Oh, poor, poor Americans! Now that we can’t all buy the original Missoni clothes and have to settle for the Target version, we really know that the economy is in the toilet:
That’s an indication of where the market’s at, down at the lower end of the spectrum. People have a little bit of money to spend, but they’d never be able to afford the distinctive Missoni look. Once it arrives at an affordable location, it’s consumed in a frenzy.
The party’s over, and if you didn’t get there, you’re out of luck.
Unless you want to try Ebay, where Missoni labels aren’t always separated between the good stuff and the cheap stuff. Many will get burned when they over-pay for Missoni that isn’t top of the line.
You see, folks? The party is over. That party where we all walked around dressed in Missoni and Armani. How tragic. Here we were, buying expensive designer labels all the time, and now all we can do is buy out an entire new line of cheaper clothes in a day. That’s really a sign of a horrible economic downturn. Do all those people around the world who envy us our freedoms and our economic well-being even realize how horribly we are suffering here? I can’t afford the distinctive Missoni look! My life is pure, unadulterated misery.
Of course, I never noticed us being at that party of unbridled designer label consumption at all, but who cares if there is an opportunity to whine about how things are getting worse all the time?
The real tragedy, though? You might make a mistake and buy a cheap Missoni as opposed to the expensive one. O tempora, o mores! Where is the world going?
The closing sentence of the article I quoted is even better than the rest, though:
The free market can be a dangerous and ugly place, even if it’s tricked out with the vibrant color schemes of Missoni.
Yes, the free market is a crappy place, indeed, if there are so many of us who are deprived of a genuine Missoni blouse for $600. Among all the ills caused by the free market, this one is, surely, the most glaring.
Clarissa's Blog 
On Internet one can find plenty inane articles, but one can get a mistaken (?) impression from this post that you think US has no economic problems. Just today I read in one of free Israeli newspapers an article titled: “1 out of 6 Americans – below poverty line”. That’s 46.2 millions or 15.1% , a number unseen since 1993. “New York Times” reported that in 2010 alone 2.6 millions fell below poverty line, standing at 22,113$ a year for a family of 4.
All numbers are from this Hebrew article.
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I don’t like the discussions about the “poverty line” because nobody knows what it means in practical terms.
Of course, economic issues exist here. However, there is no need to trivialize them by discussing them in terms of who can buy Missoni. Why resort to something so trivial instead of talking about the unemployment, the education cuts, etc.?
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I guess the party never started for me. I’ve never owned a Missoni or an Armani …
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The party never started for me either! I like your style Clarissa and agree wholeheartedly.
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Thank you, Anonymous!
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Ehhh…. the whole [Designer Brand] for Target and H&M started before the economy collapsed, so I don’t understand his/her argument.
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I had never heard of Missoni before.
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I understand why people like designer labels like, say, Prada and Chanel, but I fail to understand what the big deal is about a brand that seemingly differentiates itself by nothing other than putting zigzags on every single item it produces.
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