Almost Packed

Caveat Emptor and The Danger of Bag Blogs

In The Cult of The Amateur Andrew Keen makes a few low blows about the ability of the average consumer to understand his consumption choices as a buttress to his central thesis that blogging is quite reprehensible. Apparently the fact that all of us are constantly blogging with very little discrimination makes the addled consumer even more confused about what is and is not worthwhile in life. The trouble phenomenon of extended adolescence aside, we aren't much for a didactic press.

Perhaps it makes it harder for some consumers to have a multitude of voices vouching for their fashion preferences. But our mothers always told us you can't always believe what you read. And seeing is not always believing. And even at a low resolution we are pretty sure you can still tell which bag is a Balenciaga Matelasse and what is a random quilted bag from Forever 21. And if you can't, or won't, be bothered to do a little due diligence on your shopping then you don't have much right to complain. Caveat Emptor now more than ever!

Ugg Shearling Backpack

Hannah Arendt famously used the phrase "the banality of evil" in her description of Nazi genocide in World War Two. Most of us have come to associate this phrase with platitudes like "at least the fascists made the trains run on time." However, "banal" was not meant to position these actions as workaday.

Rather it is meant to contest the prevalent depictions of the Nazi's inexplicable atrocities as having emanated from a malevolent will to do evil, a delight in murder. As far as Arendt could discern, Eichmann came to his willing involvement with the program of genocide through a failure or absence of the faculties of sound thinking and judgment.

We feel like this distinction may be critical to understanding the sheer banality of this Ugg Shearling Backpack available at Victoria's Secret. It isn't evil or even a terrible idea. It simply came about through a lack of sound thinking. And the fact that it continues to be purchased compounds that lack of judgment.

Stella McCartney Sage Patent Saddle Bag

Pierre Bourdieu developed theories of social stratification based on aesthetic taste in his work Distinction. Bourdieu claims that how one chooses to present one’s aesthetic dispositions, depicts one’s status and distances oneself from lower groups. The classic example of this tendency in fashion is our obsession with carrying status bags. But in a world of multifaceted concerns standing out can be more about subtle cues. Quietly carrying an environmentally friendly and Vegan Stella McCartney Sage Patent Saddle Bag is a signifier for a whole different kind of social AND socially concerned woman.

Ann Taylor Rectangular Box Evening Bag

Theodor Adorno said modernity is a qualitative, not a chronological, category. And while his beloved Frankfurt school that typified so much of the philosophy of modernity (and indeed Marxism as well) seems dated now in our post-post modern world we can in that sense we can still have fashion design that is modern. This Ann Taylor Rectangular Box Evening Bag is modernity in a box. And while Adorno had problems with mass production and aesthetics we hope that as a consumer you can see beyond pseudo-individualization and use this bag to make your own style.