As a side-note, and in a combustion of consumption and body control, I've been honing a shopping practice that I term "consumer bulimia." It's basically the shopping equivalent of indulging in a decadent, calorie rich meal, enjoying the flavor, and then purging to avoid the long-term consequences.
This method has been made possible and encouraged by the super-lenient 365-day free-return shipping policy on websites like zappos.com and endless.com. The policy allows me to have a little taste of something luxe and out of my budget, knowing I can easily return it--I get that thrill of receiving and opening a new package, I get to see and hold the item I'd been lusting after in pixelated form, and happily, that taste is often pretty satisfying. In fact, without the benefit of professional lighting, staging, and the "zoom in" function, some items simply aren't as magnificent, and I get over my crush...ofcourse if they are amazing (and the lorissa pumps above are amaaaaazing) and you lack self-control, this tactic has its flaws.
Big, feminized, essentialist, pouty-lipped, high-heeled kisses to you all!
Marika
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ReplyDeleteDiego said...
ReplyDeleteThose pumps ARE amazing. Wonder if they have a 11 guy size? Your concept of "consumer bulimia" vis-a-vis clothing & accessories seems intriguingly close to the also digitally-assisted bulimic consumption of bodies for sexual purposes? The ability to "have a little taste of something (...) knowing I can easily return it" describes well how some digital cruising-consumption takes place. We can "sample" the bodies of the Other(s): "I get that thrill of receiving and opening a new package, I get to see and hold the item I'd been lusting after in pixelated form, and happily, that taste is often pretty satisfying." but never enough, right?
Craigslist lingo for "sexual bulimia" includes the notorious "pump and dump," in which a stranger comes over, fucks you, cums and leaves. Then another one comes in and so on. The dynamic behind Lacan's subject-seeking-the-Object-a comes to mind. The subject keeps seeking the object forever, often through the same means, caught up in the kind of repetition that always feels like the first time, the subject keeps looking forever and ever...because the object doesn't exist!
I engage in this practice too (the shopping bulimia, not the pump and dump!) It is interesting how often the object fails to live up to the desire, isn't it, either in fit or in its details? But I do like to touch things, try them on, give 'em a go... In my analog shopping days (long ago when there was time!), I also did this via return policies that used to be more generous at physical stores.
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