Do you chase the bling?

[Ronstar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Just_Steve It depends, Makita & Milwaukee are my bling.

Quote:

Originally Posted by easysurfer Now we're talking .

My kind of bling as well.


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[rayinpenn]

My first real introduction to bling was a few years ago. A very nice woman I occasionally worked for as the data guy was at her desk perusing a website that had $2,000 plus hand bags. I was shocked that anyone would pay that for a hand bag. I probably would walk right by one and not know it. It begs the question is there some secret bling society. You know one of the blingers sees the bag and gives the special nod the person sporting the bling. Do they both look at me, see my timex, it's cloth band and share that special he's a pathetic non blingers look?

Oh and then there the whole question of counterfeit bling... My current boss has a knock off bag that she bought on the Internet. It hasn't held up well and I suspect that's the danger of counterfeit bling.. Vinyl instead of leather and poor stitching .

Many years ago my brother Paul was at the curb of our home when a guy drove up and said "pssss hey buddy." The exchange resulted in the purchase of a enormous watch with an outrageous amount of 'diamonds' on it. This thing was so bid and gaudy it was a bling mockery. It came out of a paper bag I'm sure my larcenous brother thought it was stollen bling. It broke in short order - hey Paul the bling God knows...

When I met my wife she had stone mountain hand bags. I think the were about $200 at the time. One of them started to lose color so she shipped it back to them and they repaired it. I thought wow just like a craftsman tool - I ask why would you want more than that?

I've have to go into the office today. I'll be on the lookout for the bling; it pains me to think my bling spotting skills are so poor. I think it may be related to my no mall policy. The Mrs. buys my golf shirts, slacks, underwear and jeans I rarely if ever enter a store. When I do go I buy 7 of everything - you know no need to go back for a while. I must admit those shirts with the polo guy on them seem to hold up well. I guess when she buys them for $25 each they are kinda a poor mans bling. Omg I'll bet there are bling dress shirts and That I am unaware of. This bling thing has me a bit worried.

Oh and I have to say it I think most women are better bling spotters then guys. Which brings me back to my buddy who spotted all the bling - just how did he know that stuff was bling?

[rayinpenn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronstar My kind of bling as well. Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

Me too... Tools give me comfort.


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[Mulligan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by golfnut I'm a guy who just a month ago finally traded my flip phone for a smart phone. I drive a 12 yr old car and very content with it. Can't stand wearing any jewelry (rings or necklaces or even a wrist watch). Haven't wore my wedding ring in 15 yrs. (been married for almost 31 yrs). My finger got too fat.

You make me feel like a blinger, Golf. I got my first smartphone 6 weeks ago, and I am very content with my 8 year old vehicle. I guess it can be hard for some like you to keep up with the trendier folks like me. Hang in there!


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[Nemo2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rayinpenn Many years ago my brother Paul was at the curb of our home when a guy drove up and said "pssss hey buddy." The exchange resulted in the purchase of a enormous watch with an outrageous amount of 'diamonds' on it.

Reminded me of being in Naples in 1960.......guys would sidle up to you on the street, make a point of exaggeratingly looking in all directions, (ostensibly for police I guess), and slowly & carefully remove a small tissue paper wrapped item from their pants pocket, treating it as if it had inestimable value........a piece of crap ring.....the implication, of course, being that it was stolen and highly valuable.

The show itself was well worth the (zero) price of admission.

[rayinpenn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by athena53 I love bling- in moderation. I also keep good things in classic styles for years. My newest Coach bag is 13 years old. I've got a lovely stash of cashmere sweaters that cost hundreds of dollars each. The oldest was purchased in London in 1983. I pace myself, though. I don't sell all the previous season's stuff to thrift shops so I can have the latest styles. My next splurge will be to have the diamonds from my mother's and great-great-aunt's engagement rings with a 3rd diamond I'll buy to match the smaller one-in platinum, of course!

It occurs to me you are the worst of all - a 'bling hoarder'. I think you should be ashamed of yourself.



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[bclover]

See the problem with what I feel is stupid assumption is that "bling" means different things to different people.

People here go on and on about driving 10+ year old cars but will turn around and drop thousands of dollars on travel.
Well why is travel an acceptable use of money but a expensive purse is not? because on this form there are rules on how someone spends money, some are good, some are deemed bad.
I don't like to travel except maybe to Disneyworld. I would bet a sizable chunk of change that people spend way more on their travel than I do on my LV bag, yet from the tone of this thread guess which one would be consider "bad"?

Now the op, mentioned an lovely consultant. Do the coworkers know if she's rich? maybe she comes from a wealthy family and her "bling" is standard. My son roomed with a guy they call FEZ. Fez which I later found out was a nickname for Foreign exchange student was from Qatar. His parents where some mega rich bankers back home who didn't want FEZ riding around on public transportation in a big American city so sent him a new Benz almost yearly. by this forums standard he would be "chasing" the "bling", to FEZ's parents they are simply providing him with basic transportation.

Now me, I admit I love designer bags, I have absolutely no problem admitting it. I may buy one, once every 7-10 years and if you followed another thread of mine I tend to sell the one's I'm not using. Ironically I don't wear a lot of jewelry and I don't like flying so I'm not going to europe annually, hate cruises and not buying an RV.

So I think when we make fun of people chasing the "bling" what the real problem is they are not spending their money on what we feel is acceptable.

[Aerides]

It's very easy to say "why would someone EVER spend that on that...." you can make that argument simply, and it's very easy to say that Utility+Price should always win, but where's the fun in that?

Sometimes I buy fresh flowers, put them in a vase on my coffee table. Completely useless, but they are pretty, smell nice, and give me a smile when I walk by. Worth it.

ETA - bclover - fellow purse lover here, prada (same as you on the frequency, etc.)

[eytonxav]

Have been a car lover most of my life, although not from a bling perspective.

[MRG]

Not really bling but there was a time when we bought very nice things we liked. I don't need two Wilson's, but we have a pair.

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[Amethyst]

I hope you're kidding. I think athena is cool and I enjoy reading about her stuff. It's impossible to wear everything at one time unless you want to look like a bag lady, so her approach makes sense.

I adore jewelry, have since I was a little girl. What I've spent per year on jewelry adds up to about what other people spend on going out to eat. Which I don't do, because I'm a good cook. Judge all you like. "No sense, no feeling" as my Dad used to say....

By the way, I was in Annapolis as late as last fall (USNA football game) but I never saw a Ferrari there. A Ferrari would be miserable, creeping around traffic circles at 10mph. Annapolitans have boats.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rayinpenn It occurs to me you are the worst of all - a 'bling hoarder'. I think you should be ashamed of yourself. Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forumh

[athena53]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rayinpenn It occurs to me you are the worst of all - a 'bling hoarder'. I think you should be ashamed of yourself. Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forumh

To each his own. You wanna wear plastic shoes from PayLess, made by slave labor in China, that break and have to be thrown into a landfill and replaced every year? Be my guest. With the exception of my jewelry, which is a definite splurge, my values for buying clothing and shoes- buy good quality and wear it for years-are remnants of a less-materialistic era.

[MichaelB]

Surely rayinpenn's post was tongue in cheek. Let's keep it friendly, eh?

[explanade]

I don't have any jewelry and no longer buy label clothes as much -- no more $60 Ralph Lauren shirts. Never cared about fancy shoes, no interest at all whatsoever in Rolex or similar watches.

I do buy DOC French or Italian wines but they're at Trader Joe's and usually under $10 a bottle.

I buy Apple gear, which is aspirational in some places like China.

I have a 10 year old Civic with just over 30k so I don't drive enough to justify a fancy car purchase. However, I'm considering leasing a BMW to do it for the European Delivery experience and savings.

But most of these premium products that I own or consider buying are those that I consider to deliver superior performance, like my Nikon gear.

I just ordered some bluetooth headphones for an upcoming trip. Mostly listen to podcasts these days so performance isn't great but I used to like audiophile gear back in the day so I wanted no part of the Bose QC headphones -- Bose has a deserved poor reputation among audiophiles.

I found reviews on some nice gear, some at $400 and above. I went for a $150 model to try out (haven't worn an over the ear set of headphones in a long time). I'm sure there will be a lot of people with Bose QCs in my flights but I think the price is a feature for that product than the sound quality.

[Amethyst]

I don't much try to keep up with anybody; that's such a hopeless task.

For some reason, I enjoy having things that absolutely no one else has, or even has thought of. That's why I make my own jewelry now.

At the same time, I do try to stay somewhat within established norms of fashion. I don't want to turn into one of those older ladies who are so eclectic and "original" that they end up looking like a cross between a bag lady and a praying mantis - with 6 items of clothing, huge ethnic jewelry, and big goggly red-framed eyeglasses.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 6miths +1 Well said. I imagine that Bling and FIRE are not absolutely mutually exclusive but must be pretty close. Most folks that I know who get into the keeping up with the Jones's mode are never able to voluntarily turn it off.

[Bestwifeever]

I don't think there's any moral superiority about eschewing expensive items in favor of cheaper ones, and I don't think most men and perhaps many women see the beauty in a finely made handbag. I don't have one but I do think they are lovely.

Some people think $200 handbags are ridiculously overpriced btw.

[Sittingduck]

I am loaded down with bling. I have a gold wedding ring, and carry a $17 pocket knife.

[Nemo2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amethyst I don't want to turn into one of those older ladies who are so eclectic and "original" that they end up looking like a cross between a bag lady and a praying mantis - with 6 items of clothing, huge ethnic jewelry, and big goggly red-framed eyeglasses.

Now there's an image it'll be hard to shake from my subconscious!

[Marita40]

I have no interest in jewelry, designer clothes, fancy cars, etc. However I just spent relatively big bucks on a beautiful, classic-looking new kitchen (creamy inset cabinets, soapstone countertops, red oak floor, new appliances). It is MY version of bling, and it is fabulous!

[mpeirce]

I think the OP's statement about "I'm guessing there owners want to be noticed" is the essence of "Bling". The fairly basic need to be noticed for something.

Maybe it's a closet filled with designer bags or maybe it's a garage filled with high end tools. It all depends on the circle of people you're in or aspire to.

For me it's the new MacBook I picked up this spring. Over priced? Maybe, but sleek and light and very nice. I enjoy it a lot.

Does anyone notice? Well, DS came home from college and noticed. No one else really, but that was enough for me to maintain my position as alpha geek in the household.