Editor’s Note: This is part six of Noel’s ongoing series about her adventures navigating the NYC fashion world as a college student, adjusting to life without total financial support from her parents, and learning where to spend and save! In case you missed them, see Spending and Saving in New York City: Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, and Part Five.
“Ever since I met you, I’ve been spending more money,” said my darling suitemate, as I tried on a pair of the new Marc by Marc Jacobs Love Mouse Ballerina Flats at the Marc by Marc Jacobs store in the West Village.
“Met me?! You’re the one who’s online window shopping every time you should be writing a paper,” I retorted. The sales associates at the store chuckled at our banter. I fell in love with the shoes once over, twice over, and thrice over. They would be a whimsical alternative to my Valentino flats — and truly, one can never have enough flats.
“Well, I think these are a worthy investment,” said my suitemate, “They’re much more practical than those BCBG boots you bought recently.” She was right. I attained these coveted pony hair BCBG Mendel Wedge Booties a few days ago, and while they are amazingly comfortable for six-inch heels (and can do wonders for a petite girl’s legs), one needs to buy flats to stay sane in the city.
But you know, I started thinking about what my suitemate said, and maybe she was right — after all, would I have purchased these flats if she didn’t tell me how lovely they were? So lovely, in fact, that she herself wished she had a pair?
“I’m living vicariously though your shoes,” she said, as we walked to a nearby French patisserie for dinner. Actually, I wasn’t even supposed to be shopping for myself.
It was Friday, and I decided to finish my Christmas shopping right after my last final examination. My suitemate and I ventured to SoHo from Morningside Heights. To be honest, I don’t enjoy Christmas shopping — buying massive hoards of presents gives me a headache. I prefer buying birthday presents because I have more time and energy to personalize each gift. My plan of action? Uniqlo for the boys and Marc by Marc Jacobs for the girls.
I really don’t know how to shop for my guy friends — but luckily, Uniqlo offers quality basics at affordable prices. I picked up a wide range of clothing for my guy friends, from the one who loves his boxer briefs (don’t ask) to the one who looks good in his girlfriend’s clothes (again, don’t ask). I also picked up a wide range of tights and leggings for some of my girl friends — and a pair of long black leggings for myself! In my opinion, one can never have too much hosiery.
Afterward, I picked up some more Christmas presents for my girl friends in college and back home in California at the Marc by Marc Jacobs store. I ended up with two Marc by Marc Jacobs shopping bags and a giant Uniqlo shopping bag by the end of the day — in addition to another bag of tissue paper, gift bags, and Christmas cards.
“You’re giving a lot of presents to people. A lot of these people aren’t even exchanging presents this year,” my suitemate reminded me. “While people might be liberal with their gift giving where you come from, you can’t expect them to afford to get you a present too.”
Oh. Right. I went to a prep school in California where most of the students share fairly similar homogeneous economic and social backgrounds, mixed in with a sprinkling of liberalism and secularism. I had taken for granted that friends exchange gifts for Christmas, and it was one of the many things that became apparent to me when I came to Columbia.
Indeed, this morning, I had over 20 gift bags stuffed with presents for my friends — and I’ve realized that it doesn’t matter at all whether or not I receive presents in return. I spent the morning beginning my gift deliveries to friends, watching them wake up with bleary eyes as I handed out my tokens of affection.
I even bought some clothing for my friend who is a Jehovah’s Witness, who doesn’t celebrate or acknowledge Christmas or birthdays as a part of his religion. “These are your ‘thank you for being my friend’ presents,” I told him. Not for Christmas. Not for Hanukkah. Just for being a good friend and making my first semester in college unforgettable. He told me that’s his philosophy on gift giving.
Maybe we should all stop viewing presents as holiday necessities and start seeing them as spontaneous tokens of appreciation. After all, it’s the thought that counts.
You must bear in mind that the majority of college students cannot afford these sort of things–it sort of seems like you’re showing off. Also, sometimes, you need to realize that getting friends of yours presents that they could never afford when they have nothing to give to you can make them feel…awkward. I too came from a background where nice presents were given and received freely, but once I got to college, after some awkward moments freshman year, I realized that it’s important to scale the gift to what you expect to receive in return (to some extent at least). If they can’t afford to do anything other than give you cookies, then it probably isn’t a good idea to be giving them $500 worth of stuff…trust me, it will only end badly.
Also, please, maybe give some advice as to the bargains that can be found in these stores, or perhaps to how investing in some more expensive, albeit classic pieces can really pay off because of the quality. I sympathize with you because I too came from a background like yours, but as you get in to college, you need to realize the variety of people that are there with you, and on this site it’s the same way…
While your posts are interesting, I also have to agree with what everyone else is saying. I think, rather than practically boasting about how you can afford two pairs of expensive novelty shoes AND expensive presents for your friends (enough to fill 20 bags!), you COULD have focused on maybe the great deals to be found at the Marc by Marc Jacobs store or Uniqlo. I live in NYC and I’ve been to these stores countless times. There are really great deals in each of them. My friend found rain boots from Marc by Marc Jacobs for only 20$, and Uniqlo has 25$ wool cardigans and 20$ jeans. Why not focus more on the bargains you can find at the stores you shopped at, rather than just telling us how much you spent – frankly, you sound like you’re showing off that you can buy all of these things without worrying about money, which most of us can NOT do, regardless of where we live or go to school.
I don’t understand how people think that a series on where to get great bargains ONLY in NYC would be more relatable than what she’s already doing. Why would anyone not living in NY be interested in that? The stories are more interesting.
Of all the new bloggers, I hope this series continues. If you don’t like reading her series…DON’T READ IT.
That said, I hate the flats. 🙂 The boots are AMAZING, though!
I am not quite sure either about the practicality or the jealousy in these comments, but they are repetitive for sure!
For goodness’ sakes I think we get the point: we want to learn more about saving and we don’t like the darn flats and we don’t like how Noel keeps talking about spending lots of money BUT no offense to Noel plus we like the writing style.
OKAY LET’S STOP NOW.
In my opinion, kudos for Nikki for giving an honest opinion, but really, how many of you would have spewed all that criticism if she hadn’t been brave enough to start it? And though I have honestly been disappointed with quite a few of the new writers’ posts in comparison to Zephyr’s, Noel’s series is commendable for its unique voice and series idea.
I am sure that in the future, this series will be molded into something great, and this is just part of the process. The constructive comments will be helpful but they’re piling up with the same message.
I’ve been thinking a lot about this blog (probably the surest sign of a good blog post, making me think) and the conclusion I’ve come up with is that no, this blog doesn’t have much reflection on me and how I live my life. $300 shoes, buying gifts for 20 friends, or being supported financially by my parents during college are all completely laughable concepts. But then, so is wearing a fur vest – nothing against people who do, it’s just not my personal style. This Spending and Saving blog is a lot like that – fine for people for whom it fits, but a bit out of range for me (and others, seems like). And that’s fine.
I think this one hit home especially hard, though, because it has to do with money, and that’s a touchy subject. I wonder how the “real world” will treat Noel after college – here I am, almost two years graduated, and I’m underemployed (it’s a recession, after all) and living at home to keep my rent down. I budget my money to within an inch of its life. Do I still have nice things? Absolutely, but I get them because I do research to make sure they’re the right thing for me and that I’m getting a good price, that I’ll wear them a lot (low cost-per-wear), and that they’re stylish but also fit well with my body and style (not all trends do). Is that a lot of work? Oh yeah. Time-consuming? You bet. I can go months between purchases – but I know that after waiting all that time, it’s really worth it to me, I’ve saved up enough for it to never use credit, and then I have absolutely no guilt about buying it. That’s the sort of thing I could stand to hear more about on this blog.
I just wanna clear the air about something:
I wrote about how I wished she would write about savings, and many girls are saying how they “prefer quality over quantity”. I am an average college student, and I shop at nice stores like Noel as WELL as Forever 21. I do have nice things, I just tend to buy shirts that were originally $100 for $20 because they go on sale at the end of the month.
I think it’s silly to buy things for that price, when I can get the same items for less after waiting for a few weeks.
Who said that an average college student doesn’t like quality? You don’t have to be rich to buy nice, quality items. I save and buy one nice thing every month. THAT’S what average college students do, not what Noel does. And no, I’m not jealous. I live a comfortable lifestyle, and I enjoy bargain hunting for the same pieces other girls spend a whole month’s savings on.
I think that the main point is that the series hasn’t focused on actually saving money.
I find the articles interesting to read (love the stuff she talks about) but misleading when you think you’re getting something on saving but she talks about buying expensive clothing.
There is nothing wrong with what she has been writing but the series should be advertised as something else or she should put a new spin on it, like how she found a pair of amazing boots for half off and put the rest towards savings or how she and her roommate bought a cappuccino maker to save money on daily coffee runs. Something along those lines would be more in tune to the saving money subject.
Otherwise the articles are interesting, if not a little unrealistic for most, to read about–just need a different series name.
After reading Noel’s blog, I felt compelled to comment about the deviation from the title of the article and basically, the main points of CF. I’ve been following Zephyr and the staff for some time now and I have always appreciated their work, but this post is a turn off.
I have to completely agree with most of the comments above. As nice of a writer Noel is, this article has nothing to do with it’s blog title, “spending and saving”. No where in the article did it even mention how we were to save by going to the Marc by Marc Jacobs store or Uniqlo. It in fact, felt like a bragging blog all about what she bought with her money without even mentioning where she was “saving”. Isn’t the saving supposed to be half the article?
A tip-off for Noel to refocus on a college student’s budget should have been when her roommate said, “You’re giving a lot of presents to people. A lot of these people aren’t even exchanging presents this year.” We’re in a serious recession, and for someone to write about how she can get twenty bags full of goodies (something that I’m sure most college students can’t do) doesn’t encourage a reader to shop for the best deals. I have lived in NYC all my life and go to college here as well, so I was hoping for great steals in secluded areas that I would not have found on my own. For the readers that do not live in NYC, they can read about how NYC earned it’s title of being one of fashion’s main hot spots and bring that fashion to where they live.
Don’t get me wrong, I understand that from Noel’s perspective, it must seem normal to write about a simple day where she shops without a limit for anyone. But to be a great writer, Noel should be writing with our, the reader’s, perspectives as well. As a college student who can afford Uniqlo and Marc Jacobs, but not $600 boots, I am very disappointed in this article. I really hope the next one will be re-focused.
Great post and AMEN on that last part. I may not always get/give presents due to financial restraints, but my friends still know I adore them. That’s the important part…good thing to know I’m not the only one!! 🙂
Christmas shopping is fun… but I wish i can do it in New York
*stares in disbelief* you bought shoes with a mouse on them?
I need more savings, not seeing what you got for your friends.
Thanks to Quinn for suggesting baking your own gifts. It’s much more time intensive but it sure is a great way to save at Christmas and show others you really care about them.
What is the point of this? I thought it was supposed to be about saving money not spending.
Someone else who actually knows how to live cheaply should be writing these posts. A Uniqlo sweater for $39.95 is not ‘cheap’ for me, its a total splurge.
i have to agree. while both shoes are lovely,i don’t see the need for you to tell us you can afford all of your gifts by marc jacobs….WHAT WAS YOUR POINT?
Just gotta say, a lot of MXMJ stores offer dirt-cheap gifts. I’m talking about $10 tote bags and $5 necklaces. If I lived close to one, I too would go there to Christmas shop for friends 🙂
I know how noel must feel. A lot of people think I’m stuck up and snobby because I have money… it’s not true or fair!