Consumer appetites grow - people want new stuff faster and faster. They see, they buy. This has led to the most appalling waste and the capitalist model is committing suicide by wasting stuff.
Anyway, one thing I wanted to remark on, from under the radar in the suburbs, is the design of the goods. It occurred to me when I was in Clarks shoe shop that about half the designs were too awful to be bought. Half of the shoes are desirable footwear, and half of the designs, which use good leather, plastic and workmanship - are too ghastly to be bought at any price. So? why do they make the awful designs, (which make the good designs more expensive, because the awful designs don't sell)? I suppose so that we can use our prerogative of choice to spurn them. But the waste of the raw materials and energy is wrong.
The same in Monsoon. I used to like Monsoon because they sold pretty cotton prints and attractive woollen items. Now most of their clothes are synthetic and all of them have these tawdry "jewels" on them, stitched no doubt by the skilful workers of Bangla Desh. Again, the designs are very eye-catching but most designs are eye-catching in a bad way; i.e. garish and horrible. And they all go in the sale. The sale price, for most items, is the real price - the first price is a joke. But they don't look at their designs and run them past their own staff - a simple "would you buy this item? Yes / no" would save them from most of their design crimes. And they are crimes because the things people don't want are a waste of the planet's resources. Criminal waste on a huge scale.
 |
| The sleeves are huge considering you'd wear this on a hot day. |
 |
| This embroidery took someone hours - but what an ugly skirt. |
 |
| OOOh, look a pearly Queen! |
 |
| Nightie with mirrors on |
