Maybe I'm Shallow

2006-10-31

On a trip to London the other week, I was wearing a nice pinstripe suit. With my neatly ironed shirt, conservative tie, and smart cufflinks, I thought I looked very presentable. But as I’ve already admitted, I also bought some pomegranate juice. What was I thinking? Sure, it was OK, but what a yuppie.

So here’s a question: does how you’re dressed and what you’re doing affect what you buy? Do you feel compelled to buy more expensive stuff because you look like you should be able to afford it? Do you allow yourself to buy budget baked beans when you’re sloping down to the shops in a scruffy t-shirt on Sunday morning? Or are you unaffected by such self-imposed peer pressure?

(Spot the deliberate oxymoron).

Comments

:-)

— Richard G Brown 2006-11-01 13:52

"Apart from 2004-2005 fashion" It's 2006! Get, like, with the program, man!

— andrewferrier 2006-11-01 13:46

"there’s normally little logic in a suit jacket and jeans, say." Apart from 2004-2005 fashion :-) "His outlandish outfits certainly give me pause for thought" You're just jealous of his suit pockets. You like the lining.

— Richard G Brown 2006-10-31 21:18

Hmm, there's definitely some logic to what you say. I guess my thought process is, if I'm smart, I want to present the whole image - hence why I wear a suit AND a tie - there's normally little logic in a suit jacket and jeans, say. Maybe the pomegranate juice accessory is part of that. Harry Hill's observation sounds compelling, although I have a difficult time relating it to much of middle England, who actually seem obsessed with the trivia of how other people look and behave. Maybe that's just how they appear to think. His outlandish outfits certainly give me pause for thought :)

— andrewferrier 2006-10-31 17:29

If anything, I'm the reverse. I care - too much - what other people think of me and it manifests itself in strange ways. If I'm off work during the week, I hate taking the tube at rush hour in case people think I don't have a job. If I'm dressed scruffily (not that I ever am :-p ), I may be inclined to spend more extravagantly than normally in case anybody thought I couldn't afford it. Likewise, if I'm dressed smartly, I feel less need to signal money and so would not be ashamed to pick up some value beans. I read an interesting interview with the comedian Harry Hill in the paper over the weekend. His insight was, basically, that we spend our twenties worrying about what people think about us and then realise one day that, actually, most people don't really care. His claim was that we should do what we want and not care what anybody else thinks. This advice is obvious but it did make me think about my own behaviour.

— Richard G Brown 2006-10-31 10:43