fashion of the stupid

[enochs_fable]

From NYT:
“I’ve suffered major back, neck and shoulder pain from carrying heavy bags,” said Kimberly Whalen, 37, a literary agent in New York who recently bought the ubiquitous black Chanel carryall, which more than one fashion Web site has compared to a trash bag. “I’ve even had M.R.I.’s and cortisone treatments to help alleviate the problem

Comments

[jiggliusceasar]

Considering they prescribe Ritalin for childhood, this doesn't surprise me. Why actually try to solve problems when you can drug them?

[enochs_fable]

The supreme irony is that the health care providers are telling these women, stop carrying your damn bags - but realize the women are unlikely to listen. There's an anecdote about a marathon trainer who refused to take this one woman on as a client until she stopped wearing a heavy bag. You'd think someone who ran marathons might be smart enough to listen to a trainer? Of course not. She ends up playing a cat-and-mouse game with the trainer about the use of the bag.

[georgy]

Sometimes, I hate my gender. :-)

[kickindancer]

While I agree that women who carry giant ugly bags so their backs hurt, or wear horribly uncomfortable shoes so they can't walk are morons, there are plenty of equal opportunities for men to be stupid. Only more in the opposite way---this kind of woman will go out and buy fashionable things that are uncomfortable or even harmful. It seems that similar kind of men are more likely to avoid things that might be useful or helpful because they don't want to look "girly." Like a man who breaks his ankle and insists its only a sprain and of course he can play basketball on it. 'Cause going to the doctor and wearing a cast and hobbling around on crutches is somehow feminine and makes him look gay?

[enochs_fable]

Heh. I don't think it's that it makes him look gay, but it makes him look injured, and therefore less masculine.

A better analogy would be guys who refuse to wear hats when it's freezing out, and get frostbit ears!

[kickindancer]

I don't see how it looks gay either, but since many men fear looking gay that's what I thought of first. I think it's more complex than though---looking injured=looking less masculine=therefore must look feminine=feminine on a man looks gay. I think that's how one might go from sprained ankle to gay.

I read something about that in a book recently---the whole masculine image thing and men. It said something to the effect of "if it's not masculine, then it's feminine, and men want to be men, not women"

[halleyscomet]

Good Lord these things are ugly.

[enochs_fable]

Ha! They do look like trash bags!

I have to say though, from watching some of those fashion design shows, there is something to it. I'll agree that there are certainly people in the high-end of things who design things without a nod towards, oh, wearability or usefulness, but there are certainly fashion-folk who design stuff for actual people to wear. They're just not as fun to mock!

[kickindancer]

That's what the bag is? It's hideous

[enochs_fable]

Check their return policy and guarantee? Just to be sure?

[fshk]

In defense of big bag carriers, some of us New York women have a lot of stuff to carry around.

That said, the Chanel bags are really ugly and if my big bag were causing me back problems, I'd change my modus operandi.

[enochs_fable]

I'm sure you do, but like you, I'd think that anyone with a modicum of common sense, when running into back and shoulder problems caused by heavy bags would take preventative measures. Like evaluating what they carry everyday to see if perhaps, they really actually use everything they have with them, or if there aren't alternate solutions - leaving gym clothes at the gym, etc., or ways to slim down the contents.

[fshk]

Yeah, I don't know. It's hard to convey the need to carry around a lot of stuff to people who are more streamlined than I am. I can see where these ladies are coming from, but I always pick comfort over fashion, so my big bag is not causing scoliosis or whatever, but there is a lot of stuff in there, and I view all of it as necessary.

Painful shoes, I don't get, though. I'd wear sneakers every day if I could.

[enochs_fable]

Of course you view it as necessary, otherwise you wouldn't have it in there, right? The question is - is your assessment borne out by actual frequent use, or do you end up carrying a lot of 'in case' items that you never (or rarely) end up using? This is a rhetorical question, not a challenge (since you're not snapping under the weight of your bag.)

I also don't get painful shoes.

[quezz]

I wonder if these women keep their pursedogs in those bags too...?

[enochs_fable]

Probably!

I've always wondered, where do purse-dogs go to the bathroom?