It's so painfully sugary, yet brilliantly marketably clever ... the new term "recessionista". It's fine to call oneself a recessionista if a girl goes on a total "bag ban", but promoting "less expensive" products to us is cruelly manipulative. True recessonistas will not continue buying clothing unless it become necessity (like my weight loss means I have no wedges or sandals that fit [ALL I don for outdoor footwear]) - yes shoes no longer fit - and what is still only minimally loose are suede sandals; obviously not appropriate for "hurricane"/rainy season in FL. But I will still make due for a time.
Flitting away money at the moment is mostly tasteless and self-indulgent IMHO, even if it's "just" a new outfit from Forever 21 to ring in Autumn. It's akin to buying "pleather" to "help" the environment and ignoring the food industry. Do the vegan lifestylers want us to toss the skin from the flesh the rest of us eat or do they truly think the entirety of mankind should go veggie? Sorry, but I'm not; specific diets will never be 100% healthy for all people, especially removing dairy and even meat, due to allergies, or any other reason that are frankly no one's business.
The PETA-brainwashed like to stick to ignorance of pollution caused in the manufacturing of plastics, and they're far worse and a part of a different problem from the blog's topic, but it's still related.
If a girl can pay her rent, tuck some away into savings, eat 3 square meals a day or more, and pay off debt---more than minimums, then she absolutely deserves to indulge within her means. No, my problem is with the corporations and marketers attempting to take advantage of those us girls with a weakness for treating ourselves to pretty things.
Also I want to send huge kudos to all of us who are resisting these campaigns, at least somewhat - or at the very least, shopping elsewhere or not inspired by pressure of media. This especially goes to the women in the fashion blogosphere to any extent, I know it's difficult to keep up with IT bags when I'm equally trying to remove myself, and it must be something to continue reading purely for fun, as well! Thanks--xx.
Ella M.
Interesting post!
I can't say I'm every very much surprised by marketers, even when they do cross the line. I won't lie, I myself do try to sell stuff to bargain hunters, but there are lines I won't cross and I hope that I am doing people a service by finding good bargains that people won't regret buying. If you're going to buy something, you should get something that you really want, and will still love months if not years from now. However, I never want anyone to feel less fashionable or beautiful for not buying something I recommend. That's my line -- one which a lot of marketing types probably don't even think twice about crossing.
Is it wrong to buy stuff, though -- even if they seem frivolous? I think it's an individual decision based on personal finances and what really makes you feel good. I do consider myself frugal (I'm also the Meg from FruWiki.com), but I'm more into buying less and buying smarter than banning buying for myself (which never ends well). I know I have a thing for shoes and I have way more than any woman needs, but wearing cute shoes is one of those things that does really make me feel great even if seems superficial. So, I may buy fewer shoes and be more picky and also look for great deals, but I still buy new shoes from time to time. (And trust me, I'm plenty deep to not have to worry about seeming superficial from time to time.) Fortunately, my finances, while still recovering from less frugal years, are actually doing better during the recession because of increased household income and a lot of sacrifices that my husband and I have made -- so I'm not worried about the occasional new pair of shoes.