Seven PocketI was raised with the idea that the expensive brand name stuff was only more expensive because of the name. But the quality of those brand names weren’t supposed to be anything special.

Several years ago, I decided that I hated jeans. They were always too thick, rigid, and just all-around uncomfortable. I got rid of all my jeans except for one flannel-lined pair that were too small for me. So every time I thought about trying jeans again, this was the pair I tried. This kept the hatred of jeans alive, being too hot and tight. I was talking about this to a friend, and she told me to try “Seven” jeans. The actual name was “7 for all mankind”. It sounded kind of hippie to me. I was in TX and asked another friend, Daniel, about it. We went to the Nordstrom to check them out. 200 bucks for jeans! Hell no! I walked out and didn’t think about it again. Daniel looked online for deals, and found some discounted for 160 bucks on the nordstrom.com site. That’s still crazy! Talked to a few more women to get opinions, and they all say “Seven” ever single time. When I get back into town, I head out to Century 21 to try a pair on. Century 21, by the way, is one of the best clothing stores in NYC. If you are ever here, visit it. It’s right next to the World Trade Center site. So I admit, I tried on the jeans solely for the name. But when I tried them on… there was no turning back. They just fit! I was living a lie! They felt like sweat pants, only not warm, and they look hell of a lot better! The Century 21 price for these was $109. I know that’s still a lot of money, but it felt cheap to me considering the prices I had seen up to that point. I’ve also paid that much for nice dress pants, so I wasn’t too horrified. Since then, I’ve been wearing these pretty much every day that they aren’t being washed. I really should get another pair, but that’ll have to wait until I get employed again.

The next incident involves sunglasses. My interest in this brand-name thing was piqued now, but I knew nothing about fashion or brand names. I do have friends who do though, so I ask around about sunglasses. Prada, Prada, Prada. I think there was a movie that came out that had this in the title, so hopefully it’s not just a temporary thing. When I was in Vegas I went to the Prada store in the Bellagio and started trying on all the glasses. I was there for a while, not finding anything that fit me right. The pair I had at the time fit ok, except they would slide if I sweat at all. I was starting to thing the whole Prada thing wasn’t for me, and then… it happened again. I found a pair that just fit. I’m convinced now that when buying things, there is that little “This just fits” moment that happens when you find something you should get. These glasses were $265 dollars though, and it was the first store that I looked at, so I decided not to get them. Even though I had $2500 in my pocket from the poker tables! I thought the store in NYC would be a better place to buy these if I hadn’t found a better pair by then. When I got back to NYC, the Prada store had completely different models. None of them “fit”. The lady there told me I should have just bought them when I had the chance, because the lines are constantly changing. I was right though, the glasses were cheaper in NYC, but still over $200. She said to try back another week, they should have different stuff. At some point in the next few days I passed by a Sunglass Hut in a mall. I tried a pair on, and the first pair I reached for was the same one I tried in Vegas, by coincidence. They just “fit” again. They were more expensive than the Prada in the city though, so I walked out. The lady who told me to “just buy it when I had the chance” played in my head, so I did a 180 and bought them. So now I’m sporting Prada sunglasses and 7 jeans. Totally a brand whore, huh?

And yes, that’s a picture of my butt!