"Hey, It's Ok!"

I took this picture of an excerpt from this month's Glamour Magazine "Hey it's Ok!" page and I wanted to share it so that I could not so slyly say, "I told you so". Each month Glamour features a bunch of lines that are aimed to make readers feel better about their guilty pleasures, leaking them to the world and putting them in print for all to see. They are fun and witty, and let readers know that "hey, it's okay!" to want, do, ask, etc. things that we might not be openly proud about. It seems that the Tory Burch flat is no exception. Just as I suspected.

Last week I wrote about Tory Burch's famous Reva flats, specifically the importance of knowing the real reasons why we buy things and why it matters. Glamour editors agree that this Tory Burch flat is "okay" to want, right alongside the desire to be a famous housewife and drink margaritas at lunch. I didn't claim these shoes are exclusive to housewives OR margarita drinkers, but it shows that there is an underlying reason for why the Reva has become so popular and I am not the only one to notice. This shoe fits with the desire to be or portray a certain type of lifestyle, and yet being published in this section of the magazine makes it seem like that is a bad thing. It isn't something to be ashamed about, it is just how the shoe has evolved in the consumer world.

Seeing that the shoe made the "Hey, It's Ok!" list this month it is clear that consumers are embarrassed to admit to wanting nice, expensive things like the Reva, even if they don't have the lifestyle to support this particular shopping habit. As I have said before, we still find ways to buy these types of items because they help to fulfill deeper inner desires. It is important that brands recognize their role in this part of a consumer's world because it will only help to gain an understanding of how brands and products affect life beyond just their function. Even if we don't want to admit it, there are deep reasons to why we buy. I know Tory Burch may not be exactly proud that her flats are measured along the same line as margaritas and a trashy reality show, but it seems that yet again, this shoe fits.

So "Hey, It's Ok!"...that I am wearing Tory flats today, think about having a margarita every day at lunch and might actually want to be a Housewife of Wherever...