the anticute

Over the past few days I’ve noticed a rather alarming trend. On Thursday, I was helping some lady with some freelance web work. While we were working at Starbucks, a group of three girls walked in, all with Coach bags. These bags generall retail around $300+ but you can find them at the outlet store for around $100-ish.

Now, these girls were all in high school, with no jobs and obviously living off of daddy’s money. Why would any parent get their 16 year-old daughter a $100+ purse (assuming they bought it for cheaper than retail prices).

Today I was at the outlet mall with the fam and spotted two little girls. Sisters. One was carrying a barrel-shaped Coach bag. The kind that that was targeted for children — white a multi-colored coach print. The younger girl was carrying the matching Coach wristlet. The older girl was no more than 12 or 13 years old. Her younger sister was only 8.Why would you give an 8 year-old a Coach anything? Even if it is only a wristlet.

I once wrote this paper for a Freshman English class on a Dooney and Bourke ad. The ad shows Lindsay Lohan (still young and before she went into rehab) with a white and black DB bags featuring chalk-drawn hearts. It was obviously targeted towards younger girls. What working woman would want a bag with little chalk hearts drawn everywhere? Recently, Hayden Panettiere was selected as a DB spokeswoman. And before her was Emma Roberts. Both girls are younger than 20. Does anyone else see sometihng wrong with that? The paper that I wrote for English class details how materialism starts young and having a teenage celebrity market $100+ purses only shows that this is part of our culture at any age.

I really fail to understand how designer clothes fit into our kids’ development process. As I was sitting there, watching this child pout because her bag was not as large as her big sister’s, I wondered what the fuck has gone wrong with our society? When did deisgner things, which used to be a sign of being a grown up who makes a living, transition into something that children need? When I was her age, I just wanted to make sure that socks didn’t bunch up.

On a somwhat unrelated note, I used to think that having a designer bag meant that you could take care of yourself and by your own things. But I see Coach bags everywhere. They’re so commonplace that owning one doesn’t mean anything anymore. My mother has a huge collection of purses and shoes from Cole Haan, Coach, Dooney & Burke, and some other designers. She was wearing a pair of DG sunglasses (that she claims she bought two years ago) but insisted on going into the Oakley store to buy another pair.

Why are we so hung up on brands and material things?