is the word 'diary' better than the word 'blog'? probably not.
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love of shoes has its limits. impose them on yourself.
As you know, because I keep telling you, I now have a shoe blog. I started it because I thought it would be fun to discuss shoes with people, and maybe have other people upload their shoe pictures into the comments section. But I realize that not everyone is as crazy about shoes as I am, no matter how many stereotypes of shoe-crazed women we might find in various media. Plus some people just like to watch (and, believe me, I've gotten some funny quasi footfetishy email in my flickr account). But none of this is my point today.
I have written, in the shoe blog and in this blog, various times, about my love for Fluevog shoes but also about a growing problem with those shoes--that being the growth in their price relative to inflation. My salary isn't terrible. Sure I'm in a lot of debt. But even when I was a broke graduate student, within the last decade, Fluevog shoes were vastly less costly relative to inflation than they are now. Anyway, I mentioned this on the Fluevog site in their bloggy comments thing, and talked about my 20 year long deeply committed relationship with the shoes, and how we might be breaking up over money, which is such a terrible thing to happen to a true love, you know? I wrote that in response to the release of this perfect lovely boot, which I can never have (unless it ends up on eBay in my size at some crazy-low price) because it is too expensive by more than double of what I would consider. I mean, CHECK IT OUT. Lovely deep purple color, heel for height but still low enough for lots of city walking, the buckle detail and zipper entry. Perfectly lovely.
But they cost FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS. I think they have totally lost track of who their customer base is.
Anyway, a nice guy from the Fluevog empire actually wrote back to me in person a long and friendly email about how they are troubled by their own prices and by the rising prices of the materials and manufacturers they work with in Europe. They've contracted some of their shoe lines with firms in Poland and Mexico to try to save money (there are a couple of lesser-priced shoe families on the site now. but they're less cute, too). (And of course then we want to know about labor conditions.) The Fluevog guy also mentioned that they have layaway programs so you can pay over time.
It was nice of him to write. Really it was, and I appreciate him taking the time to do it. But LAYAWAY? Isn't that code for REFUGE OF THE IGNORANT CONSUMER or ROAD TO THE POORHOUSE? If you can't afford to buy a consumer good when you're in the store, you shouldn't buy it, because that amount of money is beyond you and spreading it over a month or more of payments doesn't change that. Think about your retirement instead, or that house you'd like to own someday, or investments that will bring you return. Remind yourself that no matter how much you love shoes and fashion, it's all relatively meaningless, and that you can always look good without shoes that cost $400.
I write that so you know that I am not totally lost to the world of consumerism despite my love of clothes, shoes and accessories. And also because it matters. Too many of us (myself included for most of my 20s and 30s) don't really understand how credit and debt work, and how when you spend what you don't have today, you've narrowed your future options in ways that can get really rough. Better to use ingenuity and creativity to find ways to express your love of clothes, shoes and accessories. And that's a good argument for spending some time (and maybe even some money) on ETSY.
I'm not saying that anyone who has paid $400 for a pair of boots is duped by the fashion industry, or even that I would never ever pay that much. I just know that I can't pay that much right now, given my debt from graduate school and what I'd like my future to look like. And there's no reason to be sad about that. But on the other hand, Mr. Fluevog would sell more boots if they weren't priced so high.
By the way. I've designed a new pattern for fabric with cute birds on it. I am currently experimenting with the transfer process. This is mostly for me, but if it works well, I'll sell some cute t-shirts on etsy.
12:14 p.m. - November 18, 2008
josiah leet - 2008-11-19 14:37:20
you had me at "zipper entry"...but yeah, those are lovely (tho' a bit curiously named: "Donna" ?)
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js - 2008-11-19 15:52:17
oh, donna.
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