A Fluffy Blog
Why I like H&M and other retail stores
I’ve written this in my comments section before but just because not everyone reads those and I’ve finally settled my mind on this issue somewhat, I want to write why I like H&M.
I have a really annoying baggage of being in art school for all of my live so naturally I’ve encountered countless judgemental charlatan hippies who’ve pretentiously come up to my H&M-shopping peers and me, and judged us for shopping at the IRREFUTABLY EVIL CHAIN STORES THAT POSSIBLY ALSO KILLS BABIES AND TINY LITTLE PUPPIES!!!1!. This kinda bugs me! Firstly, H&M and many other chain stores have been doing a pretty great ethical and ecological job the past couple of years. Though the employers still earn just the minimum wage in their country and other things are still far from perfect, they’re showing the right attitude. Plus, no matter how you look at it, retail stores are giving thousands and thousands of people jobs. Obviously, far from ideal you can’t boycott it just because of that.
Aside from that you could also argue that H&M blatantly steals high fashion designs but once again I think this is a good thing. Because of this the gap between rich and middle class (and sometimes even poor people) gets vaguer. Used to be that only actually beautiful clothes were only available for the highest class. Nowadays our differences are less noticeable. Through this it’s easier to get a proper job for poorer people etc., it’s easier to pretend you’re someone you’re not. A decent appearance (whatever that means) is but one of the many important aspects to climb the social ladder.
All in all chain stores can have dubious ethics but there’s always good sides to them too. Let’s remember that? But mainly, let’s remember our (mostly) very privileged point of view. It’s not up to us (or frankly anyone) to judge people for shopping wherever they want to shop. It’s crazily privileged to be able to say ‘I don’t buy retail out of principle’.
You could argue that thrift & charity stores are an option. But frankly, they’re not. It’s incredibly difficult to find nice, timeless pieces that have neither wear and tear or have a perpetual strange smell to them. Neither can you ever find a trend.
Personally, I try not to buy anything retail that I could make myself, could find second hand easily and try to stay away from stuff that is truly shabbily made and in awful fabrics. I do that simply because I don’t like to spend money on that, not because of the ethical issues. Aside from that, you could say that because I’m comfortably middle-class I could save up for some non-dubious clothing, but I made some calculations and surprisingly I truly can’t! That is, unless I want to give up on books, balanced and healthy meals and a social life. And even then, I could buy only two, maybe three decent pieces of clothing a year. I’m kind of not ready for that, you know? Though I am just a student without an income, I am still middle-class so I think this says something about how absolutely elitist “real” fashion is. So why would anyone object to retail?
Not to preach or anything. This is just how I feel. Do you feel differently?
Fluffy friday
Some fluffy pictures since I hurt my back and have to lay on the floor for hours to recover (yet again). Click for bigger.
This may be ridiculous and weird but I hadn’t seen a donkey since I was a kid and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a baby donkey! Therefore I was amazingly enthused here and did not underdo the squealing of the 5-year-olds standing next to me and trying to pet the (SUPER AMAZINGLY SWEET) donkeys! In fact, I’m pretty sure I stayed and petted them an embarrassingly long time and saw not one but two kindergarten schools pass by (with the teachers having a hard time trying to force the kids to move on). Also possibly squealed louder. THEY ARE JUST SO CUTE AND FLUFFY.
Extravaganza eleganza
I forgot to add this to my post yesterday! I was recently awarded with a fabulous sunshine award by the equally fabulous and ever-amazing Self Constructed Freak :D
I’m supposed to tag 12 others but I’ll keep it at 6 because less is more, right? (Also: lazy.) A couple of my current fave blogs that nearly don’t get enough praise as they should:
Jesus and his lawyer are coming back…
Pink Blue Whale Fashion
Nice ‘n Tacky
recite
The Pocket Rocket
And errr… Self Constructed Freak herself ;D
This is the award:
But these girls also deserve
totes