Materialistic

     I am not what you would call a 'normal' twenty something. I can only stand clothes shopping for a limited amount of time (how my mother manages to do a 6 hour stint of it and not be shattered, I'll never know), most of my wardrobe is filled with jeans and baggy T shirts, and I will never understand the fascination with Ugg boots and Paul's Boutique bags.
     Ok, as a student living on an extremely tight budget for the last three years, my mindset of what is expensive, and what is good value for money might be somewhat skewed, as I feel that even paying £40 for a evening dress is top budget for me, whereas some people would pay at least that. I just bought a new dress for my upcoming birthday, and it cost me £15. It's nothing absolutely spectacular, I'd admit, but it is the sort of style that I go for, and it means that it I only wear it another few times, I haven't really lost out on the money front.
     Some people I know have handbags that cost somewhere in the region of £150. The most expensive bag I have, that was a Christmas gift was £45, and even then, I felt I was pushing it a bit. One of the most expensive items that I wear are my Doc Marten boots, which again, were a Christmas present from my parents, and they were £125. My parents paid £125 for a pair of boots that I wear near enough every day when the weather isn't too warm (which is about 80% of the time where I live), and are going to last me, for what I can imagine, at least 5 years.
     I had a house mate last year, who, to be honest, was extremely well off, and his parents could probably buy him literally anything he asked for. Anyway, he (most probably his parents, he never had a job in his life) would buy a pair of Fred Perry shoes for around 45-50 pounds, wear them for about 6 months, and then chuck them away, just to buy a new pair. He would say to me "Yeah, they only last about 6 months, and then they start to fall apart". Maybe its because I have grown up in a house where your grateful for what you are given, but I certainly wouldn't pay all that money for shoes, just to throw them out months later.
     When I was 16, I asked for an iPod for Christmas. When I came down Christmas morning to find that my parents had bought me a bass guitar and an iPod, I almost felt bad, like when someone praises you for doing something that you never did. I still use that iPod. I still use that guitar. Some people would have gone through three by now.
     One thing that I really can't understand is high fashion. Considering I took Textiles for a GCSE, I sure hated the fashion industry. It has never made sense in my mind why people would pay three, four five, six hundred pounds for a little black dress from Calvin Klein or Gucci, or whatever, when some other designer can make basically the same dress, out of the same material, and charge something like £50. I think that those people who do buy top range stuff like that often are either one of two people: have more money than sense, or, have such low self esteem that they have to have something really expensive on them to make them feel good. I admit, some people wouldn't pay £125 for a pair of Doc Martens, but its not like they look like a lot of other stuff on the market out there. If you showed me a Gucci bag and a bag from, say a high street store, I probably couldn't tell you which one was which, or if I could, I would definitely say that the price difference of £300 or whatever if definitely not worth it.
     My point is, why pay so much money for items that you know your not going to get your money's worth out of, and just buy cheaper stuff? Ok, things that are going to last you years and years, or even a lifetime like a  piece of jewellery you had on a special birthday or wedding/engagement rings and the like, yeah, go ahead, spend a couple of hundred on those, but when I see people paying £15 for two pairs of socks, it makes me wonder if these people have their priorities right.