flea | Entries tagged with consumer society

The print catalogs are flooding in at an even greater than usual rate (yes, they found us after we'd moved). They vary so much in their projection of the ideal vision of like, that I found myself pondering:

1. What catalog that you receive shows the life that most resembles your ideal?
2. What catalog that you receive shows the life that most resembles your actual life?
3. What catalog that you receive do you actually order the most from?

My answers:
1. Garnet Hill, or White Flower Farm.
2. Lands End, I think. LL Bean is a bit more my style, but we're not actually that outdoorsy.
3. Probably Lands End, but Hanna Andersson is probably a close second. If their shipping were cheaper or they had free shipping coupons (which I can almost always find for Lands End online) I'd probably order more - their sales are good.

Friends, I am looking at a 4-hour desk shift this evening, with (likely) precious little to do during it (except worry that my husband is taking the children to the circus, again).

What is your favorite brand of oh-so-cute, possibly over-the-top, insanely-expensive children's clothes? I have been looking at Tea Collection and wishing the cute little dresses came in sizes larger than 5. I need to move on. Baby clothes are acceptable substitutes, but I'd prefer to browse ridiculous(ly cute) things my children (sizes 2t/3t and 6) might actually fit into.

The US Postal Service now charges a $1.00 fee to allow you to change your address online. And since not everyone in our family has the same last name, that is $2 I am out. Really, what is the world coming to.

In other news, my 23 year old baby brother has gotten engaged, and they plan to marry next May. She is a rising senior and he is a rising sophomore at a Christian college in Ohio (his teenage rebellion (my father is an atheist) turned out to be Methodism, and he is very devout and studying to be a youth music minister). It isn't that young, really, especially when I consider that I met mr. flea when I was 23 and moved in with him 9 months later, and married him at 25. But consider: I knew this child when he was BORN, and some of my strongest memories of him are from the summer he was about to be two, i.e. Dillo's age. Also, Baby Brother spent ages 18-23 living in his parents' house basically doing nothing (had various part-time jobs that didn't make enough to live on). But I guess he has succeeded in his first year in college, and I hope his intended is a motivated young woman (the underachieving men in my family seem to find themselves bossy and ambitious women, which is a good thing, all told.)

Yes, it's July 9 and hotter'n heck, but yesterday the opening salvo of the fall shopping season arrived, in the form of the Lands End backpacks and fall preview kids catalog. It was followed two hours later by an email from Hanna Andersson letting me know their first fall pieces were up and some were even on sale! I expect LL Bean to weigh in any day now.

So, I'm imaginary shopping for the kids, what I always do when the catalog season turns. Casper actually needs stuff for the fall, having outgrown a lot. We were sort of scraping the barrel on some items towards the end of the winter. And happily her birthday is 8/28, so fall clothes make a nice timely present.

She needs:
-tights, badly, I think only 1 pair still fits. HA are on sale for $14 for the plain ones and $22.50 for the patterned; LE are 3 for $25 and they have some cute stripes and horsie ones at that price.
-jeans; has none that fit. Question is to but girl cut or boy cut so Dillo can wear them later. I'm thinking girl, because she has tended to wear stuff pretty hard lately so there's no guarantee they'd make it to Dillo. LE has some nice plain flares and boot cuts with adjustable waist for $25.50.
-fleece, ideally zip-front with a hood. I can't find anything right at LE (no hoods) but American Apparel has some polka dot a striped fleece hoodies on their web site that might be a possible. If I can bring myself to buy from them, as the company founder is a sexist asshat (with whom I went to high school). Or look at LL Bean.
-backpack that her nice new $10 Target lunchbox will fit in. Either LE or LL Bean may do; LE has "junior" sizes (age 4-7) which would be nice, and nice colors like garnet and blackberry that she would like but would also pass on to Dillo. Not cheap, but sort of an investment - should last.
-other pants of some kind - I think she only has 3 pairs of fall pants that fit. Nothing is thrilling me on the cuteness/price index right now; Target may be a solution.
-for a present, I think I am going to get her this brown horsie skirt:
http://www.landsend.com/pp/AppliqueSkort~173147_1187.html?bcc=y&action=order_more&sku_0=::RIB&CM_MERCH=IDX_00004__0000000418&origin=index
-they also have some cute mid-calf striped leggings, to wear under skirts, that I may not be able to resist.
-assess state of basic black Mary janes - may need new for size/wear issues.

Already purchased:
-pink sparkly Keds, for her birthday
-Grandma has bought a red and white striped Hanna dress in a 120

Dillo's needs are less clear to me - he got a lot of 2T clothes at the end of the winter and I suspect they will still fit for at least the start of the fall. And there's at least some 3T in waiting from Casper. Also, boy clothes are just not so fun to shop for, let's face it.

Please stop taunting me with your Big Big Sale. My kids really don't need more clothes. And I juts spent $120 yesterday, ordering Casper sparkly Keds for her birthday and me a slew of basic winter work clothes on clearance from J. Jill.

Wah!

...or a sign of the coming consumer apocalypse?

I present to you "Dear Johnnies," (http://www.dearjohnnies.com/index.php) fashionable versions of hospital gowns designed for delivering mothers. Because "having a baby is an extraordinary experience, and moms deserve to wear something better than an ordinary hospital gown." They run $65.

Now, I've delivered two babies. The first time I was buck naked for at least the last 3 hours of the process. The second time I barely made it into the hospital gown. In neither case did I give a rat's ass about the thread count of the fabrics involved, or the cuteness of the print. Dear Johnnies are available color-coordinated so you can match the gender of your baby. They are 100% cotton, so I suppose if you wanted to you could launder them thoroughly to get out the sweat, blood, and other possible bodily fluids out of them afterwards. Me, I'm happy to have the hospital do that job, and then simply put on my own bathrobe from home for the period after the baby is born.

I'm suffering from shopaholia lately - mostly *window* shopaholia, which means it's better for our finances than the other kind. Reasons for this affliction include my basic temperment, my mother's visit, the upcoming christmas shopping season and the proliferation of catalogs in our mailbox, our consumer society, and no doubt others.

Yes, reader, I am one of those silly conflicted fools who can declare "I want to live more simply!" and immediately sit down to make a shopping list of what I need to live more simply. I'm doing it with clothes at the moment; I'm contemplating doing the Dress a Day closet makeover test (http://www.dressaday.com/2007/07/moths-in-pocketbook-caution-long-entry.html), and stowing away everything I am "meh" on, only allowing myself to wear "love!" items for a week, or a month, or whatever turns out to be practical. I am contemplating making a list of all the things I desire, for the greater christmas shopification of my relatives. I am contemplating giving up spending money on myself for a month or two. I am contemplating swearing off ebay. I am regularly searching ebay for things I desire. (I am only rarely buying them.)

It's all making me sick, and I know the answer is to STOP with the shopaholia and use the time more wisely, with zen meditations, or podcast listening, or tea ceremonies, or something.

And then, back to ebay I go, looking for the privo ballet flat or the nine west mock croc retro style purse or the eileen fisher wool/cashmere/nylon boucle cardigan.

Blah.

mr. flea is sitting watching Funny Videos, with Casper in his lap, wrapped up in a blanket. A public service ad advising parents to talk to their children about smoking comes on. Casper coughs.

mr. flea: You know, with that cough, it makes me wonder if you've been out on the playground at school, smoking. Have you?
Casper: Yes.

Parental laughter and conversation ensues.

mr. flea: Do you even know what smoking is?
Casper: No.

I am googling for Disney Princess pencil cups for my neice. Ah, Christmas.

I'm thinking one of the continuing effects of the pep pills (brand name, prednisone) is the urge to spend money.

Yesterday I spent $120 on nursing bras, which granted was an eminently sensible, even necessary, purchase.

What I want to buy now:
Keen shoes are on sale in my size and a good color for $60 at LLBean. Yes, they're fall shoes, but they are a good price now and not widely available on ebay.

Heck, while I'm at LLBean I should pick up some sale t-shirts, as my long-sleeve t-shirts are going through a despressive/mass suicide phase. No, I won't need to wear them until fall, but they're on sale now!

I am dying to buy Casper fancy Hanna Andersson panties for some reason. Also, am planning ahead for her fall pajama needs, and thinking their long johns would be a good, durable solution (pass-downable). (Note to self - set Mother on this quest via ebay.)

Casper needs a bed. She currently sleeps on a very aged futon mattress on the floor. mr. flea thinks she should have a single and I think a double, since god knows we sleep with her often enough now and maybe eventually she and the baby can share (I am a big fan of bed-sharing among tiny children - if the armadillo is a good sleeper, maybe it'll rub off on Casper.) Cheapie Sears mattress and box spring can be had for $300 in a double, plus $50 delivery (or we could borrow a truck).

I really want two more dining room chairs; we only have 4. They cost $200 each. (They're nice, Amish-made, hardwood maple.)

I will probably buy none of these things. Most likely, I'd say, is the bed.