109 pairs of shoes = the price of a house

definatalie:

garconniere:

in the bluefly video kellyoxford linked to, leandra aka the man repeller said she has 73 pairs of shoes… “not counting the 36 pairs in the hamptons.” not just any shoes. designer shoes.

i did a bit of quick math: of the shoes she mentions, the YSL retailed for 950 US (if she got them on bluefly, she probably paid 700). the thakoon by giuseppe zanotti “are those chihuahuas?” boots - retailed for 1,125$. if you were curious, yes, you could actually buy two chihuahuas for that price if you wanted to.

a conservative estimate of the value her shoe collection?

(109 pairs, at 500$ each)

54,500$

yeah. that’s pretty much the cost of the average undergraduate education in canada. that’s about 4,000 dollars more than the annual median income of an american family. and may i point out… that’s just her shoes.

so… now can we start talking about how fashion blogs are not realistic, attainable fashion goals for young girls to aspire to? can we talk about how they are recreating the very same standards and norms fashion magazines have for decades?

i’m also curious, though: these sorts of discussions often stay in the realm of personal attacks (i’m thinking namely of the “gala darling has a trust fund” accusations/denials, the “jane aldridge is a spoiled brat” name calling). how do we move away from judgemental tones about these specific individuals who present a kind of fashion fantasy of bottomless bank accounts and endless closets, to actual thoughtful criticism about the accessibility and radical potential of fashion? about how revolutionary clothing and fashion can be? about how we can be creative with our style, our sartorial presentation without having rich parents or a trust fund?

[insert this gif]

Like, if you can afford lots of expensive shoes that’s awesome but I want to see more bloggers who show their style while constrained by a budget. That’s way more inspiring and empowering! I want to see remixing and thrift in fashion blogging. (Though if you’re 2fat4thrifting like me that’s kind of difficult.)

IT’S OK NOT TO WEAR EXPENSIVE THINGS! I will say this over and over til I believe it myself… because I have totally got blogger inferiority affecting me right now. I can’t afford new clothes, you won’t see a different outfit of new things every post, and you certainly won’t see expensive brands. Fuck, I can’t even fit into expensive brands anyway!

Yeah, I do have a good mix of thrifters in people who post to body pos blogs I look at, but having started paying attention to fashion HAS made me feel incredibly insecure about being broke. If you look at my outfits they’re almost all on-sale, from Target, etc. (And being aware about lots of political/social causes makes me feel bad about that! Though I’m sure I could spend a lot more money while STILL supporting sub-brands of socially destructive parent companies, not being able to find anything that paid the workers more than $0.04 a piece or whatever; I don’t have the emotional energy to care.) AND THAT’S OK.

I don’t think that it’s a crime to care about fashion - especially if you’re a marginalized body, or I wouldn’t have a blog dedicated to that. But I do think it hammers into your head that you have to have 300 shoes, 30 kinds of makeup, 1400 dresses, the latest sheer maxi whatever. I would LOVE to see more budget fashionistas.

And tips! Do you, on a budget, pay more for shoes because paying more pays off when they last longer than crap from Payless? Or do you find yourself buying what’s cheap and replacing it? I know that drives me crazy.

One thing I will add about “I can’t fit into expensive brands” however, is that I’ve found that pretty plus sized clothes, including the ones that go up to bigger sizes, are EXTREMELY expensive. Hell, t-shirts from a lot of them are expensive because many are smaller designers. And that’s one thing I’ve ALSO had trouble contending with.

But then again it’s often easiest to find things that shouldn’t technically fit me. TRY THINGS ON, PEOPLE! It’s a large and you’re a size 26 US? Try it on anyway. Yes, be careful. Yes, learn your materials and where things don’t fit when they don’t fit and what cuts will fit better. Yes, it will be awkward and disappointing the first couple of times. But there are a ton of clothes that, while they may be shorter, or hang differently, or tight across the bust, or need a panel sewn in, but will look fine a couple sizes off* and it’s a good way to find things you like at cheaper stores.

*This works best for femmes or those willing to wear femmy clothes; tailored/boyish clothes don’t do this as well, though t-shirts will across the board

(via fancybidet)