A friend recently commented that my blog entries didn’t seem to be “me” because in real life I am not as brand conscious as my entries make me out to be.
To be fair, this observation was alluded to in an earlier comment on this blog by an old friend and roommate who remembered that I had my own style back in school while we all made do on very little. So when did the obsession with brands – even if only my blog - happen? I mean I’m not getting paid to drop names like Chanel and Prada and Bottega Veneta (each of which I actually do own and treasure). And try as I might I unfortunately haven’t figured out a way to get more interest in my blog by dropping these names. So what gives?
I think my friend answered her own question as we discussed brands. She mentioned that she recently bought a fantastic pair of jeans at a new Brazilian shop in a trendy part of town. After buying the jeans, however, she wondered whether she had discovered an up-and-coming brand or whether she had just dropped $75 on crap. She realized then that she too was affected by branding.
We all succumb to the lure of branding. Magazines somehow imply that jeans must be Lucky Brand or Number 7 or Baby Phat for us to look good or be in style. Over time and with others wearing those brands, we fall in line and acquire what’s in fashion. (Even I own a pair of Lucky Brand jeans, and I’ve worn Levi’s all my life!) And while my friend bought, wore and loves her new and as yet unknown name brand jeans, she has told several other friends about them and they have purchased a pair themselves. And so starts the trend, and a brand is born.
No matter how we slice it, we all get tied up and branded in some way.
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