description is of a vanity about as perverse as it gets. Seeing one's children as mirrors into which one can gaze upon the marvel of one's own reflection is a form of narcissism from which no good can come. I find it deeply saddening. Perhaps even sadder is that it does not surprise me.
Jul '10
Re: Why Are We Fighting At All?
The people who design and sell the clothes are laughing all the way to the bank. I see the child's uber-expensive clothing not as a reflection of the parent's good taste or stylishness, but as a stupid waste of money, and I can only imagine what kind of (useless as citizens) people the children might be when they grow up. Either that or they go in the completely opposite direction and become part of the OWS crowd living in their own squalor just to tick off Mummy and Daddy.
Mar '11
Re: Why Are We Fighting At All?
We have a rule for our almost 3 year old son and 8 month old daughter: if the piece of clothing costs more than $10, we are not buying it. Little kids' clothes are constantly on sale, and one trip to an outlet mall can dress our kids for a full season. Considering how quickly little kids outgrow clothing, spending any more than $10 on a shirt or pants is just not worth it.
Dec '10
Re: Why Are We Fighting At All?
Having that kind of disposable income must be great. Seems weird to me, but so what? Good for them.