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Saturday 27 February 2010

You've been Tesco'd...





I had no idea that much revered fashion house, Tesco, was a sponsor of London Fashion Week - did you?

One of my first memories as a young child is of a strong aversion to Tesco carrier bags. I instinctively disliked the dark blue stripes and the bland colour scheme, with its lurid red logo. By the time I was around seven years old, I was trying to persuade my mother not to shop at Tesco, as I didn’t want to be seen anywhere near ‘those’ bags…

I laugh at this now, but it’s curious how our tastes and style preferences are developed at such an early age.







I was amused by a post yesterday on worm’s curiously fascinating blog, ‘ruminant’, which lists all the things he deems to be uncool. Interestingly, most of the items listed aren’t brands, but are products and commodities – including coffee:

I suppose we’re over the whole latte thing and are now hooked on herbal teas… or is it tap water? But I was surprised there was no mention of Starbucks or McDonalds on worm’s list…does that mean they're cool?



Chain stores dominate the high street - and those specializing in fashion often provide well designed, cheap clothing and accessories – including pieces that look awfully like the ones we’ve just seen on the catwalk. These can be great, when mixed with vintage and unique things to create a totally individual look.

And, much as I dislike the way large organizations like Tesco have a ‘dumbing down’ effect on creativity and choice, it’s commendable that they’re helping to sponsor existing and/or emerging designers with the fruits of their monopoly over the market. However, it’s a shame that some smaller players will be held back, and many will go out of business as a result of the competitive advantage enjoyed by such large scale operators.



Anyway, ShopCurious would like to make a few additions to the list of things that aren’t so cool, namely:

Luxury brands
Mass produced designer label goods
Designer outlets
Shopping centres
Supermarket chic

Of course, it’s all a matter of taste and, occasionally - even in the midst of mediocrity, you’ll stumble upon something with quirky appeal, or a certain aesthetic charm. But, if you’re one of the Curious Cognoscenti, you know when you’ve been Tesco’d.

Do you?

PS worm, note the Tesco droid comes in non-human form!

4 comments:

worm said...

haha susan, how flattering to be discussed at length on your blog!

the point of my post was not that the act of drinking coffee is uncool - but thinking that coffee is in some way 'bohemian' is uncool. And buying into the 'bohemian cafe lifestyle' being marketed by Starbucks is DEF. not cool ;)

I get annoyed by the modern world, and the way that as the quality of products and services that we are offered goes down, the shrillness and hyperbole of their marketing claims goes up - until everything seems hollow

Thats why I think that ShopCurious is so good - what you are about is beautiful original objects, made with genuine craftsmanship and love. Such style and quality is timeless and will never go out of fashion, unlike some ephemeral throwaway bit of £2 tat from Tescos.

have a relaxing sunday!

Susan said...

Thanks for the explanation and your kind words. Trend hunters now actively seek out uncool things with potential to become the cool stuff of the future, but I guess some things are just irredeemably naff..

www.janetteria.com said...

LOL! So hilarious, darling Susan.

Profoundly Superficial said...

I know this is very nice of me, but I serious want to kick the Tesco droid!