Today, I got called out on my conspicuous consumption of bebe clothes by a coworker. She told me that she and another coworker took a field trip to bebe after work to check out my new threads--and the prices. Suffice it to say that I got a good roasting this morning and not in a good way. I was outed for my excessive spending on new bebe clothes and accessories, including the fact that I purchased all three colors of the bebe 'Ali' pumps (fortunately, the heat wave that we have been having in the Bay Area the past few days caused me to change-up my wardrobe. I chose not to wear bebe today, but instead opt for my Sunhee Moon shirt dress in apple green with my Gucci espadrille wedges).
Yes, I admit to my numerous purchases at bebe, but I have taken advantage of the promotional coupons such as the $100-off the purchase of $300 (which I have used more than once).
I suppose the stars are aligned in terms of delivering me to a twelve-step program and placing me in recovery for my shopaholic behavior--I told my coworker on Friday that I had an addiction to buying clothes, but she just shrugged it off. Now, she knows.
It's funny, however. Not a week earlier, I had went to the Yves Saint Laurent retrospective at the de Young Museum (a must-see for anyone on the west coast or visiting San Francisco) with another co-worker who I learned was a fashion enthusiast, but with a more demure, less conspicuous approach than I.
I had commented to her that more exclusive, and not necessarily more expensive, or less well known brands tend to fly under the radar than those with gigantic advertising budgets.
Let's take my brand bebe for example.
bebe is home-town brand much like Levi's, The Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Georgiou, The Sak and others. As a result, the company buys a lot of advertisting in local San Francisco Bay Area publications, bus stop shelter signs and has the Bay Area fairly well covered with stores in areas that serves it demographic (for example, there is a bebe in Walnut Creek and San Mateo, but not in Berkeley).
As a result, the Bay Area is well saturated with the bebe brand. Anyone who shops for clothes in the malls or in chic, chic areas from Union Street in San Francisco to Valley Fair mall in San Jose to the bebe outlet at the Great Mall in Milpitas is aware of bebe even if they haven't shopped there themselves.
Like the Louis Vuitton monogram logo that I have ranted about in the past, the mainstream public can identify with bebe in the clothing brand ecosystem: sexy, young women-oriented--and expensive. Many women I interact with from the woman who does my manicures and pedicures to others say that bebe is expensive. And, it is.
However, more exclusive brands that are less well known and which (in my case), may be more expensive (read: Cesare Paciotti) tend to be largely ignored among the great populous (at least in the Bay Area in which I have commented numerous times).
This is exactly the strategy of my other coworker (who I went to the YSL exhibit). She wears designs that are beautifully made and stylish, but are, to be blunt, nondescript to those not in the know. Only other fashionistas, or those exposed to fashion, would be aware of her fine, sartorial threads.
In other words, my coworker is hiding in plain sight.
I, on the other hand, intentionally draw the attention of others to myself (tt's my narcissism and vanity at work). In other cases, people are just as oblivious as to what I'm wearing. Take my outfit today. I did receive several compliments from other women in the office, but no one called me out on my espadrilles being from Gucci, let alone from Gucci's spring 2006 cruise collection.
It comes down to consumption communities. A term I learned of from James B. Twitchell's 2003 book, Living it Up: America's Love Affair with Luxury. According to Twitchell, a person's consumption community is the price point of products that a person is exposed to by herself and those around her. If you're zip code is in Pacific Heights or Hillsborough or Atherton, it's a pretty good chance that you would have first-hand knowledge of brands such as Piaget or Hermes.
For many, including myself, it is the work of the media and celebrity that has democratized fashion and fashion brands--particularly luxury brands. Louboutin is wildly popular primarily due to the many celebrity women who wear his shoes and his saturation of the retail channel ( I believe his shoes are too available. Exclusivity by price is not the sole determinant of a luxury brand). Brand extension has also played a factor, which Twitchell writes about. Brand extension is where luxury brands create "entry-level" or lower-priced products to reach more customers. Mercedes Benz is a good example. The C230 series, particularly the company's latest itineration, is very popular. However, brand extension can work in reverse. Witness Toyota's Lexus division winning numerous J.D. Power and Associates awards for customer satisfaction over the company's European rivals.
I have once again rambled into territory that I have addressed before. I'll closely saying that I while the weather remains to be unseasonably warm, I'll take it as an opportunity to wear my less consipicuous brands.
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