Some people have the weak point of evaluating themselves based on what other people perceive them to be. I am not sure whether its a weakness or not. They can be seen patronising big malls where the products on sale are worth a premium. I know of stores where the cost of an item is almost 5 times higher than the average concern. Sometimes this is a silent demand by some companies in order to project a superior corporate image. Would you shop expensive to maintain status?
Some people are sucked into this, and where I used to live there was a cheap mall and a premium mall, and they were on opposite sides of the road. I liked both, but there was a different clientele, and one friend wouldn't go to the cheaper mall with me. As you get older you realize it doesn't matter where you buy things, as long as the quality and price are good.
I care about my status, I will never do anything that damages my status. I don't want to lose my reputation. It is easy to earn cash, but it is really hard to build reputation. You can buy a house and car, however, people will not respect you unless you have a good status in the society. We are social animal thus we must care for our status.
Status is not the ultimate consideration for me. I will not be caught up in that situation where I end up spending what I cant afford. I will spend according to my budget but at the same time I will try to get the best value for my money.
I can never do this to myself. I remember seeing old friends in school who would intentionally buy expensive things because it was a status thing. I did not care to do that. I remember seeing friends purchase $90 dollars Air Force Ones, and online there are the same pair of shoes for $400 dollars, does that make the ones at the mall fake? I hate that social status has a grip on society, but it's for everyone to break away from it on their own. I knew of this at the age of 17, I can't buy things for social status because I don't care if anyone knows how much I paid for something.
There are people who want to prove to others that "they've made it." Spending money on expensive things is how they show it to their friends, family and everyone else. They can do whatever they please but me . . . I'll buy only from stores that sell a product I want at the lowest price and if I can find a cheaper alternative that's just as good elsewhere then that's what I'd buy.
I like what this guy says on this topic. Sure, we all have to look decent but that's not a crucial point. There's no point in building your confidence on something really materialistic or things that may fade in a moment.
Personally, I am not status-conscious due to a combination of two factors. First, I have never felt the need to be seen shopping or purchasing from the trendy and/or luxury stores to fit in with the 'in' or elite crowd. Second, I don't have enough surplus wealth to allow me to be overly status-conscious even if I wanted to be. There are instances where being status-conscious is almost a requirement if you want to succeed in your chosen profession since people's decisions will be based on your appearance and, well, the perception that you are elite. Politicians, criminal defense lawyers and financial CEOs are all jobs where status-consciousness directly or indirectly plays a keep to their success.
A little bit, I think. I think that a little bit of consciousness is a good thing. It doesn't drive me per-say, but it's something I think about sometimes. I'm not trying to throw money out the door (obviously) or prove myself through expensive things. Those are problems, I just think about where I stand sometimes, that's all.
No, not even if I could afford to, which I can't. I mean everybody likes nice things, but you don't have to go out of your way to buy them. Half of those people with the "high status" items are probably drowning in debt anyway. I mean if you can get some of those things without spending a fortune, I think is the goals of some of this in the forum.
I fell into this for a bit when I was younger. I was very status conscious, always seeking out better designer name goods and thinking those were of higher quality. While that is sometimes the case, it seems more and more these days that some designer goods are manufactured in the same way as cheaper ones. I would pay more for handmade items, especially ones of a unique design, than for mass manufactured ones, but designer names rarely turn my head these days.
I wish that I could say that I was not, but I definitely am, to a fault perhaps. I constantly tell myself that I should not care what others think or that I should not compare myself to others, but I just do. I cannot help it. I am betting that I am in the majority when it comes to these thoughts, but it is still a little unnerving and something that I need to continue to work on.
Corporations spend big advertising and PR dollars to make their brands seem idealistic to "brand snobs." It makes them very rich and ultimately does nothing good for the consumer. There are a lot of reasonably priced brands of everything that are just as good as ones with a fancy label. That's why so many products are label branded on the OUTSIDE now, because people aren't buying them for quality, they are buying them so other people can see that they have purchased a premium brand. If you need other people to validate your worth through retail shopping, you should take that money you're wasting and invest it in therapy instead. However, I will say that there are some brands that are slightly more pricey that I will buy because they last longer, fit better, or the quality is better in some way. That's a different story, but if I can find the same quality cheaper, I would never buy another brand name product for the rest of my life. It wouldn't bother me or my image one bit!
Many of these luxury brands are not made very well these days. My husband has worked for a few luxury retail stores and must say, he bought me some clothes with his employee discount and some of the stuff didn't even last me a year. Zippers and buttons falling off, clothes fading extremely fast, shrinkage and I'm following the washing instructions to the "T", but some of the clothes were just cheap. I couldn't believe people would actually continue to pay, $300 for a pair of jeans or $100 for a shirt that would fade or rip in the next 6 months and continue to repeat the cycle because of they had to have that label. I'm sorry, I can't support low quality work or low quality labels, if I was going to spend $300 on a pair of jeans, those jeans better last me a lifetime...or at least a good 10 years. I'm like you, I prefer the unique handmade designs and I'm willing to pay more for them. I don't want to look like everyone else.
@atlmom5 Yes, that's what I was talking about. I think initially, many of the older luxury brands were better made, with attention to detail, nicer quality fabrics and accents, and colors, but it seems the greed bug has bitten a lot of the companies, and they have taken to cutting corners. I think many younger people (at least the ones I've encountered) don't care so much about quality of workmanship because they lean toward fad clothing and accessories, and don't anticipate having the item for years. My nieces have to have the latest anything and everything, but once the trend has passed, they literally toss the clothes in the trash. I don't know how they reconcile that with supposedly caring for the environment, but it obviously doesn't bother them to clutter the landfills.
If I don't have the budget for it then I certainly won't shop in a high end store just to look rich. But if I do want a branded item and I can afford it, then I will. I won't really shop for branded names to keep up with the Joneses', but for my own personal satisfaction.
I do not care for status as once you show other people that you don't care for such ranking, people will regard you as a person outside of "categories". They will begin to see you in a new way whether it's admiration or disdain. Personally, I will shop from whichever place has good products at a good place, mainly clothes. Then again, I'm trying to stick to a more crazy dressing style which can probably show that I'm trying to promote individual and outrageous behavior.
I can not afford to define myself by the labels on my clothes nor by the car that I drive. I have to strategize and preplan in order to make my income stretch. That is my main focus. In this case, I have to look inside myself and remember who I am and what I am and project that into the world around me.
I personally don't care for spending beyond my means to maintain status. Although I have came across people that are willingly shopping expensively just to keep a certain image, I think it's a waste of time. If you have to work that hard, than it isn't you. That's just my opinion. I like to shop for the lowest price I can get, as long as I like it, it's comfortable, and affordable I'm happy. Lol
I am definitely not. I am a bargain hunter. I love finding things on sale and for the best price possible, and that goes for everything. A few years ago, I was a little bit of a snob for make up. Now not even that, I do have a lot of department store makeup, but I mainly buy them when they are on sale. And I have no problem with cheaper brands either, as long as they are not tested on animals.
