Great points! 
Absolutely!!
So true!!
There is so much more to all of us... than what we wear!!
Absolutely!!
So true!!
There is so much more to all of us... than what we wear!!
Ladies...Any RUDE/CATTY/SNIDE/NASTY Remarks about your Birkins or ANY Hermès Purchase
- Thread starter Sambina
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I think the image of a college student with a backpack loaded with textbooks and notebooks is becoming increasingly outdated. With the exception of law school (a friend of mine who recently graduated used to lament the amount of stuff she had to carry -- she literally almost got a suitcase with wheels to lug it all!), many students go to class with a tablet and maybe a notebook.
I live not far from Harvard University (and in an area that is an educational Mecca), and I see students carrying everything from backpacks to Longchamp le Pliages to LV and Chanel. Who cares if they earned the money for those bags or if they were gifts from wealthy family? I just hope they get a good education and try to do something good in the world.
The only way I will judge someone for the bag they carry is if:
1) They stole it, or
2) if they think the bag they carry somehow makes them better than the people around them.
I live not far from Harvard University (and in an area that is an educational Mecca), and I see students carrying everything from backpacks to Longchamp le Pliages to LV and Chanel. Who cares if they earned the money for those bags or if they were gifts from wealthy family? I just hope they get a good education and try to do something good in the world.
The only way I will judge someone for the bag they carry is if:
1) They stole it, or
2) if they think the bag they carry somehow makes them better than the people around them.
I’ve been dressing a bit ”out there” during periods of my life, and if you do that you are going to get reactions; some of them positive, some of them negative. You either deal with it or conform. To conform is obviously the easier alternative, but it might not make you happier in the long run. How we dress and accessorize is a way to portray how we see ourselves and how we want to be perceived, and I personally don’t want to censor this form of self-expression.
It’s debatable how important an Hermès bag is as a way to express yourself, but if you want to carry Hermès you’d better be prepared to accept that people will form some sort of opinion about you based on that. They will also judge you if you carry Gucci or H&M. You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. My motto is "live and let live". In my experience, people don't really care if a nice person is wearing designer everything, but they are quick to label a rude person wearing the same things a nasty snob.
How others react to your appearance might say more about them than about you, and how you expect others to react might say more about you than about them.
It’s debatable how important an Hermès bag is as a way to express yourself, but if you want to carry Hermès you’d better be prepared to accept that people will form some sort of opinion about you based on that. They will also judge you if you carry Gucci or H&M. You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. My motto is "live and let live". In my experience, people don't really care if a nice person is wearing designer everything, but they are quick to label a rude person wearing the same things a nasty snob.
How others react to your appearance might say more about them than about you, and how you expect others to react might say more about you than about them.
I think the problem arises with the 20 seconds in which we have to make a first appearance. Obviously, if we know and care about someone, we couldn't care less if they are wearing Dior Couture or are dressed out of a Goodwill dumpster. The problem is that the first impression may be the only one we get to make.
It's not fair and yes, it is shallow and superficial but it is so, nonetheless. There certainly are phases in ones life when we couldn't care less what anything thinks about us - we are who we are and are comfortable with that. At seventy, that is my phase of life. All I want people to think is that I'm well-groomed and have made some effort to look decent, beyond that, they may think as they may.
But when one is in college and trying to make connections and friends on a campus where one might not know a single person when they arrive, or in a job interview - even the job itself in our early years establishing our reputation - then it can put a huge distance between us and potential friends who may be turned off by how we look, be it a "grunge look" or Hermes.
We can't put people off to the point they never find out that we're really a very nice person.
It's not fair and yes, it is shallow and superficial but it is so, nonetheless. There certainly are phases in ones life when we couldn't care less what anything thinks about us - we are who we are and are comfortable with that. At seventy, that is my phase of life. All I want people to think is that I'm well-groomed and have made some effort to look decent, beyond that, they may think as they may.
But when one is in college and trying to make connections and friends on a campus where one might not know a single person when they arrive, or in a job interview - even the job itself in our early years establishing our reputation - then it can put a huge distance between us and potential friends who may be turned off by how we look, be it a "grunge look" or Hermes.
We can't put people off to the point they never find out that we're really a very nice person.
Well, it’s hard to please everyone all of the time. 
Realistically speaking, I don’t think that we can or should ignore the impact our appearances might have. Sometimes we do need to adapt a bit. There are reasons why we should follow dress codes, like wearing black (or at least something dark and somber) at a funeral. I wouldn’t suggest that a police or fire fighter alter or abandon their uniform since it’s vital that we can identify their professional roles. If we are employees there may be dress codes to follow at work, and it would certainly be a good idea to look presentable at a job interview. What we do in our spare time is up to us though.
Looking at the bigger picture, we generally tend to be a lot less individualistic than we think we are. People have an innate need to belong, to fit in, and one of the ways we do this is by adopting a more or less formulaic look that shows where we belong. This might be anything from a very small group (like haute couture clients) to a very large group (like fotball fans). Those haute couture clients probably recognize and gravitate to each other. The rebellious teen misfits blend right in with all the other teen misfits. The artsy type probably has an affinity to other artsy types, the soccer mom hangs out with other soccer moms, and so on. Of course people from different groups mix, but they will tend to feel at home with those similar to them. We don't often go out of our way to befriend people that are very different from us, or apply for a job at a company with dress codes or ethics we can't live with.
But anyway, I don’t have much respect for anyone that writes off people based only on appearance. I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt – I make a crude assessment of a person based on their looks, but withhold judgement until I actually interact with them.
Realistically speaking, I don’t think that we can or should ignore the impact our appearances might have. Sometimes we do need to adapt a bit. There are reasons why we should follow dress codes, like wearing black (or at least something dark and somber) at a funeral. I wouldn’t suggest that a police or fire fighter alter or abandon their uniform since it’s vital that we can identify their professional roles. If we are employees there may be dress codes to follow at work, and it would certainly be a good idea to look presentable at a job interview. What we do in our spare time is up to us though.
Looking at the bigger picture, we generally tend to be a lot less individualistic than we think we are. People have an innate need to belong, to fit in, and one of the ways we do this is by adopting a more or less formulaic look that shows where we belong. This might be anything from a very small group (like haute couture clients) to a very large group (like fotball fans). Those haute couture clients probably recognize and gravitate to each other. The rebellious teen misfits blend right in with all the other teen misfits. The artsy type probably has an affinity to other artsy types, the soccer mom hangs out with other soccer moms, and so on. Of course people from different groups mix, but they will tend to feel at home with those similar to them. We don't often go out of our way to befriend people that are very different from us, or apply for a job at a company with dress codes or ethics we can't live with.
But anyway, I don’t have much respect for anyone that writes off people based only on appearance. I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt – I make a crude assessment of a person based on their looks, but withhold judgement until I actually interact with them.
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Well, its hard to please everyone all of the time.
Realistically speaking, I dont think that we can or should ignore the impact our appearances might have. Sometimes we do need to adapt a bit. There are reasons why we should follow dress codes, like wearing black (or at least something dark and somber) at a funeral. I wouldnt suggest that a police or fire fighter alter or abandon their uniform since its vital that we can identify their professional roles. If we are employees there may be dress codes to follow at work, and it would certainly be a good idea to look presentable at a job interview. What we do in our spare time is up to us though.
Looking at the bigger picture, we generally tend to be a lot less individualistic than we think we are. People have an innate need to belong, to fit in, and one of the ways we do this is by adopting a more or less formulaic look that shows where we belong. This might be anything from a very small group (like haute couture clients) to a very large group (like fotball fans). Those haute couture clients probably recognize and gravitate to each other. The rebellious teen misfits blend right in with all the other teen misfits. The artsy type probably has an affinity to other artsy types, the soccer mom hangs out with other soccer moms, and so on. Of course people from different groups mix, but they will tend to feel at home with those similar to them. We don't often go out of our way to befriend people that are very different from us, or apply for a job at a company with dress codes or ethics we can't live with.
But anyway, I dont have much respect for anyone that writes off people based only on appearance. I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt I make a crude assessment of a person based on their looks, but withhold judgement until I actually interact with them.
Such a great point and one I try my best to do as well!
first of all, not everyone in college is 17 years old. You also don't know someones working conditions. Who knows if they really have worked hard to get themselves a firkin bag. We don't know people life situations. Secondly its a handbag. Nobody should give a crap about what handbag someone is carrying. I never use a backpack. I carried a handbag in high school and college and carried the books I needed for the class I was attending, no one said she was walking about with a firkin and a backpack. As for making friends I think its ridiculous that you would recommend not using the things you have so that you can make friends. My parents where wealthy and I carried designer things and drove a nice car, I had plenty of friends from all financial brackets. Nobody cared about my things, they were my friends because I was a good friend and a fun person. Thats all that should matter. If someone is going to speak poorly of you because of what you have you don't need them as a friend in the first place. Chances are they will talk about you regardless, whether you're carrying a firkin or a coach outlet bag. Being a fashionable student or having nice things also has absolutely nothing to do with academic performance either. You can stand out in the classroom and in life, its not one or the other.
It depends on where you go to school. I went to college head to toe Chanel and exotic birkins, I was far from the only one.. rather quite normal. The most modest girls at my school carried Prada. Lots of kids drove Mercedez, BMW etc.
I watched an interesting example of nasty remarks because of a Birkin yesterday!
I was shopping in Chanel and there were these two ladies literally brandishing their Birkin's and Kelly's and shopping quite noisily when this other lady came up the stairs and an SA rushed towards her. She said hello to the first two ladies and disappeared into a fitting room. The minute she disappeared, omg the first two interrupted their shopping to gossip about how the third one was so spoilt, such a snob, so boring, how she had x many bags and more... in 5 minutes I overheard the cattiest things ever, and yet they had beamed with smiles when the lady had said hello to them!
The lady in the fitting room came back out, waved goodbye and left. I think the first two had a bad case of bag envy as lady 3 was carrying a black croc Birkin 30, incredibly chic in a simply styled way. I was so curious that I asked my SA who she was, and my SA said "oh one of our best customers, very sweet and quiet lady"
So yes, what people say about others reveals so much more about themselves than the people they are talking about, I'd have hated to be a friend of the loud shopping duo!
I was shopping in Chanel and there were these two ladies literally brandishing their Birkin's and Kelly's and shopping quite noisily when this other lady came up the stairs and an SA rushed towards her. She said hello to the first two ladies and disappeared into a fitting room. The minute she disappeared, omg the first two interrupted their shopping to gossip about how the third one was so spoilt, such a snob, so boring, how she had x many bags and more... in 5 minutes I overheard the cattiest things ever, and yet they had beamed with smiles when the lady had said hello to them!
The lady in the fitting room came back out, waved goodbye and left. I think the first two had a bad case of bag envy as lady 3 was carrying a black croc Birkin 30, incredibly chic in a simply styled way. I was so curious that I asked my SA who she was, and my SA said "oh one of our best customers, very sweet and quiet lady"
So yes, what people say about others reveals so much more about themselves than the people they are talking about, I'd have hated to be a friend of the loud shopping duo!
