FASHION magazine affects worldview (in a positive way)

I picked up the new issue of FASHION on friday night to read on the GO train on my way out to my parents for dinner. Talk about a fortuitous purchase! For once, it didn't make me feel wistful and lusty for products. It made me feel intelligent and not a little bit....miffed, I guess, about the luxury goods industry.

There's an article by Bernadette Morra about luxury and economy that I think should be required frugal reading. I've abstracted it below for those of you not living in my wonderful, awesome, lovely country.

Morra asks the question, "When did handbags become as costly as cars and condos? And why does your average little silk dress cost more than a fridge?" Her answer is that the world got richer. She covers various explanations, including but not limited to higher salaries, the all-encompassing price o'gas claim, increasing purchasing power because of the rising Canadian dollar and lower GST. She does, however, acknowledge that the pricing of irrationally expensive items (such as a $20,000 handbag) are viewed by most people as "just plain nuts." Morra points out that fast-fashion like Joe Fresh Style has effectively made designer pricing - like Dior - look out of control; she uses a $710 D&G turtleneck versus a $17 turtleneck to highlight this point.

She acknowledges that the differences in quality of materials, quantities available, etc., can make a difference but asks if it's even possible for it to be THAT big of a difference. Later in the article, she quotes Jennifer Carter of Hermes Canada justifying the investment cost of luxury items by saying, "The value of my house has doubled since I bought it in 1997. The price of a Birkin has not risen at the same rate."

I don't think anyone needs me to comment of the absurdity of that statement.

Subsequently, Morra naturally thinks about what that says about our attitude towards designer prices when Birkins are affordable compared to real estate. There has been a sea-change in terms of what we define as prohibitive pricing, apparently, and quality and construction are what we use to decide on value for the money. In closing the article, Morra quotes Derek Nighbor of the Retail Council of Canada, who states that people who buy luxury items aren't going to stop the purchasing, they'll just be more choosy. The head versus heart impulse purchase is going to be more dependent on emotional spending than ever before.

In the article, she referenced a book by Dana Thomas, called DELUXE: How Luxury Lost Its Luster. I was so intrigued by her article and the points it raised that I bought the book. I cannot recommend it enough. I'm not prone to hyperbole about the transformative power of a book (I leave that to Oprah) but I truly urge all of you to get this book and read it. It has wrenched the shopaholic, consumerist blinders off of my eyes. I'm about halfway through it and believe you me, I doubt I will EVER buy another 'label' item again after what I read. The information in this book is genuinely as impactful as the information about trans-fats and food stuffs.

It will actually change how you shop and what you shop for.

There's also a comment by Olivia Stren in this month's issue that I found rather amusing as well, about Canadians.

"They seem irate that I should dare stand out. Toronto, even in a vogued-out nabe that prides itself on its big-city urbanity and avant-gardist plurality, can be weirdly conservative. Canadians in general have always favoured discretion, deeming any attention-grabbing uncouth."

Ahem. And we are DAMN proud of that, thank you very much!