Comparative Shopping

Discussion in 'Free Thoughts' started by Bowser, Sep 14, 2018.

  1. Bowser Namaste Valued Senior Member

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    So, for the first time I have to look good at work: slacks, white shirt, black shoes, tie and black blazer. I went shopping this week and was startled by what I saw when comparing prices. The slacks and shirts I had already, but the jacket and tie, I didn't have.

    A black blazer on the racks downtown are anywhere from $450 to $150. Walmart they sell for $45. At the thrift store they sell for $14.99. A tie downtown, upward of $75.00. A thrift store tie, $6.99.

    Anyways, Walmart and the thrift store got my business. Now I need to learn how to tie a tie. It seems I've been doing it wrong.

     
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  3. RainbowSingularity Valued Senior Member

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    lowest paid people working for the most expensive companys
    ...
     
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  5. sideshowbob Sorry, wrong number. Valued Senior Member

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    Be careful about the meaning of "looking good". In some contexts it means, "looking like you don't shop at Walmart".
     
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  7. Bowser Namaste Valued Senior Member

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    There's nothing wrong with Walmart clothes. Black slacks are black slacks. A black blazer is a black blazer. Most likely the only difference is the label inside. Quick note: I picked up two ties at the thrift store for $2.29 today.
     
  8. Bowser Namaste Valued Senior Member

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    I'm getting paid to be nice. It's the best job ever.
     
  9. Jeeves Valued Senior Member

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    I've been shopping at thrift stores for decades, long before I retired on government pension.
    The most I ever paid for a necktie or scarf is $1; the most I ever paid for a jacket was $8 and the suit I wore to my step-daughter's wedding cost $20. I particularly like buying shoes at a thrift store, because I can't afford the same quality at new prices.
    The down-side is, I may have to wait several months and keep visiting outlets in several towns before I find what I need.
    The up-side is a good deal more variety than chain stores carry in any given season; at thrift store, one finds the unexpected and novel.
    Also, I can indulge a whim: when the novelty wears off, I give it back. Kind of a clothing library.
     
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  10. sideshowbob Sorry, wrong number. Valued Senior Member

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    7,057
    You and I might not think so but some people do. And apparently the snobs can tell the difference.
     
  11. Jeeves Valued Senior Member

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    5,089
    Sure they can, but it wouldn't make them happy to see a lackey in their class of attire.
    You're expected to look 'respectable' within your income bracket; if you dress above it, they think you're an upstart, a threat to their position.
     
  12. RainbowSingularity Valued Senior Member

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    7,447
    while the idea to some may be mingled in concepts of self attachment to the idea of the item newness, the modern reality of being carbon conscious makes such things an additional massive positive effect on Environment & society.
    it sure is an odd reality to see the leverage of item cost to produce a vastly cheaper item matched against the carbon foot print & local ecconomic benefits of recycling things.
    maybe cobbling & tailoring might make a big come back in what is termed "up cycling" or recycling of clothing.
    though noting the reality TV series that became trendy for a short time, i am not entirely sure the consumer is willing to support the industry.
    maybe a recycling process t render items down a little further to allow re-build-new-build of recycled material might attract the consumers a little more.
    i often feel beguiled at the sheer volume of new plastic purchased for young children and babbies.
    the irony is the imputus on new parents to be more socially conscious and those arround them to modify their behaviour & culture to adapt to that.
    note the banning of plastic bags which is not a consumer driven choice.
    sometimes the government must make regulations that many oppose to move society forward.
    There is what appears to be a trend by millenials to be more minimalistic with material items yet seek a higher standard of quality.
    hopefully it becomes a cultural norm
     
  13. Xelasnave.1947 Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    8,502
    I went to a Pink concert recently and lashed out on new clothes.12 bucks for pants twenty for two nice shirts and twenty five for a suit like jacket ... so my clothing budget has been used up until the end of the decade.
    There are so many clothing stores in every center I wonder how often folk buy new clothes...every month?
    Alex
     
  14. Bowser Namaste Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    8,828
    Well, I look good nonetheless. I feel better too. Never was one to wear a tie and blazer, but now that I have an excuse, I'm enjoying it.
     
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  15. Jeeves Valued Senior Member

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    5,089
    At least every three months; as the 'seasons' change, new stock arrives. Of course, it looks exactly identical to the old stock, except for one colour - plum is last season; lime is in now - added to the basic palette of greys, or one new gimmick. In ever shopping mall, there are two unisex stores for young people (You can't tell which one you've wondered into: ragged jeans and washed-out lumberjack shirt or outgrown overalls and washed-out teeshirts) plus one that's separated into two sections: flowery-drapey for girls, sweaters and chinos for boys; one for each sex of older people - burnt orange/teal suits for women, grey suits for men - and two really big ones of sport apparel. (If that many people really wear out that many running shoes, how come 80% of the food-court customers are obese?)
    I'm especially puzzled by the latest fashion gimmick:
    cut-out shoulders on women's and little girls' tops ... just in time for the UV index to outstrip all possible formulations of sunscreen.
     
  16. Xelasnave.1947 Valued Senior Member

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    8,502
    The only reason I purchased the "suit" coat was winter stock was gone and there were no jackets at all...I needed a jacket and the "suit" coat was the only thing one could buy to keep warm.
    Alex
     
  17. Jeeves Valued Senior Member

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    5,089
    I own 14 jackets - not the formal kind, just windbreakers and light corduroy things. That's because I never pay more than $8 and since I have one for every mood and weather, they don't wear out: I keep them for 10-30 years.... that's after someone else was through with them!
    Where, but in a charity thrift store, can you make so much self-indulgence feel virtuous?
    Of course, if the fashionable people ever wise up, I'm out of luck.
     
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  18. Xelasnave.1947 Valued Senior Member

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    8,502
    A mate picked up a nice coat for me at the opp shop...ten bucks...top of the line wonderful coat that would turn heads on Wall Street.. the dry cleaner told me it was whatever... but a lizard eat into the colar, went in and destroyed most of it and died there so I threw it out.

    I still have the lizard☺

    Should have had a new collar fitted.

    The simpler the cheaper the blacker the more I like it☺

    I used to have just four track suits no other clothes..wear one the others hung inside out on the line..take off dirty ones washed them and put on the clean ones when I hang out the wet ones...no folding or storing.. and a sheep skin jacket...two pair of boots one pair leather one pair rubber and a dry as a bone all weather jacket...simple.

    Never had to worry about what to wear.
    Alex
     
  19. Xelasnave.1947 Valued Senior Member

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    8,502
    That is so good to hear.
    Sharp dressed man☺.
    I wish you all the best ... good grooming opens many doors.
    Alex
     
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  20. Jeeves Valued Senior Member

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    5,089
    You should know!
    My partner dresses that way - simply, I mean. Sweat pants, knit shirts, sweaters, in random colour combination, whatever's clean. A dozen identical socks, no matching necessary. Track shoes or snow boots. One crumpled and curled leather hat. No sense of style whatsoever.
    I like to make a statement, even if a low-key one, regarding how I feel myself and the world on any given day. It's not so much vanity as an art-form, co-ordinating one's outfit to express a theme or a mood. Or just to provide an excuse for my new two-tone brogues (SA $6).
    It's not that clothes make the man; it's how clothes make the man feel.
     
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  21. Bowser Namaste Valued Senior Member

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    I'm not shooting for the stars, just enjoying myself doing what I am doing.

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

     
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  22. Xelasnave.1947 Valued Senior Member

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    8,502
    I say it is the man who makes the clothes.

    I wore my simple clothes on a happy and confident body and think others envied my style☺.

    The system was efficient minimising time wasted on clothes and their maintenance.

    Alex


     
  23. Xelasnave.1947 Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    8,502
    Thats the way to be.

    You like spirituality let me share how it works for me.

    Have a vision of the future but live in the now.

    However it is interesting that what you think about often arrives, you dont notice it at first, but I have had some strange ones you would not believe...but I am convinced being positive, counting your blessings (skills resourses relationships ability) ....works.
    I cant really put it into words and sound rational☺.
    Anyways good luck.
    Alex
     

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