Opinions

Opinions
Mt. Carmel SUN
A7
October 29, 2010
Are designer brands worth the price?
Gucci. Prada. Chanel. Designer brands may create higher quality products, but those sky-high heels are often accompanied by sky-high prices. Is
it really worth spending the money to bypass a $10 Target T-shirt in favor of a $500 Christian Dior top?
YES
ANGELA KIM
COPY EDITOR
I’ll say it right now:
most teenagers aren’t rolling
around in cash.
However, just because
a majority of teenagers have
shallow pockets doesn’t
mean that they can’t follow
expensive runway fashion.
In truth, established
fashion designers do not
pander to the high school age
demographic because of the
above monetary reason.
Designer
handbags
like Ferragamo and Chanel,
especially limited edition
or special editions, may be
priced well over $3000.
Runway clothing, from
Alexander Wang to Tsumori
Chisato, can cost well over the
thousands and ten thousands.
However, these accessories
and pieces are priced this
way for a reason.
Designers are artists,
conceptually
similar
to
familiar visual artists like
Jackson Pollock or Van
Gogh.
Just as some of Van
Gogh’s paintings can top
over $71 million, designer
fashion can be placed in the
same caliber.
The idea that fashion
designers can be placed in
the same category as painters,
sculptors and other visual
artists can be supported
by the fact that there are
schools for design, such as
Parsons, as there are schools
for the more traditional arts
like illustration or graphic
design.
Fashion follows the
similar aesthetic standards
as schools of painting
do—it pays attention to
complementary colors, and
uses a variety of textures.
And
often,
like
Renaissance artists, designers
employ trompe l’oeil, or
“trick of the eye,” especially
evident in the streamlined
silhouettes that elongate the
body of Yves Saint Laurent’s
fall/winter collection.
Further, some designers
produce avant-garde works,
clothing that deliberately
pushes the normal or accepted
bounds of clothing, in order
NO
SUN POLL
Are designer brands worth the price?
20%
YES
24%
56%
NO
UNDECIDED
*194 students polled
to express their artistic
visions.
Some
examples
of
avant-garde fashion would
be British/Turkish designer
Hussein
Chalayan’s
geometric clothing and iconic
structured, pyramid-looking
dresses.
Possibly
the
most
convincing
reason
for
designer clothing’s sky-high
prices would be that fashion
is simply functional art.
A painting, even a
masterpiece, cannot be slung
across the body as a substitute
for clothing.
Even
avant-garde
designers
who
utilize
impractical
shapes
that
inconvenience most wearers
create
ready-to-wear
collections for the modern
man and woman.
There is something
about wearing an art-piece,
carefully stitched and crafted
for the human body, that
makes these seemingly “way
expensive” items worth the
number on the price tag.
Bottom line, fashion is
wear-able art that lasts, and is
stunning enough to be worn
for many seasons.
So become a fashionista
and start saving now!
EMMA GLASSMAN-HUGHES
STAFF WRITER
The initial thought that
crosses my mind when I see a
50-year-old woman walking
around in a Juicy Couture
sweat suit, belly hanging out
and bleached blonde hair
fraying at the end is, “No.
Just stop. Please just stop.”
What’s
even
more
unfortunate is, other than the
fact that I may be witnessing
the outcome of a somewhat
severe mid-life crisis, I also
see a woman who thinks she
spent her money, lots and lots
of money, well, on something
that looks good on her when
it obviously doesn’t.
This image is fairly
common in our society these
days. Even more unsettling:
it’s not only prevalent to
older women, but teenagers
alike. We may not see many
teenagers parading around in
a Juicy sweat suit, but we do
see teenagers with Gucci bags
and Prada sunglasses that are
a royal waste of money.
How many teenagers
really need a $200 bag to
carry around their binders
and their makeup? It may
look nice, but I personally
don’t think it’s worth it.
The obsession over
designer brands, such as Juicy
Couture, Gucci, Prada, etc.,
has never ceased to amaze
me. I have never understood
the appeal of something so
plain and so boring that also
costs a year of my allowance.
It’s insanity in my eyes.
Frankly, stores like
Forever 21 and H&M, even
Sears for that matter, have far
more interesting clothes that
cost fractions of the prices of
most designer products.
People tend to buy
designer products just for the
name on the tag. Society has
long since provided a basis
for thinking that, through
having a valuable looking
outside, one is a better
person. This emphasis on
the outside has led people to
spend extravagant sums on
clothes so that they look like
a high quality person.
On one hand, designer
products are more likely
to last longer than regular
clothes because they are
manufactured better, hence
the large sum at the bottom
Junior
of the receipt.
On the other hand, with
the more generic brands at
less than half the price, they
are easier to replace.
What would the big
spender do if their dog,
wearing the Gucci designer
dog hat that they bought him
for Christmas, happened to
get a hold of that beautiful
sweat suit and tear it to
shreds? That’s up to $178
down the drain. They should
have gotten a hoodie from
Gap for $39.50. Oops.
What’s even more is
that, in my experience, the
cheaper alternatives are
almost always cuter, and
there’s significantly more
variety to choose from.
When it all boils down
to it, though, it’s our money.
We worked for it, or most
of us did, and we can spend
our hard-earned cash in
whichever way our little
materialistic hearts desire.
Although, if you find that
your bank account loses a
couple of zeroes, don’t be
too surprised.
22 days until Thanksgiving break.
Not that I’m counting or anything.
-Kelly Fan
I had a great thumb all planned out
for today. Then I forgot it.
-Emma Glassman-Hughes
becomes pedophilic.
-Shayon Said
Days like these are made for
bundling up and hot chocolate.
Too bad I have to study for Physics
instead.
-Abby Mansour
YISHA WANG | ARTIST
Web Columns
LOGICALLY
ILLOGICAL
Senior
Teacher
Julie Bracamonte
Allison Bolin
No, it’s not that big of a deal.
Pants are pants, from Italy or
San Diego.
No, because you can find just
as cute clothes in cheaper
stores.
No, it’s just a piece of fabric
with a name. You shouldn’t
put too much behind it and
you can find rip-offs .
No, I just think it’s cheap
material sometimes. There’s so
much in what society needs to
be as opposed to society just
being itself.
Yes, I think it is if you can afford
it; it’s often better-made and
looks nicer.
Prejudice hurts us all, leaves lingering effects throughout
and humanity reacted to their
evil deeds by decimating their
organization.
Looking back to the issue
that is currently at hand, we
can see the repercussions of the
bullying the six boys faced.
Dharun Ravi and Molly
Wei, the two students charged
with invasion of privacy in the
suicide death of Tyler Clementi
may be facing hate crimes
charges. If convicted for the
offenses they committed, Ravi
and Wei may face up to five
years of prison under New
Jersey state law if convicted on
third degree charges.
If a fourth charge is
delivered, the two face another
18 months in jail.
Prejudice doesn’t just hurt
its victims. If we learn to accept
the differences in others, we can
all benefit from a more diverse,
less conflicted society.
-Brittlyn Foster
last year of Trick or Treating before it
Chase Ocasio
bands of white supremacists
ransacked the makeshift towns
of African-Americans. They
slaughtered with no good reason
other than hate for blacks.
But their irrational hate hit
them just as hard. The blacks
worked their lands; without
working hands, many southern
plantations
withered
and
collapsed. Those who hated not
only destroyed the lives of those
they killed, but also caused their
own demise.
The Nazis of Germany
persecuted the Jews, murdering
them in masses in the Holocaust.
But their actions were not
overlooked; World War II ended
with the defeat of Hitler and the
destruction of the Nazis.
Once again, those with
hate and prejudice ruined
themselves through their anger.
The efforts of the Nazis were
seen by the people of the world,
expecting quality work.
Halloween is coming up. This is my
Chanel Enriquez
Six young men killed
themselves within the past
several weeks. While families
and friends mourn, they must
understand that the cause of
their deaths was prejudice.
Justin Aaberg, openly gay
and just 15, Billy Lucas, also
15, Asher Brown, 13, Seth
Walsh, also just 13, Johnson and
Wales student Raymond Chase,
19, and Rutgers student Tyler
Clementi all killed themselves.
All six committed suicide
after being persecuted for their
sexuality. Their deaths hurt not
only their families, but also hurt
the communities and all other
people involved. Prejudice
killed six boys and cut six lives
short, and prejudice has killed
thousands in years before.
The Civil War was a war of
unification. However, the central
issue that drove the war was
slavery. After the war ended,
-Danielle Damper
night. I hope teachers aren’t
Matt Devine
Staff Editorial
know, I’m cool.
craziness and scandals on Sunday
JANIS YUE | PHOTOGRAPHER
Sophomore
Learned how to freestyle today. I
Halloween promises a night of
Sundevil Perspective
Freshman
Thumbs
Dennis Sun
GREAT
EXPECTATIONS
The time is 12:31 a.m.
I have just finished writing
approximately 12 college
essays, nine of which I deleted
because I didn’t think they were
good enough.
As I sit and complete
the incredibly painful task
of writing college essays, I
wonder why in the world we,
as young people, are expected
to do so much.
College, for one, expects
us to be able to juggle
extracurricular activities, AP
classes, SATs, ACTs, sports,
and our personal lives.
I doubt that people had so
many activities to do in ages
past.
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YISHA WANG | ARTIST