I was 16 years old. It was my first day of work at McDonald's. I had on my Tommy Hilfiger striped shirt with the traditional American colors that Hilfiger is famous for. This was when he became the IT thing with young black kids...around 1994. In retrospect, it wasn't very cute. Kind of manly even. Not my style at all. I'm a very feminine girl. But I bought it because it was a Tommy Hilfiger. I sported it with my Levi's.
So when I get to McDonald's, they tell me that they don't have my uniform ready and I will have to work in my Tommy Hilfiger shirt. I was not happy, but I did it. It was kind of funny, because people kept asking me questions. When I told them to stop asking me questions on my first day, one guy said "but you have on the shift leader shirt". I barked back "THIS IS NOT A SHIFT LEADER SHIRT. IT IS A TOMMY HILFIGER". From the look on his face...he was impressed. The next shift we shared, he said "aren't you that girl that had on that pretty shirt". Isn't it funny how a name brand can not only make a self-proclaimed girly girl spend money on something that is anything but girly, and also make a McDonald's Shift Leader shirt go from "uniform" to "pretty".
Well, I'm 30 years old now, so it takes more than a name to make me spend my hard earned money. But many people in the black community will spend their last dime to have a name brand...and it's not just the 16 year olds. Why is it that the black community spends so much money on clothes? It makes sense to spend money in direct proportion to the amount of money that you make...but not us. We will make $30,000 a year and have 10 pair of $200 jeans in our closet...AND BRAG ABOUT IT! It's maddening! And you are talking to a girl who loves a deal. I love to talk with my friends about how I bought a pair of Donna Karan shoes for $45...regular price $200, but what I can't stand is talking to someone who brags about buying a pair of Donna Karan shoes. Or those people that get something expensive for a really reasonable price and tries to make you believe they spend full price. But that's neither here nor there. I feel material things like clothes are one of the reasons blacks do not build wealth like others. And by no means is this the only reason...nor is it the top reason. But we have to stop falling for the crap. It is very possible to look nice and not spend all your money on clothes.
WHERE DID THIS COME FROM? Well I was on Mediatakeout. I check them out everyday even thought they anger me without fail. The title of the post was "JADA PINKETT SMITH PHOTO'D PLAYING GOLF ... AND ROCKIN' THIS SEASONS HOTTEST FASHION ACCESSORY - THE GUCCI BELT!!" And they posted a picture of a regular belt. Then there were posts of people saying "you don't have to be rich to buy Gucci. I have a lot of Gucci." And no, you don't have to be rich to buy Gucci, but if you are going to spend $245 on a belt...you should be pretty well off. Yes, that's not a typo. $245! These same people buying this belt have a child with no college fund, don't own a home, and have low credit scores. We have to be more financially savvy than we are.
I have a theory that many of us grew up without the opportunity to own these things...so now we spend all of our money on it. It's just a theory. I was talking to a friend the other day that has a friend that brags about everything from jewels, to furniture, to curtains. She said the friend was telling her about baby furniture that she had ordered and told her "my husband will be so upset when he finds out how much I spent". Being that my friend was tired of hearing monetary figures when she talked to this lady...she didn't even take the bait and ask how much it was. So she says the lady continues to talk about how she spent "too much" on the furniture. My friend just nodded. So finally the lady tells her how much she spent. My friend just said "oh, really". Why do so many of us feel our worth is measured by how much we spend...not how much we have...but how much we spend.
I end this post with this story. I said to a coworker once "you are so dumb". She thought I said "you are so poor" and got very upset. When I told her what I said...she said "oh, I was about to be mad". lol She would rather be considered dumb than being considered poor. Just wake up my people.
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