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Made in… buying for the label

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I’ve wanted to write about this a long time ago. It all started a couple of time ago when I was shopping, at a Romanian brand, nothing unusual, right? Ohh well, there were to young ladies, one of them wanted to buy a dress; they spoke pretty loud so I overheard them. The dress girl said that she loved the dress but that she couldn’t buy because on the label wrote “MADE IN ROMANIA” and she can’t buy a dress made in ro, her friend gave her the amazing idea to cut the label and say she bought it from another country. They laughed and left without buying the dress. I was about to hit them with the hanger, luckily I’m not that violent in public places.

Being a finance student, I can see it only in two ways. I hear the words “recession, unemployment, crisis&co” on a daily basis, several times a day actually; so why not stimulate national production and buy items made in your own country?

And that dress was really cute, the fabric was fine and it wasn’t expensive at all. I usually shop from there so I know they have quality items, and believe me I received a lot’s of compliments wearing them.

Why so ashamed? It’s not like people have x-rays and see your label and call the fashion police. I really don’t get it.

Three or five years ago I bought an Oscar de la Renta pajama, yeah Oscar de la Renta has a sleepwear line, and it was made in Ro. H&M and Topshop both have factories here, and I know from an reliable source that we produce Dolce & Gabbana men suits too. The suits cost around 100-200$ without the label, you know much they cost with it…My friend wore a 2000$ suit at his prom.

Another stupidity that I heard, “ I can’t wore it if it isn’t expensive”, say what? I’m so proud when I thrift or find something cute and inexpensive. Don’t get me wrong , I adore certain high end pieces, and I’m gonna afford them some day(I’m still young);but she wasn’t talking about designer pieces, more like “medium end”. Where’s the thrill? Where’s the creativity? And c’mon, I’ve thrifted Prada boots(mom snatch them, and she has Fendi jeans too),LV bag, once I found an YSL men cardi but my mom wouldn’t let me buy because it was like 10 sizes bigger.

The point is, don’t shop just for the label ‘cause in the long run only style matters. Hope you resisted through all of this article.

How do you shop?

46 comments

  • I totally agree with you… I see people being taken by labels. They think that is the items are expensive, it'll make them look good. Oh NO NO NO, it all boils down to style. No matter how expensive the label is, if you don't have the style, it's just money down the drain.

    Have a great week ahead Nookie! xoxo

  • Hey 🙂

    True. True and true! Labels will fade, but style always remains. I shop how I feel in that moment – sunny I buy sunny vibe clothing, etc.

    Have a fab day 🙂

  • What a fantastic post! I am all about shopping for style…never labels. I truly cannot justify spending a small fortune on items that will only be worn a handful of times. As long as I love the style, I truly could care less who designed it! 🙂

  • Cat de direct a fost postul tau
    ar trebui sa il citeasca acele persoane care reactioneaza asa in magazine. De ce sa nu cumperi produse facute in Romania??
    Uite asa economia noastra se duce si nu stim de ce avem -8 in evolutia financiara!
    Apropo de produsele scumpe, am vazut un reportaj in care se facea comparatie intre ce produse scumpe folosesc vedetele si produsele ieftine folosite de un om de rand. Si ghici ce?
    S-a ajuns la concluzia ca nu toate produsele scumpe se ridica la standardele calitative asteptate. Un exemplu era crema autobronzanta a Victoriei Beckam care costa cateva sute de lire si un autobronzant de 12-15 lire. Cea mai buna crema autobronzanta dintre cele doua a fost cea mai ieftina.

    Mie imi place sa merg la shopping, dar orasul meu e cam mic (dar plin de insemnatate) asa ca trebuie sa merg in resedinta de judet unde e Mall-ul ;).

    Poate ti se pare cam ciudat (nu stiu) dar mie imi plac si produsele din Second Hand (chiar daca cele din Romania nu se compara cu cele din strainatate, dar tot gasesti chestii faine). Ba mai mult, uneori gasesti haine mai de calitate in SH decat intr'un magazin de fitze :-). Cine a zis ca nu gasim produse H&M in Romania? ;))

  • i totally agree with you! Take the famous Chanel quilted black bag. How many thousands of copies do you see in the street each day? no one even blinks an eye as they are so use to seeing it so they wouldnt remember that yours was the real one. would they?

    Missy
    High street + Couture =
    http://thefashionfusion.blogspot.com

  • i totally agree with you! labels are, or at least, should not be the reason to buy an item of clothing, and who the h*** cares where the clothes are made? i love it when i find a treasure thrift-shopping, and most of my clothes are H&M. if you like it – buy it!

  • daa
    SH-urile cu import Anglia & Franta sunt super faine
    alea din Germania sunt si ele ok, doar ca mi se par ca au haine mai mult cu tendinte punk

  • OMG I feel the same! Those girls are b******, god, I would be sooooooo angry and I would have a hard time not throwing at them my purse lol. And we all know that clothes made in Romania are quality clothes, I just don't understand those stupid girls.

  • You're telling the absolute truth. Naturally we all should try to buy things made in our own country. If you're shopping grocery you buy the meat or apples made in your country, not thousands of miles away I hope. The same (to some point) should be applied to clothes.

    juliet xxx

  • I never cared too much about brands. Maybe because I work in advertising and so I became immune to marketing strategies. It's infact these strategies that influenced the two girls you were writing about. It's a sign subliminal propaganda works. It's also very sad. I am more of a non-conformist. I buy clothes that define me. It can be a pair of Levi's. Or some scarf I've crafted myself.

  • of course u're so right. And most of the times, when i get something expensive, it turns out to be a failure. And the cheap and cool H&M or Zara or whatever, always make the difference in an outfit.. 😉

  • I couldn't care less about labels. I don't mind having some designer pieces if I got them dirt cheap but that's all. I'm just like you: happy to find great things at small prices and always wearing what suits me and I like no matter the label!:)I love buying clothes made in Romania!:)

  • very good article! i totally agree, people should not shop for labels but for style and for things that fit everyone's body.

  • Oh wow, i LOVED this post, felt like it came right out of my own mouth.. Couldn't agree with you more girl, i live in Slovenia and i can totaly relate to this post. You can buy fashion buy you cannot buy style..right? Oh well..
    Keep rockin, love you posts 🙂

  • Label doesn't matter to me, it just so happens that most things I like are very expensive! However if I were to find something with the same aesthetic I would snatch it up in a second!

  • Unfortunately, money can't buy you class! And these girls are obviously classless and clueless! Being stylish has nothing to do with the cost of an item, it has all to do with knowing yourself and confidence!

  • I completely agree! It doesn't matter who makes the clothes or what country the clothes are made in. As long as the clothes are nice and you look good in them, that's all that really matters!

  • i couldn't agree more!!today i came across this girl at work who was holding a real LV tote bag round 1000euros…she was probably on a first date and i think she expected her date to pay the bill…when he paid only his share…she turned red and was completely embarrassed..turns out all she had was 5euros…!!
    it's stupid giving all your money to buy label and not be able to afford food!!!
    very nice blog!!!thanks for sharing and all those beautiful posts!!

  • ugh, some people are so ignorant! i sell some of the world's finest lingerie in my boutique, and one of the best brands out there is ID Sarrieri, which is made in Romania. To assume that an entire country is incapable of producing an amazing product is just silly.
    usually you can just see if a product is quality or not, and no label check is required. you are certainly right.
    xoxo alison

  • I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU.

    Alot of Asian women see brand as holy or something; I think I've read somewhere that over 90% of Japanese women own at least 1 LV bag. *rolls eyes*

    I've personally worn forever21 stuff to NY fashion week and people thought it was designer… in fact a lot of my f21 stuff have fooled people into thinking it's some medium-level brand or vintage or real leather. It's all about how you wear it.

    Even if I ever get a designer item, it's marked at least 80% down. At least for now… I mean, I would LOVE to get my hands on a balenciaga leather jacket someday but that's someday!

    http://diyainherstilettos.blogspot.com/

  • I believe you realize that these girls know absolutely nothing about the sense of fashion and style. It's like some people don't know how to appreciate good food, they just buy the most expensive thing in the menu, you know? They are the reason why we still have big prices at the medium end stores…but, what can we do?…

  • I carry an image of the perfect version of an item in my head and among the criteria are quality, price, how well it suits me, how well it goes with what I already have, and whether I'll still want to wear it 5 years down the road. Labels are nice but come on! You hit the nail on the head with your remark about how people won't even care unless they have X-ray vision. I have a $40 jacket from Target and a $400 coat from Anthropologie, and both pieces get lots of compliments. It's about what works for you above all else.

  • I love hearing of people thinking like you. Since high school in my small Illinois hometown, I've called those kinds of girls "label slaves." They are too caught up in showing off the labels they can afford to buy to even consider being stylish. I did not consider having "CK" or "TOMMY HILFIGER" printed across an ordinary t-shirt particularly stylish as a teenager and was a lonely minority. Lovely to find company.

  • I completely agree with you – thank you for this post! I know that sometimes a label can be persuasive but, like you said, personal style is ultimately what matters. No one sees the label when it's on.

  • I agree with this post too. Some girls where I'm from don't like to shop for clothes that don't say Made in (somewhere far away from Asia) even despite how nice the piece is.

    And yes Diya, a lot of Asian women are label-whores haha but not me though (btw I'm from Manila).

    Just thought I'd share a link to my blog as well–it's about fashion that doesn't have to be designer- or label- just to be stylish.

    I hope you can check it out-
    http://lovechic.tumblr.com

    Thanks 🙂 I'm definitely going back to this site for more.

  • Yeah, I don't get that either. Even if I could afford it, I don't think I'm running off to LV to raid their boring line. (maybe I'll get just one, haha!) But seriously, if someone is buying items for quality then that's one thing, but buying for the sole purpose of owning something with that label? Preposterous.

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