May 9, 2007
For Sheila
comments
comments:
- Joel Bernstein: For the record, if you pay to see this, you are no longer my friend.
- Deron Bauman: Meow.
- Joel Bernstein: This must be why I fuck so many cats.
- Michael Smith: Seems to me the experiment almost does itself.
- Casey Cichowicz: No. It is not possible. I can assure you.
- Joel Bernstein: Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes?
- LaurenH: I’m with those who say get that girl out of that household. The father has now very effectively...
- Rick Neece: Holee sh..!
- Rick Neece: Asian calligraphy, ‘cept instead of a brush, hot glass. The image of her controlling the glass and...
- Rick Neece: For the gull-wing, I’m sure it would knock me in the chin every time I opened it.
- Marco: Oh god yes.
- Rick Neece: Chuck, testes, testes, One-Two-Three. I can hear you breathing. (TAP,TAP,TAP) “Is this thing...
- Joel Bernstein: Chuck Testa
- Rick Neece: I know the Jag has gone through changes since Ford owns the company. It makes me a little sad for the...
- Michael Smith: WRONG, I’m anime FREAK.
Deron. That image is a thing of infinite value.
I aim to please.
But you’d look just as fetching in a $30 dress! I rest my case.
Well, now, India, I do agree that Deron would look fetching in a $30 dress. But whether he would look as fetching . . . mmmmm . . . .
Thank you, India. (And Sheila!)
I will belabor my point and hone it a bit: if the more expensive item will last and suits you better then buy it as opposed to the less expensive item.
One of my proudest moments is the $1500 black wool Donna Karan suit I bought at Neiman’s outlet for $400. It’s lasted very well as my only suit for the past seven years and still fits me well and has kept up with the changes in men’s fashion.
etc.
But would you like it as much if you’d paid Needless Mark-up the full $1,500 for it?
if there was nothing on the market that suited me and of a similar quality, then yes, but I was very pleased to have paid $400 for it, as opposed to $250 or whatever it would have cost me at men’s wearhouse for something that I would have grown tired of.
now if you’ll excuse me, we’re going shopping for shoes.
Yes, that dress demands to be worn with heels. Perhaps red ones? You need a spot of color somewhere.
I bet Deron would have liked his suit as much if he’d paid the full (needless) (mark-up) price, and I’d be with him. (Not that he –or I — wouldn’t have been happy to save some money if we could.)
But I know that one of Jon’s favoritest ensembles is (curiously enough, given the circumstances of its purchase) a suit he bought to wear to his father’s funeral. It was most definitely not on sale, and he paid a pretty penny for it. A beautiful light-wool suit of Italian design and manufacture (though of no recognizable name) that still looks fabulous nine years after its purchase.
I look great in a suit. Not so much in a dress. Deron, it’s not just the quality of the dress or how it hangs on you — it’s whether you look like you feel good in it. You certainly look like you feel good. Kudos, sir.
I’m frugal by necessity, but I learned a while back that cost and value do not always intersect in a sensible way. I also learned that cheap stuff is usually, well, cheap and not worth owning. I like getting a good deal, but my best experiences with food, tools, and clothing were probably occasions that cost more, but they were worth it. Of course there are exceptions, and those are to be cherished.
As far as items that are based on purely aesthetic or emotional appeal, throw out all that crap I just said and pay what you can afford (or a little more)and just get the damned thing.
Very nice, Deron. You might want to add a string of beads. Just something to think about.
Here’s the deal for me: I want the $120 dress for $30. If you spend 4-6 hours a day on eBay, you’ll eventually get it.
Cindy, I’m with you on both accounts.
Writing “speechless” does not even begin to convey my feelings.
Andrew, imagine a father’s feelings!
Lynn, I congratulate you on having such a poised and confident son.
You know, it does occur to me that latecomers might benefit from knowing the context. (On the other hand, they might be disappointed.) Why, you might wonder, did Deron post a photo of himself in a dress and title his post “For Sheila”?
It all goes back to the exchanges sparked by Want to save money? Don’t shop.
Looking back at our comments, I imagine I could as easily have requested a photo of Deron’s $80 tool. Instead I requested that Amy photograph him in “the $120 dress”. And the rest is history.
I thought about holding the $80 dollar tool in the photo, but went for the streamlined version instead.
(incidentally, if you click the image it takes you to the comment thread.)
You know, there’s something kind of mug-shotty about this photo. I can’t put my finger on it. I keep thinking, a la Holly Hunter in Raising Arizona, “Turn to the right.”
Well, yes, there’s a certain matter-of-factness about Deron’s pose that evokes photos like this.
But the $120 dress is clearly far, far superior to the $20 bikini plus the $15 wig plus the $7 flip-flops.
Speaking of which, did you find some nice shoes, Deron?
Yeah, Cindy. I see what you mean. Maybe Deron was trying not to look all vaporish (like, say, Bowie on the cover of that first UK issue of The Man Who Sold the World). The image is definitely more Raising Arizona than, oh, Priscilla of the Desert.
But he still looks better than 99.99% of the population does in actual mug shots — and better than a fair number of folks (both male and female) do in dresses. (It’s the dignity, isn’t it?)
it is the dignity, dammit! and yes, Amy got some shoes, but I didn’t find any.
Oh, India. That blond is so wrong, is it not? Blond? That guy needs a good colorist.
Yes, wig is quite wrong. But also, the pink flip-flops don’t go–I mean, you can probably get away with fondling yourself in a park in a bikini, but only if you’re wearing the right shoes. Some black, strappy sandals with a little height would have been a far better choice.
I told you it was the dignity.
Dignity — and design.
I have questions.
I’m new ’round y’all, (as y’all must be, like, who the F is this guy?), by virtue of Cooper (thanks bunches, traveler) and I’ve been enjoying your posts.
Honestly, if you don’t mind my asking…Do you have a lot of time on your hands? I’m just trying to hang onto some semblance of being, given work and all.
Three or so years back, I spent years in the toil of retail as a “Visual Merchandising Manager” which once upon a time was called “Display.” The BIG name on my resume: Saks Fifth Avenue. We always considered Needless Markup the anti-Christ. OK, enough background, that world is dead to me now. Still, questions:
Deron, to what function are you planning to wear this frock? Your answer is the key to the accessories with which you would assess the accessories you’d wear.
Forgive me, I’m out of practice, is it Von Furstenburgh? (My guess based on the print, and the wrap style it so obviously professes.)
I finally gave up a Donna Karan suit that I loved (too old, moth-holes everywhere). I bought it in 1994 or thereabouts, in Troy, MI, at that Saks where I worked. God, I miss that suit. I felt like a million bucks in it. My only suit now, a Hugo Boss, purchased marked-down twice, less my employee discount (back then), for about what you paid for your Donna Karan.
The Hugo is a good suit, I’ve worn it, many times, many ways. But it’s no Donna Karan. God, I miss that suit. You can’t imagine how much. (Until you put yours in a bin for the homeless.)
How can one name the priceless nature of feeling good in one’s clothes? I’m sitting on the patio, now, in gorgeous Spring weather. I’m wearing $3.50 flip-flops from Old Navy, and shorts and a t-shirt from the same. And you know? I feel like a million bucks.
You guys blog on. I like looking in.