This Reverse Inspiration is a little bit like my outfit came back from the dead in the form of pajama rompers. Can we agree that this is an outcome much to be avoided?
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| From threadsence.com via Pinterest |
On a recent Goodwill trip, I picked up two almost-new patterned cardigans from Macy's. I tried on this one first and liked it so well that I went back to the racks for the second one.
Beige graphic T with floral design (Eddie Bauer), $3.00/wear
White skirt (Walmart), $3.00/wear
*Pink polka dot cardigan (thrifted, Macy's), $4.99/wear
Brown pointy-toed flats by Frye, $6.53/wear
Outfit total: $17.52/wear
For its debut, I had to pair it with my white skirt to match the polka dots. Then I added this floral top that has white and some pink-ish hues and some other saturated pastel colors to liven things up a bit more. In a rare move, I decided not to try a necklace with it--I liked how the buttoned neckline looked by itself. But I did wear a big pair of sparkly crystal statement earrings, lest you be concerned that I was trying to be restrained.
I brought a brightly striped dish towel to work today to function as a big lap napkin so that I did not ruin my white skirt by dropping blueberry yogurt on it (like I ruined its predecessor with guacamole at lunch). When my office mate saw it, she didn't recognize what it was and thought it was part of my outfit. I whipped it off and explained its purpose and she said, Oh, I was thinking that wasn't your normal style.
This jersey wooly with the tucked in head has the ticked fur of the dominant agouti (A_) genotype. Very different from the solid coloration of the recessive self (aa) blue Havana rabbit I showed on Saturday.
In other news...I don't buy the basic premise of this article--that because a few large corporations each own a lot of different brands, that they offer only an "illusion" of choice. It doesn't matter who makes them, Triscuits are actually, in fact, different from Premium saltines. This is obvious when you taste one. The choice between a Dove bar, a Snickers bar, a Milky Way, a Twix, and a bag of M and Ms is a real choice.
I get it that there might still be people in the US who are very concerned with what company supplies their food (because they care about sourcing or dislike big companies on principle or like to reward companies that engage in genuine sustainability practices or "fair trade" or whatever) AND are not aware that many food categories are oligopolies (e.g., breakfast cereal, famously) AND define "consumer choice" purely in terms of what company profits when people buy food. It's too bad that the 7 people who fit that category didn't see the article.
But when most of us think of "choice" in the marketplace, the identity of the corporate entity who stands like a distant presence far removed from the immediate characteristics of the consumer good is not the only consideration...to the extent that it's a consideration at all.
P.S. Reading that old blog post about studying for my exam with Leo has me feeling all, I want a bunny NOW!
2 comments:
Yes, that 'illusion of choice' thing is bizarre. Not only are triscuits and honey grahams (or whatever) different (aside from possibly having the same parent company), they're almost certainly made in different factories and designed by different teams and...etc. It's not even like one pool of people make all these products, you know?
If we're operating under an illusion, it's perhaps the illusion that we can get away from buying from big brands. That's upsetting to some people. For instance, maybe you like to buy Annie's but don't realize it's owned by General Mills.
But that's how it works - if a small brand is successful, a big brand will buy it. But usually (often?) the big brand recognizes why the small brand was successful, so they don't just start cutting out cinnamon Teddy Grahams into bunny shapes and replace Annie's cinnamon bunnies with the new product. They want to keep the Annie's customers and the specific place it occupies in the market.
There's no reasoning with people who are sort of anti-capitalist from first principles, though.
Yes, I think the illusion you pointed out is a much more relevant one.
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