Shopping experience; attitudes on money and quality

[nakedundermyclothes]

Originally Posted by thekunk07

great story about an insecure old fart who can't get laid buying raw denim. no need for further clarification.


this

 

[Timbaland]

If he wanted to get laid wouldn't he have been better off using that $300 for escorts?

 

[AntiHero84]

Why do you going shopping with another guy? Furthermore, why do you go shopping with a broke guy? Further-furthermore, you didn't see why it would be a problem buying $300 jeans with someone who is just barely getting by financially?

Are you a douche or a dumbass?

 

[TyCooN]

Originally Posted by AntiHero84

Why do you going shopping with another guy? Furthermore, why do you go shopping with a broke guy? Further-furthermore, you didn't see why it would be a problem buying $300 jeans with someone who is just barely getting by financially?

Are you a douche or a dumbass?
Best advice in the thread.

 

[NotTooLate]

Originally Posted by El Argentino

Props to OP. Best of luck in your business.
Thank you!

Originally Posted by jet

^that was awesome indeed
Hehe, you can see a lot of funny stuff like that at Comixed.com.

Originally Posted by jet

at least he is on here for the right reasons
Merci, Persian Bro.

Originally Posted by thekunk07

great story about an insecure old fart
There's some truth to that. I'm honest.

Originally Posted by jet

who can't get laid buying raw denim. no need for further clarification.
It's not about getting laid. Raw denim is of little help in getting laid.

Originally Posted by Timbaland

If he wanted to get laid wouldn't he have been better off using that $300 for escorts?
I'm well aware of the market values of various things. Not everything is about getting laid.

Originally Posted by AntiHero84

Why do you going shopping with another guy? Furthermore, why do you go shopping with a broke guy? Further-furthermore, you didn't see why it would be a problem buying $300 jeans with someone who is just barely getting by financially? Are you a douche or a dumbass?
Very reasonable question. If I had known more about his financial situation, I wouldn't have gone with him. He's not a close friend and even so, I never ask my friends about their financial details. They share what they want to share, but I never ask. Now I know, I should not make him uncomfortable. I didn't know before. As general response to various comments here: I clearly said that the OP was a rant, meaning it jumps around subjects, is too long, is of too little general interest, and so on. As for my age and so on: I had a lot of things go wrong in my 30s and have recovered from some pretty bad situations. Many times I came to the absolute edge of disasters which would have been "irreversible" and would have screw me up for many many more years, to where I would be poor forever basically. I came within a nanometer of being this guy in his 50s who works in some menial job, and everyone wonders, "why does this guy who seems so capable have such a bad life?" I hope some of these things never happen to any of you...

 

[i_pod_sux]

Originally Posted by NotTooLate

Hello SF, First, thank you to all who gave me suggestions in my jeans question thread. I ended up going to Self Edge store today, and was assisted by someone there, who I will refer to as T. I really liked the Sugar Cane Okinawa the best. The fabric, finishing details, etc. But the fit... the fit wasn't perfect. It just wasn't right. I ended up with the Iron Heart jeans, and they are great. I went with my friend, who I will call A. He was outraged by the concept of a jeans store that has almost nothing on display, and where everything costs > $300. A was really upset that I was buying jeans without doing any negotiation, without getting a discount. A told me I'm making a mistake, was being ripped off, etc. I somehow couldn't explain to him that if T gets to know me as a good customer, T might do things for me in the future, like get me first access to unusual items, offer me discounts, etc. I tried to explain: these jeans are hand-made by fanatics in Japan in very small quantities of absolutely top-quality materials. Of course it's going to cost more than stuff made in a factory in China. Of course it's only sold in specialty shops. Of course there's a high markup. Of course people who shop in such places don't think too much about the price. He didn't understand and said I could find the same jeans downtown for a fraction of the cost. Well, we looked up and down Melrose, and I sure did find a lot of jeans that were about 1/2 to 1/4 the price, all made in China, all ripped / stone washed / trashed, and looking (to me) like trash that I wouldn't wear. He told me that these jeans wouldn't help me get girls. In a broad sense, he's probably right. Only 1 in 100 women would even recognize them as being something special. That's fine. I don't care. I'm 39. I've been scoffed at by women for so long I no longer care. But there's a lot more to it than that. Maybe there will be that 1 in 100 woman who sees these and realizes, "hey this guy at least doesn't go for ordinary jeans... maybe he's not ordinary in other ways too." And there's more, too. I'm CEO of my company. You may or may not be aware, but most people who are self-employed describe themselves as "CEOs", so "I'm a CEO" usually means (in reality) "I'm broke and unemployed. I have high aspirations, but those aspirations are probably not realistic." In fact it was true for me until recently; I was broke and my business seemed hopeless, but I persisted and it changed. The only way to counter this perception is to wear top-quality clothes. Anyway, as a CEO, I need to project leadership and confidence, and that requires maintaining a good appearance. And maybe if I know that I'm wearing amazingly excellent jeans that no one has ever heard of, it will change my level of confidence and self-perception and women will pick up on that, even if they have no idea what 21 oz selvedge denim is. He asked why I buy something like that, when I can buy something which (he thinks) is the same, for a fraction of the price. I tried to explain, it's for me, I truly appreciate high-quality hand-made things. We also saw some nylon jackets there. I was almost ready to buy, but he was even more outraged by the idea of a nylon jacket for $600. He later pointed out some others at other stores that (to him) were "the same", but to me, they were not even comparable, not in the same world. I also tried to explain, this is about attitudes towards money. Should I spend an hour trying to bargain a few dollars off the price of these jeans, or spend the day wandering around downtown trying to find something that looks similar to save a few bucks? Or should I spend my time on where it counts, which (for me) is making sales for my business? To me it's obvious what the answer is. Anyway, I shouldn't have gone shopping with him. His business is not growing, and mine is. It's probably because he has a focus on trying to save money to stay alive, while mine is on making sales and expanding the business. For him, saving every $100 matters, and it was probably painful for him to be in a store like that. If I had known this ahead of time I wouldn't have gone with him. My business was very unsuccessful until quite recently, but now it is successful and growing, so I also have had to change my mindset, from one of being broke all the time to having many profitable opportunities. Part of that is being able to be relaxed about spending money on things that matter to my business, or to me personally, whether that means getting a new pair of top-quality jeans, or a new top-quality computer system, or a highly qualified employee. It's all part of the same mindset. And that's why, hey, it's time for me to get some really nice clothes, whatever it costs, and that's why I'm on this site (and others) and trying to learn more. My friend A should not blow money he doesn't have, but at this stage he should start to change the way he thinks and focus more on making income and less on staying alive by pinching pennies. Sorry for the rant... I'm happy with my jeans, and will go back there soon to pick up a jacket (made by genuine otakus) to go with them! My next mission is to get in better shape (lose 10 lbs) so I can have more clothing choices. It seems like 34 waist is about the limit of good-looking clothing, and right now I'm at an honest 36. I love top-quality hand-made Japanese stuff. The world is so full of Walmart-quality stuff, but I don't want to have a Walmart-quality life. Btw, about the jeans: I love the Japanglish text on them! I bet they did that intentionally!
post fit pictures.

 

[phoenixrecon]

agreed

 

[NotTooLate]

Originally Posted by i_pod_sux

post fit pictures.

Will do! I'll also be getting a jacket there.

Part of why I'm so excited about this... this is the first time I've gone shopping for clothes in YEARS. (Not counting buying the occasional utilitarian dress shirt at Marshals.)

I'm also now making a serious weight-loss effort. I need to lose 10lbs to have a good fit in good clothes.

 

[Makeshift_Robot]

Originally Posted by Insensitive

OP, I don't believe you're much past college age.

Anyone who communicates so poorly as in your initial isn't going to go very far up the ladder at any concern of significant size. Also, anyone can start their own business and choose to incorporate, hiring themselves as CEO. If you're a CEO, my guess is that you're also the only employee at your firm.

Really? In my experience, large companies don't give a **** about whether you write well, as long as you can effectively communicate in writing. I don't think this guy is Borges or Vonnegut but his rant was pretty legible. Also, "Anyone who communicates so poorly as in your initial" doesn't make a lick of ******* sense, so I assume you're an amusement park caricature artist or something.

And being a douchebag on the internet earns you no points. Zero. Not even enough to buy a cup of coffee.

 

[macuser3of5]

hah, our company ceo sends our dept director single sentence, no caps emails all the time. real baller don't give a **** style.

 

[softy]

shop alone in future

 

[david3558]

Originally Posted by macuser3of5

hah, our company ceo sends our dept director single sentence, no caps emails all the time. real baller don't give a **** style.

Same situation over at the place I worked last year...

 

[thekunk07]

a ceo should not be wearing any of that crap honestly unless you're the ceo of cabela's

Originally Posted by NotTooLate

Will do! I'll also be getting a jacket there.

Part of why I'm so excited about this... this is the first time I've gone shopping for clothes in YEARS. (Not counting buying the occasional utilitarian dress shirt at Marshals.)

I'm also now making a serious weight-loss effort. I need to lose 10lbs to have a good fit in good clothes.

 

[aaaeeeiiiooouuu]

Originally Posted by thekunk07

a ceo should not be wearing any of that crap honestly unless you're the ceo of cabela's

Yeah, CEOs should only wear suits, all the time. Just suits. Suits for sportswear. Suits to bed. Suits to the movies. Suits to dinner. This is definitely how things work in reality.

 

[Riio]

i enjoy the fact that makeshift_robot makes the forum a little less catty