Buy and Hold: The Comparison Trap

Mr. Buffet and I met for a sandwich lunch to to chat about 2025 goals. My fantasy finance advisor mentioned that consumer credit card debt continues to rise. Mr. B. views credit card debt as Kryptonite for one's savings and, more significantly to him, investing. 

He says that people are continuing to spend in a "Covid Compensation" mode even now. I added that  a depressing trend has arisen as prices rise: the Comparison Trap, which begins by flirting with a pricey purchase, then thinking I could have spent $$$ on this,  but I'll find something cheaper and spend $$, a few times over. Net result, you spent almost as much—if not more— for mediocre goods.

And when women shop for clothes and accessories, the Comparison Trap is practically built in.

I met a girlfriend I'll call "Claire" at an upscale mall. She likes to dart into gaspingly expensive boutiques, to, as she said, "pet the fabrics", like a brushed-cashmere sweater. She found $650 steep for that fluffy fabulousness, but that is actually the going price for luxury cashmere.

Later, when we passed by H&M, our heads were turned by this chic zebra-print skirt and sweater: 

Photo: H&M

The fibre content is about equal parts poly, mohair and wool, plus 3% elastane, and the price for the outfit is about $185. This dry-clean-only ensemble would last till you tire of it which—given it's bold attitude—is counted in months, not years.

Dammit, the Comparison Trap laid right in our path. I gritted my teeth and walked by. "So if you won't buy the really expensive clothes, and you refuse fast fashion, where do you shop?", Claire asked.  The answer is, increasingly, consignment and thrift items.  A year ago, after a string of gray days, I bought a wild-print knit top from a friperie for  $18. It looks like I stole it from a skateboarder's backpack; I like to wear it with pearls.

No stranger to secondhand stores, the stylish Claire recently bought some terrific special-occasion wear on ThreadUp. 

The last articles I bought at full retail price were  cosmetics, but I've noticed significant increases. Estée Lauder Pure Colour lipstick is now $52, creeping steadily upwards from the $32 I paid around 2018. Whether your brand is budget or deluxe, mark your calendar for National Lipstick Day (an international event), July 29, 2025 when many brands offer specials, and sites like Sephora run sales.

And don't get me started on excercise wear, or as it is now called, atheleisure. An article in The New York Times,"Workout Wear Loosens Up" described a new trend: abandoning spandex leggings or shorts and skintight tops for looser, non-restricting gear— the clothes you wore in middle school gym classes, like track pants and loose tees. I followed the links to a few vendors mentioned and found clothes like this merino short-sleeve "Lucie" t-shirt by Literary Sport; price, $CDN 230. 

Photo: Literary Sport

Comparison trap alert! I looked for lower-priced equivalents from companies like Unbound Merino. Sure enough, they make a v-neck tee in 100% superfine merino for $130. (Available in many colours, in petite and regular sizes.)

Photo: Outward Bound Merino

It's not a 'trap', really, but more like a bias, and a way to validate a purchase by checking out the luxury version before buying he bridge or mid-market choice. And some of the luxury goods are wacky: a rubber boot from Balenciaga for $US 705 will make your choice look absolutely virtuous. 

Balenciaga x Crocs on netaporter

The Comparison Trap is not made of iron; sometimes there is a well-made and life-lifting thing that is worth every steep penny. Women have commented here, over the years, about a beloved Armani raincoat, Johnston's of Elgin cashmere, and a fabulous sequinned Lafayette 148 skirt. 

This is the deep pink (the colour was called Rose Pimpante) Eric Bompard cardigan I had to have nearly thirty years ago. I was so captivated by the tiny snippet of wool Bompard then included in their catalog that I paid full price. It wiped out an entire season's budget.  

Now, it still shows no fading or fraying. The exact style is sold, so I don't feel like an elderfump in it.  Certainly not all my choices are so durably delightful, but for the sake of impressing Mr. B., I tell him this is my standard.

Mr. B. likes that, because he thinks the markets are going to be chaotic, so apparel manufacturers will be even more tempted to cut quality, and worries about  the economic risks of over-production. 

He is not a noted environmentalist, so here's my chance.

I show him some interesting European stats from The European Environment Agency Twenty percent of items bought online are returned; of those,  an average of a third ends up being destroyed. His eyebrows skate up over his horn-rims.

Never too late to up the game, I figure, and that goes for me, too.