Was watching Tyra Bank's talk show this morning, normally not a big fan of her show, just that the topic of the day caught my eyes. "Fashion Freaks!" I would call it... Well, the topic of the day talks about people obsess with branded goods, and when I say branded I mean branded, from LV, to Polo Ralph, to Burberry, and what not...
But the point highlighted is how such goods "poisons" her guest's minds... and she actually made them realise how so and how bad they are being "poisoned" and how dependent they are on these goods. There is this girl, all it took was a fashion label, and it was able to change her way she look at life, and you can literally see the change in her, SUPER DRASTIC LAH!!!! she was made to go out in 2 set of different close. One and authentic Prada dress and the other a cheap dress that look expensive. The difference was they swap the label. So lets call the Prada dress that has its label swap "A" and the fake prada "B". So when this girl wore A, she felt super inferior, like she is out of place, no one was looking at her, no one was noticing her, she found it hard to talk to people, she shouldn't be dress this way in a posh hotel, all because she didn't know that the dress was actually PRADA!!!! then when she wore B, CHANGED!!! the confidence and all was back, she talk to people, walk with her head up straight... feels all good about herself. Weird isn't it.
Then there is this mother that will not dress her kids in nothing less then branded, and not kids branded, ADULT brands like polo ralph and hermes and stuff like that. (OMG!!!!) on the average she spends 1000 on her kids MONTHLY!!!! THIS IS MADNESS!!!! So Tyra tried the same thing on her, showing her a series of kids wear, even go to the extent of getting someone to act as a designer to describe the clothes, and she was hooked and say it was her kind... little that she knew all the clothes range was from Kmart and the designer was someone from the audience!!! OMG!!!
If you think that is extreme, people even go to the extend to make water branded, no you are not hearing wrongly, WATER, H2O, the thing flowing out from you tap. Some people in America actually spends money buying bottled water... CRAZY LAH!!!
I am not saying that I do not go for brands, just not that obsess with it. Brand do play a part of my buying decision, but honestly will not be the first thing that make me buy an item. If there is really going to be ranking. Here is how it will go:-
This is in terms of clothes and things we put on myself.
1) Comfort
2) Looks/Appearance
3) Workmanship
4) Brand
and the list goes on... yes brand no doubtingly will put into peoples brain how reliable it is. But honestly it does not play such a big role in my part unless there is a "Pulling" factor. Like a good steal of such like something going for hundreds and I am getting it for 30 bucks or something. yes, but I will feel so much better if the thing is comfy, good quality and workmanship at the same time price is good... the achievement is so much higher man...
Perception is always playing tricks in everyone's mind, even in my own, but one honestly advise. Try looking at the thing you feel like buying from many angle, do not just get blinded by the brand, look out for details and sometime you can get something better from a departmental store then from a boutique.
In her show, she invited a couple of authors who wrote about fashion today and about branded goods losing its luxury. Honestly, I do agree that luxury has lost it touch, and I do not blame them as they have to to meet demands, but if you think of it... do they have to? or they want to? You are getting big designer brands and nowadays it is made in China, Thailand, etc. What happened to those made in Germany, or Italy things already. Please do not misunderstand, but I have no issue with goods made in China or Thailand, or are particularly fancy of things from Germany and Italy, my point is, since those goods are originally from there, why aren't they made there anymore? Cheaper manufacturing but selling at 'original' prices? think about it. Luxury have really lost it touch.
Human perception is a really scary thing... but its what keeps big companies going, and millionaires' bank full. preying on needs, desire of human... And as intelligent as we think we all are... Think again... even the smartest have their foolish moments...