Alexandra

Same things goes for Coach, Prada, Gucci, Dooney & Bourke… in their respective languages of course. They all hold a universal meaning…

Time after time I’ve witnessed young beautiful women in my community spend their entire savings on an expensive designer item. I’ve witness friends tell their boyfriends, husbands, or significant others that the best present they could possibly receive and what would make them the happiest is a (insert designer name brand here) purse… or any designer item for that matter.

Are we buying this purse (I will continue using purse for the sake of what I’m writing but really it can be any designer brand item) because it is so beautiful and lustrous we simply cant live without it? Are we buying this purse because we place such a high value on what others think of us that we are willing to fuck up our credit or deplete our boyfriend’s savings for something that cost less than $10 to make? Is this purse worth the hours or days we, or our husbands or boyfriends, have to work to pay it off? Do we believe that we will be more of a “catch” if we carry such a purse on our arm? Are we buying this purse because a beautiful tall butt-less skinny blonde blue eyed model in the magazine or tv commercial said we should? Has being constantly bombarded with designer brand advertising through television, movies, magazines, and music brainwashed us? Are we buying this purse because we are insecure and need affirmation from others; affirmation from others who are in the same situation we are and face the same struggles we do?

I live in a community where for many the struggle lies in making this month’s car note, rent, or even putting food on the table. Like myself, most people, and definitely most people in my community work very hard for the money they make. It saddens me to see where many of our priorities lie, not because I am judgmental, but because i believe this mentality sets us up for unhappiness. Our search and need for approval dooms us. We are making the exploitative rich man richer and we are becoming poorer and poorer, not only in our wallet but in our soul.

Why do we feel it is ok to invest in and pay such a high price for a purse that has a low to zero return?

I say “we” and include myself in this dialogue because I am part of this community. The people making such choices are my friends, family members, coworkers…. However I have for many years chosen not to own a single high-end designer name brand item. I find no value in such items and I am not willing to invest my hard earned paycheck on such.

I wish every woman, rich or poor, would ask themselves these questions before dishing out the cash or flashing the debit card. I hope these questions would begin to put into perspective why we are placing such a high value on invaluable things.

But if after doing so they still believe it is in their best interest to purchase such an item, then by all means…. At the very least they are aware that for them, the value of what others think about them is >