I really liked topic of Ksenia about fashion. I want to share my thoughts about this "social institution".
Firstly, the title of this post. I have seen this phrase several times (it was written in Russian letters) in stupid pictures in the Internet in which people (especially girls) were laughing at other people because latter were trying to wear fashionable ctothes, but the outcome of their efforts was just a look of clown. Yes, I agree, this people are rather stupid. They are watching TV, reading fashionable magazines and dreaming of "beautiful life" with expensive cars and clothes. And of course, most of them don't have money to buy all these things. But people are trying to be more than they are in reality. Men are painting their cars and fasten some useless, but fashionable things to them. Women are buying expensive cosmetics and expensive dresses only because in the depth of this dress is writen a phrase "made in Italy". And they are really glad to know that their dress is from Italy (which is very doubtful) and maybe Angelina Jolie once wore the same dress in one of her numerous ceremonies. One week ago I was searching for watch. When an shop assistant was presenting me one watch, she added, "This is Spanish brand. The official face of this brand is Christiano Ronaldo". And what? Should I like it more if Ronaldo once made few photos with several watches of this firm? I can bet he didn't wear watch of this brand more than 2-3 times because he have enough money to buy Rolex or something in this price level. I admit that he is one of the best footbalists of our age, but this fact didn't affect on my choise to buy or not to buy that watch. But, I think I am a small exception from boys of 15-20 who know Ronaldo. Especially youngest ones. They didn't earn money, they don't know what is the price of money which their parents give them everyday. And of course, in age of 12-14 teenagers want to stand out of the pack and make everybody know that they are wearing watch from Ronaldo. It isn't a big problem if parents have enough money to but it, but it becomes a big problem when the family is poor and children after watching fashionable shows on MTV wants to be equal to those people from the TV. Once I read about sad story in which daughter was shouting on her mother because she refused to buy her Iphone and suggested to by something less expensive because they didn't have money for Iphone. The daugher started threatening to leave mother and go live somewhere with her friends. And the mother surrendered and boughts this overestimated device. Sad story.
I wanted to make an accent on such an social body as "night life". Being a teenager, I saw beautiful pictures of beatiful people, who were relaxing in a fashionable place. There several organization in my town which were posting such photos. Then once I came to one of these places. I saw men who were just drinking alcohol in big companies or alone, women who wore their most expensive dresses to show that are cool ( many of them came to that only to find rich, but stupid man, who after a night with them may be fall in love with them and give money for the more expensive dress, or shoes, or buy Iphone 5. (As I saw in photos, the most fashionable which women were making photo with was the latest model of Iphone). After several hours of siting and talking about some stupid things fighting with extremely loud music I eventually fell asleep. After 20 minutes of sleeping administrator woke me up to maintain the atmosphere of endless happiness. This atmosphere could be broken if in the farther side of some photo was seen a little boy, sleeping on the table (I was 15). So I came through the crowd of dancing people, came to the toilet and saw an rather good looking man in age of about 23 who puking to the shell. That was the real atmosphere of this place. People came, drank, and then there was two ways: to drink to the extent that they can't undersstand anything or to find somebody to sex with and do it. Very beautiful life!
In the end I want to say that I'm not an exception. I'm following fashion in some extent. I admit it, and I hate it. Fashion is an enormous machine which makes people buy things that they don't really need. The process of globalization made fashion even more powerful, and now it is invincible. I don't want to say something like "this is the root of all evil in over society", I just want to say that everybody choses follow it or not and in what extent.
I know several people who completely ignore tendencies of fashion. I really respect them. May be their examples will help some people to make a right choise what they want to buy and what what places they want to spend their free time.
Thank you for attention.
Firstly, the title of this post. I have seen this phrase several times (it was written in Russian letters) in stupid pictures in the Internet in which people (especially girls) were laughing at other people because latter were trying to wear fashionable ctothes, but the outcome of their efforts was just a look of clown. Yes, I agree, this people are rather stupid. They are watching TV, reading fashionable magazines and dreaming of "beautiful life" with expensive cars and clothes. And of course, most of them don't have money to buy all these things. But people are trying to be more than they are in reality. Men are painting their cars and fasten some useless, but fashionable things to them. Women are buying expensive cosmetics and expensive dresses only because in the depth of this dress is writen a phrase "made in Italy". And they are really glad to know that their dress is from Italy (which is very doubtful) and maybe Angelina Jolie once wore the same dress in one of her numerous ceremonies. One week ago I was searching for watch. When an shop assistant was presenting me one watch, she added, "This is Spanish brand. The official face of this brand is Christiano Ronaldo". And what? Should I like it more if Ronaldo once made few photos with several watches of this firm? I can bet he didn't wear watch of this brand more than 2-3 times because he have enough money to buy Rolex or something in this price level. I admit that he is one of the best footbalists of our age, but this fact didn't affect on my choise to buy or not to buy that watch. But, I think I am a small exception from boys of 15-20 who know Ronaldo. Especially youngest ones. They didn't earn money, they don't know what is the price of money which their parents give them everyday. And of course, in age of 12-14 teenagers want to stand out of the pack and make everybody know that they are wearing watch from Ronaldo. It isn't a big problem if parents have enough money to but it, but it becomes a big problem when the family is poor and children after watching fashionable shows on MTV wants to be equal to those people from the TV. Once I read about sad story in which daughter was shouting on her mother because she refused to buy her Iphone and suggested to by something less expensive because they didn't have money for Iphone. The daugher started threatening to leave mother and go live somewhere with her friends. And the mother surrendered and boughts this overestimated device. Sad story.
I wanted to make an accent on such an social body as "night life". Being a teenager, I saw beautiful pictures of beatiful people, who were relaxing in a fashionable place. There several organization in my town which were posting such photos. Then once I came to one of these places. I saw men who were just drinking alcohol in big companies or alone, women who wore their most expensive dresses to show that are cool ( many of them came to that only to find rich, but stupid man, who after a night with them may be fall in love with them and give money for the more expensive dress, or shoes, or buy Iphone 5. (As I saw in photos, the most fashionable which women were making photo with was the latest model of Iphone). After several hours of siting and talking about some stupid things fighting with extremely loud music I eventually fell asleep. After 20 minutes of sleeping administrator woke me up to maintain the atmosphere of endless happiness. This atmosphere could be broken if in the farther side of some photo was seen a little boy, sleeping on the table (I was 15). So I came through the crowd of dancing people, came to the toilet and saw an rather good looking man in age of about 23 who puking to the shell. That was the real atmosphere of this place. People came, drank, and then there was two ways: to drink to the extent that they can't undersstand anything or to find somebody to sex with and do it. Very beautiful life!
In the end I want to say that I'm not an exception. I'm following fashion in some extent. I admit it, and I hate it. Fashion is an enormous machine which makes people buy things that they don't really need. The process of globalization made fashion even more powerful, and now it is invincible. I don't want to say something like "this is the root of all evil in over society", I just want to say that everybody choses follow it or not and in what extent.
I know several people who completely ignore tendencies of fashion. I really respect them. May be their examples will help some people to make a right choise what they want to buy and what what places they want to spend their free time.
Thank you for attention.
Michael,
ОтветитьУдалитьI think you are too pessimistic about fashion's influence on people.
I agree with you that the fact that we pay too much for some item just because it's fashionable is ridiculous, however that's not such a disaster you say it is.
So, I hope, you won't really hate it as in some sense fashion is kind of great business system we, as economists, should be interested in from the professional side of the question.
I agree more with Michael; the happier, more efficient societies are the ones in which fashion trends don't change rapidly. And in these societies, people are self-aware of their following a specific trend, and they don't spend exorbitant amounts of money on material items that "distinguish" them above others. I think it is your responsibility as economists to do more than just take advantage of the way fashion works in an economy, but also to change the way it works to make the world a happier place.
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