Why I won’t buy handbags that need a mortgage

Scanning the Sunday magazine I found a fashion article, “What to wear to a pool party”. I thought for a minute about my outfit.

Well, I have a daggy, strapless leopard spotted one-piece swim suit I bought in a chain store, a very trendy lime green sarong I found in an op shop that would cover the wobbly bits and somewhere in the laundry there is a battered sun hat. That would do. Or would it?

It most certainly would not. Apparently according to the items shown in the article, I should wear a dress that cost almost $700, carry a very ordinary drawstring bag priced at another hundred, some plain sandals for $300 and a hat topping the total price at well over a thousand. Nice little earner for the fashion sellers.

I know I am being a little too judgemental, after all if someone has that sort of ‘disposable’ income, then they may dispose of it as they will. I should not be jealous, except that one of the handbags cost as much as a month’s groceries for me.

Then there are those ‘Lifestyle’ sections, all glossy floors and mismatched furniture. As an artist who struggles to get a few dollars for work I take weeks to finish, my blood pressure goes up when I read about another trendy restoration.

“We bought this Flora Snurge (yes, I just made up this name) print for just $3000, it really brings this room to life”. They gush! As I scan a small black squiggle on a plain poster I am horrified. Perhaps I should just paint black squiggles There must be money in it, so I may try next week.

When I blanche at the price tag on a handbag I am sure I’m not alone… Yet whatever people do it is their choice after all, for some it may be handbags, or shoes or hats. The money spent keeps the economy afloat and a lot of people in jobs. There is always another side to every story, and once I worked in a fashion store, so suppose my employment relied on those with well lined pockets.

Guess what though, today it is 40 degrees C and I am wearing the only comfortable dress in this heat, one I bought for 5 dollars in a sale. It skims my body, has shoestring straps and stops just past the knees. It also doubles as a nightdress sometimes! I am just as happy wearing it as I would be in a $700 designer special, and that couldn’t be worn to bed. Sometimes the ‘fashion gurus’ get it wrong.

Are you a designer lover or do you prefer to spend your money on other things?