By Nadine Kam

PhotoluluTV video

Been thinking over the past couple of days about the Black Friday tragedy of a temp employees’ death at a Long Island Wal-Mart, as well as the mob scene at our own Honolulu Wal-Mart as captured in a YouTube video from www.photolulu.com

It was sad all around. Bad behavior on the part of those who were there, and equally bad behavior on the part of video commentators rich enough to smugly avoid such scenes while shaking their heads and passing judgment on people, some of whom, wanting to have a good Christmas, have little choice but to slavishly show up at times designated by retailers who are being cruel when they set such tight buying windows, knowing the frenzy that will ensue when there’s demand for certain goods.

It was depressing to me because, given the shape of the economy, I thought this might be a saner holiday season, with people finally waking up from their shopping feeding frenzy and cutting back in response to the new economic reality.

For many of my friends and me, this has meant curtailing the annual gift exchange and new pacts to get together for brunches and dinners to simply enjoy one another’s company, starting with a recent birthday three-fer. Where once we might have headed for the most expensive new restaurant in town, accompanied by massive gift exchange, this time we made a trip to Cholo’s in Haleiwa, followed by dessert at Higher Ground in Wahiawa — with the birthday girls, me included, paying their own way — ending at one’s home for friendly rounds of “Guitar Hero” and a whole batch of Wii games during which we beat each other to a pulp and were dying laughing while boxing.

I have to admit that, writing about fashion, shopping and the latest trends probably doesn’t help the situation. But, in doing my job, I assume the understanding that we’re all adults who can figure out many of these things are nice to have IF we have the money. That’s a bif IF, and it’s sad that so many have forgotten the last part of the equation and now feel entitled to all the things they think everyone else has.

Maybe they’d be surprised to find others actually live with less than they appear because of trade-offs.
I like to own clothes, so while I might like to own an iPod, an iPhone, and my own Wii system, “Guitar Hero” and “Rock Band,” I have written them off as luxuries I can’t afford to have. I’d probably be a better musician if I practiced on my real drum kit anyway.

I don’t even have a good TV. I lived with sound flitting in and out for about a year, and when a friend’s brother was replacing his 20-year-old, 19-inch TV, I got it. It feels like the Stone Ages, but so what? I would hate feeling my life revolved around TV.

Do I miss having these things I don’t have? Not at all. It’s OK with me because I pretty much grew up with Great Depression values passed on by grandparents to my parents and down to me. It wasn’t until I got to college that I met up with a new bunch of people whose life’s mantra was, “The person who dies with the most toys wins.” I see signs of that kind of thinking everywhere, from Wall Street on down, and we’re experiencing the fallout of greed and me-thinking.

In the local Wal-Mart video, the crowd is clamoring for portable DVD players. It’s sad to see what people had to go through to get them, but it’s sadder to think about the values they’re passing onto their children. While they could use the current economic downturn to teach them about the real meaning of Christmas, and that living with less isn’t the end of the world, instead they’re showing them that getting a DVD player, cheap, is worth the cost of human dignity.

By Nadine Kam

The Comme des Garçons designs for H&M Collection debuted in Harajuku Nov. 8 and will roll out Nov. 13 worldwide, except here, of course.

The curious can check out the line of women’s and men’s wear at www.hm.com or check out the company’s magazine for a story on designer Rei Kawakubo, plus various fall photo spreads.

No doubt the pieces will end up selling on eBay, although the jackets are looking a bit heavy for Hawaii. Sometimes just looking is enough.

By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam photos
Mesh costume bracelet, $5 at the Vintage Collectibles & Hawaiiana Show.

“What can you buy for $5?A Nokia research team is asking people around the globe to take pictures and submit them to http://fivedollarcomparison.org

Submissions so far have ranged from a woman’s blouse in Bangkok to the price of admission to a movie in Lima, Peru. The campaign is a fun, clever little marketing exercise to start people thinking about a future of global connectivity that will be possible when the price of a mobile phone is dramatically lower than today.

Their campaign gives the rest of us something to think about, as to the way we value objects and services. A makeup artist friend was just complaining that, having set up a table at a shopping event, she discounted her usual brow-shaping rate from $35 to $5 as a courtesy to attendees, which caused one woman to dismiss her outright, as if a $5 job would not be as good as a $35 job, even though this was not the case.

I was also interviewing presentation coach Pam Chambers for a story on how she makes recession dressing work for her, to run in Thursday’s paper. Although she’s been a lifelong thrift-store enthusiast, mixing her wardrobe of recycled clothing with new retail purchases, she’s able to sense others’ distaste for secondhand apparel and compares it to blind taste-testing. That is, if their taste buds can’t detect a difference between bargain brand coffee and upscale coffee, they don’t think, “Gee, I think I’ll switch to the cheaper brand.” Instead, many people have a tendency to feel tricked and get angry.

In front of one of her three highly organized closets, Pam Chambers shows a mini skirt repurposed as a fall capelet for chilly offices.

I’ve gotten the same reaction when people ask me about something I’m wearing. Like Chambers, I often think I’m being helpful by saying something like, “Swap meet, $2,” so they can go get their own. But boy you can see their faces change, to the point where one of my friends who was with me on one such occasion said, “Don’t tell them anything. Just smile and say, ‘Thank you.’ ”

I try, but I feel somewhat non-forthcoming. It goes against journalist instinct to offer up less than the full story. It just demonstrates how people assume a high price equals quality, but smart shoppers know that good value can be found at every price point if you’re willing to keep your eyes and mind open.

As for the $5 comparison, I’ll be on the lookout for more. Oh, and if you find local thrift shops limiting, you can also try shopgoodwill.com

By Nadine Kam

Well, I said I wouldn’t be posting for a while, but here I am at Podcamp Hawaii at the Hawai’i Convention Center, with free Wifi, and how could I resist not commenting on Sarah Palin’s new $150,000 wardrobe. I’m sure a lot of fashionistas will now be contemplating a new career in politics. I thought Jon Stewart got it right when he said theirs is a family of professional grifters. Not good.

Last night, I was thinking what I could do with $150,000 and after figuring I could dress myself for a campaign for a mere $5,000, started wondering where does one even begin to spend that much. Say a designer suit off the rack is $5,000, and that’s generous, even for Neiman and Saks, if you pick up 10, that’s only $50,000! Throw in 10 pairs of $500 shoes, $5,000. What the heck did she buy? Well, I guess some money went to the kids.

For ideas on how to dress for $2,500, check out the Budget Fashionista.

Palin makes Hawaii politics look good.