(Mental) Recession leads to Forever 21

The last few days have been extremely emotional and uncertain for me, mentally. I cannot begin to explain this newfound stress that has taken over ever waking moment that I have with regards to so many aspects of my life now. I know I am too young for this (hogwash) but since I have always believed that I am an old soul trapped in the body of a young adult, I shall continue trooping on. These days, words of encouragement do not even sound realistic anymore.

I've been asking Jesus for favours but he does have a long line of people to get to before it is my turn. I have a deadline, godamnit! Yes, apparently swearing and using the Lord's name in vain will push me to the back of the line even quicker. I've never had the need to be considered a good Christian (to the folks upstairs) until now.

One of the harder aspects of the recession is the immediate lifestyle change that must be adapted to in order to preserve monetary reserves. For one, I can no longer buy many types of products and services I have grown accustomed to and the worse part is that absolute, defeating feeling when I knowingly pay money for an immensely sub-standard alternative.

Take for example my first "unnecessary purchase" last week at the very popular Forever 21 store.

Sidebar regarding F21:
Yes, they of the devout-Christian, professional-counterfeiting Korean couple of Los Angeles! I don't buy their goods not only because they rip-off every dead and living designer they can get their hands on but also because you really get what you pay for in that store. The shoes are not $9.99 without a good reason. Remember folks, counterfeit is theft -- so much for being devout-Christian Koreans! I believe all designers should follow Diane von Furstenberg's move and sue their asses. Buy the real thing or don't buy at all.

So back to the story:
I had been hunting for a pair of blue coloured jeans for a "long time" (about 2 years) now. I am not talking about "regular denim" (which, these days, are popularly washed in a dark indigo-denim tint); I am talking about the type of blue that you look at and you say, "That is lapis," or azure, or turquoise, or cerulean -- that kind of blue. So guess where I found the perfect azure blue jeans -- no prizes -- at the godamn Forever 21 store, for a dirt-cheap full retail price of $13.50! This pair was about 7% of what I usually pay for a pair of jeans. Just too good to be true. The colour was unbelievably beautiful -- saturation was spot-on.

I tried them on and there was the immediate tell. The jeans were $13.50 for a reason. The label may have claimed 98% cotton, 2% spandex but it felt more like 3% or 4% spandex. The weave was not as tight as a $200 pair and the texture was thinner. I sighed many times. I told myself I don't look good in skinny jeans anyway (actually no one does, except 5'10" runway models) so why buy this; I had so many pairs of them already. I said, "You will regret this purchase after you wash it because this horrendously cheap fabric will be out of shape." For all the men reading this post: yes, we women talk like this in our heads.

But I bought it. I don't like counterfeiting Koreans who claim to be running their operations as "the will of God", but I bought it anyway. The colour was perfect, and I had decided to convince myself that if I were to survive this recession, I must buy within my means. I shudder to think if I will dare to give up my cashmere sweaters for acrylic but we shall see. This is a push-comes-to-shove scenario. I do not wish to be in such a desperate situation.

I've been wearing the jeans for most of the weekend and when I paired them with an awesome sky-high pair of cognac-coloured, leather gladiators yesterday, the compliments were beaming. I guess recession fashion will be quite manageable, at least for now.