Here’s more stuff from my closet.
N7 Hanfu (Mass Effect color scheme) by Honestdragon [ebay]
The folks at Honestdragon are great; if it can be made out of cloth, they’ll probably make it for you if you ask them nicely. Some of the outfits in their regular offerings are based on my requests. There’s another Chinese maker on Ebay called Kiki*Kiss that makes amazing stuff. Designs I asked them to do for my ex- have found their way into their inventory. (e.g.: this and this ) A friend of mine who was getting married asked me if I had any suggestions for her – she wanted something red – so she got married in this:
Technically, that’s no longer “in my closet” since it’s in hers, now, but… I’m simply happy that such things can be called into existence.
Hanfu robes are super comfortable but long sleeves made of chiffon can be dangerous if you try to cook in them and set yourself on fire. A few winters ago, when I was playing a lot of World of Warcraft, I decided that I needed something warm to wear, and went with a heavier cotton/linen version. If you want your own you can get it [here]
I am aware that this is, literally, self-indulgence. (Also, please remember, this is a collection that took about a decade to build, so it’s not like I’ve been going crazy buying stuff like this every week) Maybe I should be putting the money to a good cause.
HonestDragon are the folks who made my Sithrak worshipper robe.
*Love* Nothing but love.
Nice duds.
Seriously nice duds.
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You seem to have bunions.
My sympathies.
Nothing wrong with a bit of self-indulgence.
You’re helping people make living doing good work that they enjoy. I’d call that a good cause.
Nothing wrong with that; why the indirect apologia?
(Me, I think it would be perverse to indulge others but deny oneself. That’s a Christian ethos, and abhorrent to me)
[Dunc, I deliberately commented before reading others’ comments. Nice to read yours. :) )
As Dunc said you are providing employment that lets others do work they likely enjoy and bring things of beuty into the world, both laudable activities.
The wedding Hanfu is especially gorgeous, I bet your friend felt fantastic wearing it, a great gift to give.
chigau@#2:
You seem to have bunions.
My sympathies.
I’m fortunate that it hasn’t bothered me much. I’ve had a few attacks of gout in one the joints of a toe (I have broken various bits of my feet several times) – that was unpleasant. I have a pretty amazing collection of western boots that I can no longer fit my feet into. That’s a bummer.
Dunc@#3:
You’re helping people make living doing good work that they enjoy. I’d call that a good cause.
That’s part of how I justify it to myself!
It’s kind of a mini, directed, globalization project direct from artisan to consumer.
Seriously, though, I read somewhere that there are small communities that have been utterly changed by Ebay: get a sewing machine and access to fabric and suddenly the women have money and they can change their lives. Sometimes these little web-based businesses can turn into significant concerns. Sure, they probably scratch their head over why the decadent American wants hanfu, but that’s a month’s wages for them against disposable income for me; it’s a good deal all around.
jazzlet@#6:
The wedding Hanfu is especially gorgeous, I bet your friend felt fantastic wearing it, a great gift to give.
She positively glowed! In fact she dyed her hair to match, which was extra super cool.
John Morales@#4:
Me, I think it would be perverse to indulge others but deny oneself. That’s a Christian ethos, and abhorrent to me
I agree. Also, something something about putting money into motion, rather than having it pile up uselessly to go into someone’s pocket when I eventually die.
I have no direct heirs, so all this stuff is going to go into a humongous yard-sale when I die and whatever money I have left is going to get ploughed into some kind of mini foundation. I need to get “on” sorting that out, I’m 54 this year and it’d be a fail move not to have that arranged and nailed down just in case.
I am aware that this is, literally, self-indulgence.
I disagree with how people usually perceive self-indulgence. If I own $3000 worth of camera gear, write with a $100 fountain pen or own expensive exotic house plants (that absolutely gorgeous Nepenthes platychila on my windowsill), then that’s self-indulgence. If somebody lives in a bigger than necessary house, owns a car (in a place with good public transport network), drinks coffee and regularly buys Coca-Cola, then that’s not self-indulgence. Why?
If we try to approach this rationally, we should start with separating necessities from luxuries. Cheap food with enough calories/vitamins/minerals and cheap clothes to keep you warm are necessities. Soft drinks, coffee, costly seafood etc. are luxuries. Same goes for owning more than the bare minimum of clothes. Or watching movies. Or owning artworks. Or pretty much anything people in the developed world do.
But somehow this is just not how people perceive it. If you buy a bottle of Coca-Cola each day for a year, you will spend quite lots of money (tap water can be a lot cheaper substitute). But nobody perceives this as a self-indulgence. If you drink tap water and use the saved money to buy an expensive item of clothing, that’s self-indulgence. Amusingly, if you spend the exact sum of money to make multiple purchases of some cheap clothes, which you wear once or twice before throwing out, that’s not self-indulgence.
So, self-indulgence boils down to:
1. Single expensive item. If multiple small purchases add up to the same amount of money, then that no longer counts.
2. Unique tastes. If all your neighbors own larger than necessary houses, then owning such a house does not count. But owning an expensive fountain pen counts, because nobody else has those.
The reality is that everybody in developed world engages in self-indulgence. We spend money on things that aren’t strictly necessary. There’s no logical reason to be self-critical if you happen to choose to spend your money on different stuff compared to what your neighbors buy.
Besides, you can also take a look at how your purchases impact others. If you commission some custom made clothes, the tailor probably makes a decent living. If you buy some cheap and disposable clothes in a shop, they were probably made in a sweatshop. Or look at the impact on the environment. Sure, manufacturing fabric requires some pretty nasty chemicals and there’s definitely some impact. But many alternatives how people choose to spend their money are even worse.
Bottom line: I don’t see anything wrong with owning cool expensive clothes.
Anyway, that red dress looks totally beautiful. Unfortunately, it also seems not practical at all. As somebody who found high heel shoes too uncomfortable/impractical I don’t even want to start thinking about how you walk in a garment that has so much fabric on the floor. But it sure looks beautiful. As long as I don’t have to wear it, I love it.
My favorite is definitely the last one. Not only it looks super cool, it also seems more comfortable.