There Goes "Thou Shall Not Covet"

At my age, I probably shouldn't still be succumbing to ridiculous and expensive trends, right? Because that kind of nonsense is nothing but youthful folly. Then why did I find myself caving in and buying some Hunter rain boots yesterday?

The boots I bought

I don't know how long these boots have been "in" (probably for ages), but I only began noticing them a year or two ago. They're pretty ugly, but after the insanely wet early spring we had around here, I found myself jealously eyeing the stylish moms I'd see wearing them; they were nice and dry, while I walked around for month straight with soaking wet feet and sodden pant hems. The boots started looking really good to me.

I could tell by which moms wore Hunter boots that they wouldn't come cheap. I looked online and found that, yup, they are at least $125. I tried Ebay, but they aren't cheap there, either. Once I realized how expensive and trendy they are, that was it: I HAD TO HAVE THEM.

But they're way too expensive! I told myself. And they're ugly! And I don't live in an English manor house or keep horses or have an extensive rose garden to tend! Nothing worked: Every time it rained, I was pissed I wasn't wearing them.

I got angry at myself. What the heck was going on? I felt like I did back in fifth grade when I just HAD TO HAVE A PAIR OF CLOGS OR I WOULD DIE. Or seventh grade when it was all about the perfect Nikes.

The clogs I HAD TO have in 1979,
but mine were a burgundy color

The Nikes I NEEDED in 1981,
but my swoosh was sky blue

Why do silly fashion trends still influence me so? I wish I could say I've grown out of it, but that's not the case. I don't go crazy with the name-brands, and I'm not a big shopper at all, but it bugs me that I'm still so affected by what "everyone else" is wearing or doing. After all, my kids own Crocs and not the cheap knock-off brands, even though they're too young to know the difference or care. Spending the extra $20 a pair for the real thing is 100% for my benefit.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and blame it on my parents. I never got name-brand stuff when I was a kid. No Calvins for this girl--it was crummy Lees all the way. And I remember having this polo-type shirt, but instead of the Izod alligator, there was some other stupid animal on my budding boob. It was mortifying.

That was the case for just about everything. My English/Scottish mother, who grew up during WWII with bombings and rationing, was slow to warm to America's capitalist and consumerist ways. She didn't understand the younger generation's obsession with wearing the correct label. And my dad, well, it was the 70's; dads then didn't bother themselves with such mundane household issues.

Back then, I was constantly coveting some trendy brand or another: Sweats bi Ebe (or Chego), Bermuda bags (made from real wood, not crappy plastic like the one I had), Jordache jeans, Capezios, Izod shirts, Members Only jackets, L.L. Bean Bluchers, the latest Swatch watch. It was never-ending.

And here I am, thirty years later, still wanting what the cool girls have. At least these days, I don't have to ask my mom to buy it for me.