heaven and hell over the lunch hour
I’ve just seen heaven and hell on earth, over the lunch hour.
I walked out of the office at 1215H with a colleague. As I fancied a sandwich and a hot soup, given today’s gloomy and somewhat cool weather, we went to Delifrance for a quick bite. And then as I had been eagerly anticipating all week, we dropped by Isetan for the first day of their sale and OMG…!
Yes, yes, the store was crowded, but that’s not why I’ve suddenly gone religious and cried for God. No… I need help, nay, I need to be restrained… no, more than that, I need to be tied down and kept locked up (actually, that sounds very kinky at the moment… and I know just the candidate…!) because…. *gulp*… I think I’m going to be spending… *double gulp*… a lot of money this evening… *triple gulp*.
There’s a special sale of Raoul shirts in Isetan KLCC for one week and I saw quite a few shirts I liked - those with subtle striped or checkered designs, as opposed to the largely solid colours I’ve been wearing the last few years. They’re giving away a 50% discount, but these shirts are not cheap to begin with. Most cost just shy of MYR310 each, before discount!
I’ve also been wanting to buy another pair of shoes for work, and with the extra 10% this weekend for Isetan members, I think I might end up walking away with two pairs instead of just the one. The prices are far too attractive and they’ve got some new designs I’ve not seen before!
As the crowd was far too unmanageable and the queues to pay far too long at lunchtime, I’m going back to the store at 16H (thanks to flexi-hours at work). That was the hell bit.
Now, given how much those shirts would cost, even after discount, and given that I’m wanting to get three or four of them, then add on the cost of two pairs of shoes, and a few other items, e.g. casual clothing, which I’m sure will catch my eye in a relatively emptier store at 16H, you can work out how much happier the bank will be when I charge the shopping to my credit cards! And that, is the heaven bit. I think…!
And I haven’t even mentioned the Minolta digital camera promotional stand in the atrium of Suria KLCC…! Very tempting…
p/s I don’t think these boring “happy” what-i-did-today posts suit JikonLai.com very well… must dig out that other existentialist-over analytical-self soon… i miss my depression!
Posted on July 23rd, 2004 by jl
Filed under: lost blah blah
now i wish i had a boyfriend to shop at raoul for. been saving to get him one of those nice shirts. too bad he was fucking someone else.
its okay i’ll go get me some pretty shoes tmrrw
I hear Ash is good at the depression bit.
So Ash.. how?
depression or rejection?
Shopping…and more money out…but I need to go shopping…
Idlan and Jikon: Hoi! No ganging up on the depressive-on-demand! )#(&#%^#$%$!!
As for rejection, Jikon….
God knows I need to go shopping as well. But then again He also knows I have no money. Sugar mummy! Where art thou?
I used to be SO into labels. When I was in college my jeans just HAD to be Guess or at least 501s. These days I don’t care much what brand anything is (ok, except for shoes - I will never wear Bata) and as a result, I have such a LOT more clothes! H&M, Topshop, Gap… on a recent trip to Malaysia I stocked up on Giordano!
So to all you retail addicts out there - buy cheap, get more!
I’m not into labels at all. Never been. The only reason I mentioned Raoul was because it was on discount and their shirts are of good quality and great comfort, made better value with the price off! I don’t normally buy them… far more than I would pay for work shirts.
That said, I don’t skimp on facial care products, and by rational logic, that means I buy labels. I only have one face and I’m not about to risk it at all! Once scared, forever blemished!
I love the simple, timeless, classic tops from Giordano.
And I recently discovered great, comfortable affordable, linen trousers in Bossini (Singapore).
Why do we find identity in an expensive handbag, a watch, a pair of jeans or shirt?
Why are Nike, Coke, McDonald’s, Delifrance or KFC an inseparable part of your lives?
Why are these sales gimmicks in supermarkets or shopping mall so inviting?
Do you strive to own the new things your neighbours has?
DON’T fall into this BUYING TRAP and get conned by the manipulative ads and aggressive marketing - making you spend more or unnecessarily and worship brands
jikon, you said you are never into label but in the same breath you said you like giordano and bossini… aren’t those labels too? oic. perhaps these are the ‘lower class’ labels, unlike those ‘higher class’ labels e.g yves st laurent, raoul.
i don’t go for labels at all but for the comfort and quality. if a cheap, say shoe can give me the same comfort and quality as an expensive label one with the same confort/quality, i’ll go for the former. why i even get some of my essentials (clothes, shoes, bags) from the pasar malam.
NotConned: Oh that’s rich coming from someone who doesn’t even dare put an email addy or a link to a page where we can find out if you actually exist. Sometimes it’s not only the label, methinks.
It so happens some of these labels look and feel oh-so-different that you can’t help but like them, so that’s only natural. You get what you pay for.
Besides, sometimes labels are necessary to make a certain impression. Like it or not, some people WILL judge you based on what you wear regardless of how snobbish we think it is. Life’s just like that. We adapt, or we fall.
while i agree that there can be elements of predatory pricing involved where labels are concerned, labels and labelling are also economic exercises that are beneficial to society as a whole: they represent, guarantee and allow for the expectations of a certain quality of goods and/or services. I don’t think anyone would, or should, take this benefit lightly. In a mass consumer market, with the proliferation of goods and services, labels and branding have a beneficial role to play that make the “market” more efficient and effective. They are not only “gimmicks”, although they can sometimes be that. To brush them off lightly, is just being disingenuous.
you must also admit that in most cases, though admittedly not all, there is a correspondence between the cost and the quality (we shall not go into the very contentious definition of the concept there) of the product. I don’t find identity in an expensive handbag, a watch, a pair of jeans or shirt - actually, I don’t wear watches or jeans - I find quality. Design. And pleasure in use.
lucia - yes, the word “label” as it is normally used, in the pejorative sense, it would refer to the higher end of the spectrum.
NotConned - no, I don’t strive to buy what my neighbour has, I have better taste than that. I’m a gay man. The buying trap is my second home. And I’m a proud home owner.
what about pirate copies . u get ur label AND u get it cheap. it satisfies everyone, no?
Jikon, forget the so-called “labelless” rantings (though personally I have this vision of Notconned-like ppl who are actually writing these Naomi Klein globalisation garbage wearing nike top with levi’s pants while sipping away a can of coke while typing on a HP workstation and a pair of timberland loafers to go as well)as it is just part of the current world we live in. Brand serves to differentiate and segment preference. So if i like Raoul and a few thousands discerning malaysian feels the same way, then i guess we’re just in the same segment..btw, my neighbours are into Prada & DKNY, I’ll stick with Raoul coz i love them.period.