Slaves to fashion

By Carlos Esparza Posted April 20, 2011

When I had the opportunity to buy new glasses, I was eager to find the pair of glasses that beckoned my attention. I passed through all the menial tests the optometrist threw at me and I enthusiastically waited for the tests to be over. When the optometrist gave me the OK to go look for glasses, I scoured the store looking through hundreds of frames and designers when suddenly, I found the pair I wanted. The simple, thin, black frame of the Dolce & Gabbana glasses stood out from the rest. Why did I buy them? I aspired to have a high-end designer’s glasses on my face and to become the envy of the rest.

Although designer names carry astronomical prices, the products are of extreme quality. Taking months for designers to create the new lines, you pay for the work the designer put into his or her work and also for the originality of the product. As Sulema Franco says, “It is worth paying for them for both the quality and the name; it’s good to splurge yourself once in a while.”

However, Hana Etcheverry takes the opposite view on the issue. “I don’t like designer names because it’s not worth paying for them. If I had money to buy it, I would and then I would return it.”

On the other hand, what if someone gave you a designer label as a gift? Such as Sulema Franco, who does not buy her own designer names. “I don’t buy the stuff but my sister gives it to me. I take really good care of my stuff, like my Louboutins, I store them in their box and only wear them for special occasions.”

All things considered, buying designer clothes, accessories, or shoes, is the same thing as buying an iPod, an HDTV, or a high-end computer. It is all concerned with the quality of the product but also the name the product dons. If you want something that will last you for a limited amount of time, then you buy something that is not as expensive. However, if you want something that will work for an extended time and will still appear new then you pay for the name. Senior Sulema Franco bought a Coach bag when she was in 8th grade, and it still seems new.

Whether you want to buy a designer product for the name or the quality, you are making an investment in your collection of clothes. You are paying for the talent of the designer and the effort they put into it. Designer clothes are not cookie-cutter products that are made by the minute rather they are an art that takes talent and labor to make. When we think of art, fashion does not come to some of our minds, but fashion is an art. To an extent, we are paying for a piece of artwork, which goes down in history as part of our culture.

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