Ode to Consumerism

Sooo, anyone that knows me knows I'm, well, hmmm, kinda cheap. I don't buy brand name items just because, I don't pay full price, I don't buy expensive shoes or handbags, I just don't. I don't think shirts should cost $100 because some factory worker was able to successfully stitch 'Abercrombie & Fitch' across it. I don't think jeans should cost $100 when you could get the same look by going rockclimbing in your best jeans. I think it's ridiculous, and I think I manage to pull off a good look for my dollar. But some teenybopper strolling around Salem one October weekend changed all that when I happened to look down and see her adorable gray knit boots! Without any hesitation, I stopped her and asked her where she got them. Her answer confused me at the time, so I promptly had to google them once I got home. Imagine my tummy-turning horror when I found out they were...UGGS! I have loathed this trend almost since it's inception - every girl in cookie-cutter tan boots with fur trim. It seems every female under 30 is decked out in these from September to July and it irks me, especially when paired with a tank top and daisy dukes in the middle of summer. Anyway, these boots have real wool. and come from Down Under. Big whoop. I still don't want to part with $200 so their brand name can be seen on my heel for miles around. However, these boots did not look like all the other cookie-cutter models and I could not get them out of my head. For weeks I labored over my love for them, fighting the urge to succumb just because they were the cutest boots I'd ever seen. Per my usual SOP, I decided I would buy them if and only if I could find them on sale. Well, I scoured the internet and every department store around to no avail. I bid on knock-offs on ebay, I visited all the knock-off Ugg sites originating in Hong Kong, I bought $30 knock-offs at DSW. But nothing was quite like the real thing. S0 on Friday, January 16, 2009, I bought my first and only (hopefully!!) Uggs for the full retail price of $140. *blush* Because they cost roughly $120 more than every other pair of shoes in my closet, expect to see me in them. all. the. time. Perhaps even with a sundress in August. :)