Stuff 109: Spending On Ourselves

By J.J. Atwell

Being A Woman Isn’t Cheap

Something that I’ve noticed over the years is that women spend a lot of money on themselves. For some things, it’s society that pushes them to spend more. There seems to be a pervasive thought that the more expensive a product is the more desirable. 

Think about the lowly handbag. They are available in price ranges from $30 to thousands. It seems like a lot of women are carrying around a Louis Vuitton bag these days. If you’re not aware, those things carry very large price tags. Not as large as a Hermes bag, but still quite something. 

I’m sure that some women splurge on things like that as a reward. They’ve accomplished something significant or just survived a particular challenge, and this is the reward. Not a bad idea really. Setting realistic, but stretch-goals for yourself and rewarding yourself when you achieve them can be a good strategy to push yourself. 

Back On Topic

In general, do you think women need more stuff? Think about cosmetics. A guy just needs some moisturizer and a comb for his hair. A woman needs an array of cosmetics just for her face. Yes, that’s something that us CDs know from experience. 

Women also tend to wear more jewelry everyday. Some things are simple like pearl stud earrings and a pendant. Other things move further up the scale in terms of price. A guy might spend money on a fancy watch, a ring and perhaps a bracelet. Women spend or get gifted, a lot of jewelry which they swap out depending on the occasion.

We know that women have a lot of societal pressure about how they look and act. It seems to me that this pressure is a major factor in the whole women’s fashion industry. I sometimes use the term “cheap” when talking about my femme stuff. I should probably say inexpensive instead. After all, it’s not easy being pretty, but it’s also not pretty being easy. 

Do You Spend A Lot?

I’m curious, as you accumulated your femme wardrobe and accessories did you spend a lot? How did you acquire your stuff? Did you shop in brick and mortar stores? Online shopping? Hand-me-downs? Thrifting? For me it’s a combination of all of those. 

My biggest spend on a single item, besides my breast forms or wig, is probably a dress for the beauty pageant my local group puts on. But even that was under $100. OK, so the breast forms were $300+ as was the wig. Those were my biggest spendings. But this is not a competition. Spending more doesn’t make you or me a winner. Nobody is keeping score except for your bank.

By far, my cheapest spending has been items I bought while thrifting. The wife of one of my local CD group members is an avid thrifter and I’ve benefited from her guidance several times when hitting the stores. I really haven’t tracked my spending there, but the least expensive item is probably $5 for a top. and maybe $10 for a dress or shoes. Yes, some were more expensive than that but they were still significantly cheaper than buying new. Plus there is the thrill of the hunt! I encourage you to try out thrifting. Goodwill stores have a policy where every week there is a different color that qualifies for 50% off the tag price. That can really result in a bargain. 

I’ll Be Back

I’d love to hear how you acquired your femme wardrobe. I’ll be back with more Stuff in the next installment. Comments are welcome either here on the blog or by email to Jenn6nov at-sign gmail dot com. JJ is always looking for more stuff so let me know what you would like to read about.

Wearing Stylewe

Alec Guinness femulating on the British stage in Wise Child.