Today’s item was genuinely supposed to be a “Want”, as I was reluctantly hoping it wouldn’t come in the mail until Friday.  That way I could say it was still on my “must-have-in-the-future” list.  Technically, it would have worked.  But alas, the Ebay seller and the USPS mail worked almost too efficiently, and my newest purchase is sitting atop my head as I type.  Yes, I’m that fabulous I can work on my computer in my living room with a floppy beach hat to top it all off.  You won’t get a shot of me in it, but here’s my baby straight off the Ebay website.

Ebay vintage beach hat

Photo: mysecrettreasures Ebay store

The reason I still chose to feature this little darling has more to do with how I came upon it, and less with how much I love it.  For my online graduate school classes this week we’ve been discussing social class, gender, and how these affect communication and our world as a whole.  Pretty deep, right?  So one of the readings, and hence, discussion boards, had to do with upper-class women becoming consumed with materialism, and therefore keeping economically disadvantaged women employed making superficial goods in poor working conditions and for very little pay.  See, I told you it was deep.

 

As a writer for a fashion and beauty blog, this obviously struck at my core and made me feel a teensy bit guilty.  I mean, how often do I take a look at where a product was produced before I make it mine?  And do I ever think about supporting female business owners with my hard-earned money?  As these questions plagued me in my virtual classroom, I found myself a few hours later looking for a beach hat on a certain, high-end fashion website that shall remain nameless.  I found some beautiful ones, for the low, low, price of $75 to $150 greenbacks.  As I started rationalizing this amount in my head, the issues I was just discussing with my classmates came rushing back to haunt me.

 

After a bit of mental warfare (But it’s perfect, it’s designer, the quality is divine!), I left the website who shall remain nameless and headed off to Ebay, fulling expecting to find nothing and come crawling back apologetically to my designer hat.  As you might have guessed, I found an amazing vintage hat, complete with summery scarf, for $10.  And here’s the best part: the owner was a fellow woman, from Texas!  So not only did I do my part in stopping excess consumption, I supported a (semi) local female entrepreneur!  (Insert pat on one’s back here)  If you want to check out her store as well, she has quite a few vintage pieces, and she accepts bids, which I love!  It may be a small step, but today all I want is for you, the reader, to stop and take a look at your spending habits.  Are you helping women become self-sufficient, and doing your part for the environment?  Let us know your ideas for being a better buyer!

 

XO,

A