Like, Omigod, Shopping

One of my favorite things about Mexico is that the local markets always have a thrift store-ish section...where basically a bunch of clothes are thrown onto folding tables, and you can root around until you find that pair of jeans that would cost at least $60 at home for 100 pesos. (Of course, at home, I would be making $60/hr for private tutoring instead of 100 pesos/hr, but that's another story.)

When I was in high school, my favorite store of all time was The Garment District...in a time before hipsters made mix and match vintage and trendy cool. And when I was little, my grandmother would regularly take me to the thrift stores in her neighboring towns to see what we could find. I've never been, and never will be, adverse to buying something in a sketchy-looking situation as long as I know I'm getting something quality. The idea of something falling off a truck doesn't really bother me either.

I've always been kind of ambivalent about popular brands, and I think that mostly has to do with feeling like I'm being ripped off. I don't, and never have, owned anything from Abercrombie and Fitch, Aeropostale, Hollister, and only here have I bought anything from American Eagle (awesome pants? For cheap? At aforementioned collection of folding tables? Yes.) And it also has to do with not wanting everyone to know where I got my clothing, exactly what other colors it comes in, and how much it cost. Even if a shirt is nice, if I know I am going to pass 5 people wearing the exact same thing, I'm not going to get it.

This is not to say that I have any kind of grudge against mass clothing production or mass marketing or mall stores. It's just not really my thing. And this feeling was honed over the course of a childhood and adolescence growing up in a town where, when a girl bent over, 95% of the time you could be sure of seeing "Victoria's Secret" on her underwear band. Ironically.

I know that these issues of branding, and keeping up with the Joneses, and whatnot, are part of how the US is - needing to have the right clothes and the right look to fit in. And to a certain extent, it's like that everywhere in the world. But I find it refreshing that Lucky Jeans are mixed in with the brand from WalMart at the folding tables, and what matters the most is that you find a pair that fits.

Now, all they need are dressing rooms...