this post was submitted on 31 Oct 2024
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Showerthoughts

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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. A showerthought should offer a unique perspective on an ordinary part of life.

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This is especially true with luxury brands like Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Prada. People are either trying to impress others with fakes, or they’ve actually paid full price to become walking billboards.

Similar thing with iPhone cases that have a cutout for the Apple logo. That's just hilarious.

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[–] oce@jlai.lu 93 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

The funny thing is that the rich people know that those are 2nd class luxury. The real luxury clothes do not have big logos, they are made with expensive materials like silk, cashmere and other expensive hand crafted fabrics that most people can only afford exceptionally. Most Luxury brand sold their soul for profits by creating those 2nd class that wanna-look rich people can afford, but they still sell their actually valuable products to actually rich clients, without big logos.

P.S.: those 2nd class luxury are made in the same Asian sweatshops as the fast fashion like H&M, while real luxury are made by highly skilled workers, usually in Western countries.

[–] Albbi@lemmy.ca 87 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] pineapplelover@lemm.ee 11 points 3 weeks ago

Man I love Calvin and Hobbes

[–] kamen@lemmy.world 62 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Same sentiment here - but with the exception of band t-shirts and other merchandise - where in most cases you do want to show your support for the artist.

[–] ContrarianTrail@lemm.ee 45 points 3 weeks ago (5 children)

I definitely consider a band shirt an ad as well, but wearing one feels like a conscious decision to show your preference for that band and perhaps attract like-minded people. With clothing brands, however, it’s more about signaling wealth and status rather than admiration for the brand itself. You're wearing an ad and being oblivious to it.

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[–] SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world 32 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

With those luxury brands the bigger the logo the cheaper it is. The really expensive stuff doesn’t have a logo or is small and subtle.

Just look at the stuff Hermes makes. Almost nothing has a logo and if it has it just a subtle “H” They are one of the few luxury brands that hasn’t followed the luxury street wear fad and are growing in sales. While the more mainstream luxury brands like Gucci and LV are losing customers since those brands are being associated with trashy people, because of their focus on mainstream “luxury” street wear. Like in my country street thugs wear Gucci and LV.

[–] stoly@lemmy.world 14 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Yep. Real high end clothing just looks like clothing. You have no idea that the person you are talking to has an $800 sweater on.

[–] Rubanski@lemm.ee 9 points 3 weeks ago

And it just looks very good, no flashy Blingbling and such, very subtle. Can't afford it tho. In Seoul and Singapore was a very high density of people wearing this kind of clothing

[–] atro_city@fedia.io 24 points 3 weeks ago

They are walking billboards.

[–] cRazi_man@lemm.ee 24 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (3 children)

They are fulfilling their purpose though. These people are trying to announce their "status" in society so others know how rich and successful they are. They're not advertising the brand, they're using the brand to advertise themselves. The problem is that a lot of people in society are actually impressed by shit like that.

[–] ContrarianTrail@lemm.ee 25 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

They are, in fact, advertising the brand though.

I wouldn’t criticize an athlete for wearing a jacket covered in sponsor logos - they’re the ones getting paid to wear it. With clothing brands, though, it’s the exact opposite.

I’m also unsure how well this signaling actually works. It feels a lot like name-dropping; almost everyone does it, yet no one seems genuinely impressed by it.

[–] cRazi_man@lemm.ee 16 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

yet no one seems genuinely impressed by it

You're living in a bubble. Very many people are impressed, even if you and I aren't. I never cared or knew about these things before. But my wife does know about brands and will point out when someone is wearing over £20000 in their outfit. My parents push me to buy an expensive car "because of how it appears" to have the more luxury brand car (even when I don't care). My cousin says he has to go on holiday to fancy places to keep up with what other parents/kids talk about in their private school.

I think it is all nonsense as well, but the reason so many people still do it is because it absolutely works. Most people are certainly impressed even if you aren't.

There's plenty to learn about this if you want. But not understanding this at all and dismissing it is living in an ill-informed bubble. For Lemmy nerds the status might not come from Gucci shirts, but instead might come from Thinkpad laptops, more difficult to use Linux distros and socially liberal virtue signalling. Portraying status is part of the human condition and takes many forms (most of which are very absurd).

[–] ContrarianTrail@lemm.ee 11 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

my wife does know about brands and will point out when someone is wearing over £20000 in their outfit

Here’s the difference: that 20k outfit doesn’t have logos all over it. Your average SUPREME enjoyer isn’t going to recognize an outfit like that - only those truly informed on the matter, or other wealthy individuals, would. It’s like wearing an entry-level Rolex; it hardly impresses anyone. A true baller wears an unassuming Patek Philippe. There are those pretending to be wealthy who can only fool poor people, and then there are those who may not seem wealthy at a glance, but those in the know can tell.

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[–] stoly@lemmy.world 21 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

Yep. Some years ago, I made the decision to never wear logos or anything with a brand name on it. It's a silly thing to do and there are plenty of clothes out there that are just clothes.

[–] 4lan@lemmy.world 6 points 3 weeks ago

I've always been this way for some reason. I even de-badged my car. Looks so clean with no model name IMO Always putting tape over the brand name on TV's and monitors, matching the bezel color of course

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[–] 4lan@lemmy.world 20 points 3 weeks ago

I was literally just thinking this less than an hour ago. The idea of paying to be a billboard is wild to me I get bands, but brands??

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 19 points 3 weeks ago

This reminds me of "Back to the Future", where Lorraine calls Marty "Calvin Klein", after she had seen his underwear...

[–] MicrowavedTea@infosec.pub 16 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

This is happening with non-luxury brands too. I was looking for a simple sports t-shirt lately and it's actually really hard to find one without a huge brand logo at the front. Do people actually like this?

[–] s38b35M5@lemmy.world 11 points 3 weeks ago

Some do like it, but I'm with you; I skip the logo'd clothing.

I've made an exception once or twice for a logo that actually looks good. I think that is, considering how many pieces of clothing I've seen and not chosen, something like a one-in-a-million chance.

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[–] Stomata@buddyverse.one 14 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Now we need an Ad blocker.

[–] BreadOven@lemmy.world 14 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Maybe we already do and aren't aware of it?

Edit: /s if it wasn't obvious.

[–] marx2k@lemmy.world 14 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

I find the same to be true when people buy cars with illuminated insignia in the grill. Mercedes Benz, Volkswagen, for example.

[–] piskertariot@lemmy.world 4 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

I would challenge you to find a modern automobile manufacturer who doesn't make their logo huge and illuminated. Also, you can no longer remove them, as they're often now build into the body-work or grille .

[–] marx2k@lemmy.world 6 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I've never seen an illuminated logo from manufacturers other than those I've listed. Large, sure. Though some like Kia or Hyundai I haven't seen get huge. Honda, maybe?

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[–] Paradachshund@lemmy.today 13 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

It's a symbol of wealth. They want you to know the brand because it tells others they have the means to afford it.

I totally agree with you, though. It's tacky.

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[–] scytale@lemm.ee 11 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

The only other type of clothing with clear, visible branding I own aside from band shirts is tech vendor shirts from conferences. But those I get for free, so I didn’t exactly pay to become their billboard.

[–] marx2k@lemmy.world 6 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

"Free"

The amount of money that those conferences cost my job and the amount of time I spend blocking cold calls from vendors that gave me shwag...

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[–] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 11 points 3 weeks ago

Peacocking. It's called Peacocking.

Not only are you advertising how much money you've spent, but also how uncreative you are with your money.

[–] Jumi@lemmy.world 11 points 3 weeks ago

I have a hoodie that has "Moshed Potatoes" on it and you should get it too.

[–] idiomaddict@lemmy.world 9 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I get most of my clothing free (I’m not picky and I’m a common size), so at least in my case, sometimes I paid nothing to look like an advertisement. I don’t really care what’s on the shirt, and some of them are logos I don’t recognize, so it could be anything. It’s there to keep me from being arrested or kicked out, and my primary criteria are comfort in texture and temperature. If it’s comfy, has no holes/stains and fits well, I’m not worried about what design it has on it.

…To a point, I’m not wearing anything bigoted (though part of me enjoys the idea of a queer autistic immigrant getting use out of bigotry by wearing it inside out, but not enough)

My favorite sweatshirts are my uniform sweatshirts from the bakery I work at- they’re high quality and comfy as hell, plus I’ll never, ever wear them at work because it’s a bakery, it’s hot as fuck.

[–] s38b35M5@lemmy.world 6 points 3 weeks ago

has no holes/stains

Snob

/s

[–] kambusha@sh.itjust.works 8 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Sports jerseys are even worse. You pay a fortune, to wear plastic, and then you have 3-4 sponsors plastered all over the shirt.

[–] oce@jlai.lu 6 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

And the next year the t-shirt is expired because the player changed number or club, ka-ching! It's like the football video games, they can sell the same low quality goods every year by just claiming that they updated the teams.

[–] d00phy@lemmy.world 7 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Generally, I agree with this. Not quite w/ regards to Nike and some other brands, (most of Nike's competitors, Apple) , since they put the logo on everything as part of their design asthetic. Whether you like that or not is personal choice, of course. Personally, I miss the old colorful Apple logo.

With luxury brands, yeah it's a blatant cash grab extracting money from poorer people by selling them the mirage of owning something luxurious. The stuff you buy at the mall isn't sold at their Rodeo Drive location! That said, some luxury brands do qualify for "buy it for life" status, though having the kind of quality isn't exclusive to luxury brands (see also: Zippo lighters, and many many other solid, reasonably priced brands).

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[–] jaggedrobotpubes@lemmy.world 7 points 3 weeks ago

They want me to wear that shit, their asses can pay me a monthly subscription.

And then still no lol.

[–] dan1101@lemm.ee 6 points 3 weeks ago

Yeah I think if you're going to be advertising their brand the product should be free or they should even be paying you to wear it out in public.

[–] 5714@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Have you seen music lyrics? They're full of advertisements.

People pride themselves to be walking billboards. I think it somewhat resembles wearing the coat of arms of your lord in the millennia before.

[–] brrt@sh.itjust.works 7 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

You’re probably talking about pop/rap? Because I’m pretty sure that there isn’t a single song in my music library that mentions products/brands.

[–] Baggins 4 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

I thought that about my music collection. Apart from one of the tracks on 'Selling England By The Pound' I don't think I have either ;-)

The band - Genesis. The track - 'Aisle of Plenty'. The year - 1973

[–] brrt@sh.itjust.works 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Damn, I think I just remembered one too. There’s a certain Tool song…

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[–] Lysergid@lemmy.ml 5 points 3 weeks ago

See no problem as long as person genuinely likes branding, not because “flex”. For example i have Adidas Original hoodie and I like it has huge logo coz it’s iconic design of hoodie from golden era of hip-hip and break dance. I would never wear same from other brand or even “three stripes” logo from the same brand.

[–] TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

100% agreed, but this doesn't seem like a shower thought.

[–] ContrarianTrail@lemm.ee 10 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

I was conteplating between Unpopular Opinion and Showerthought but it feels more like an thought than an opinion and I don't think it's very unpopular either.

[–] TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 10 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Honestly, I think you chose right just because I don't think this is that unpopular an opinion. Maybe there should be a grindsmygears community for people to air their annoyances, but I can imagine that going downhill from sensible stuff like this to kind of a cesspool.

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