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Bargain hunting:
here ore than lo
• • By GINA CARROLL
Daily Collegian Staff Writer
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There are• few things American con
sumers hold as dear as they do sales
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some shoppers they do not want their
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Whether they are confirmed bargain
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..t. . . . Buying on sales is
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setolopo o l f e k in the old days who only
want to meet people," said one seventh
term student.
t...." "I might as well admit it, I came here
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a good one. That's why I want a college
education and the decent clothes and
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I/ that's why I frequent sales. I'll even skip
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class to come down," she said.
A little sister at what she described as
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a 'status fraternity' said she went
shopping during sales for similar
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clothes every time there's a party. Sales
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There's more than low prices motivating shoppers
Satisfying the need for status
it's all on the pocket for buyers
By SHAWN HURLER
Daily Collegian Staff Writer
"You shouldn't buy them if you're
uncomfortable in them, because it's a
fashion thing, it's not a practical
thing. You shouldn't buy them if
you're really overweight. And I hate
to sound snotty about it, but you,
shouldn't buy them if you can't afford
it. If you don't want to pay, buy
Levi's, you know? Don't come to
me."
Susan Goldberg, who has sold them
for over two years, is talking about
"status jeans" the chic, tight
fitting jeans that have brought a
relatively expensive measure of snob
appeal to the common work pants.
Hers was the first State College
store to carry the $35 Sassons, made
in America, and the $55 Weaver
jeans, imported from France. Along
with several other downtown mer
chants, she is riding the current wave
of "designer" jeans, created for
licensed manufacturers by big name
fashion designers such as Calvin
Klein, Giorgio Sant'Angelo, Ralph
Lauren and Gloria Vanderbilt.
While status jeans range in price
( from about $3O for Calvin Klein
straight-legs to Geoffrey Beene's $220
leather Beene Jeans), the various
styles share a central theme.
"They're all the same thing," said
Bob Steinbach, Goldberg's partner.
"Fourteen-ounce denim with a small
leg and a tight fit." Each brand also
sports a distinctive label, usually
sewn to the right rear pocket.
Calvin Klein
"The logo is what sells them,"
Goldberg said. "It's a matter of
status."
But the wrong brand of status jeans
can make even the biggest wheel
come off like a flat tire, Goldberg
said. The finished look should be
sleek, lean and leggy. Each brand is
cut differently to drape a different
type of figure. In short, each designer
of status jeans is aiming at a specific
market segment, so not all name
jeans fit alike.,
The customers' choice of status will
depend on two boundaries budget
and body.
In general, the very fat and the
very poor should look for another pair
of pants. However, the variety of
status jeans is wide enough to suit
most people, even if they are not as
famous as their jean makers.
Tall, thin women look good in
almost every brand. However, those
with especially slim hips and thighs
should go for a unisex or European
cut, like Fiorucci's $43 denim
"cigarette legs," made in Milan.
Sasson, another non-designer
company, also makes less contoured
jeans for featherweights. Made in
America, Sasson jeans cost less than
Fiorucci's ($35 for denim straight
legs) and are available in several
fabrics, including velvet and satin.
"Pegged" jeans and skin-tight
capri pants, both tapered at the
ankle, also flatter slim-hipped
women, and are included in most
lines of status jeans.
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Women with more rounded figures
should seek a straight line from hip to
hem, and so look better in a less
tapered 16- or 17-inch-wide leg.
They also should wear jeans made
specifically for a woman's body.
Some suggestions: Gloria Van
derbilt's $3l denim straight-legs,
designed for Murijani ; Calvin Klein's
lower-cut jeans, sold by Puritan
Industries for $3O-$4O a pair; or
Cacharel's jeans ($35 in denim),
which made their debut this fall.
Cathy Hardwick's blue denim line,
designed for Best Manufacturing
Company, is especially cut to fit
women in the 30 to 35 age group. Her
offbeat front-pleated jeans which,
incidentally, help conceal heavy
thighs cost $35. Her straight-legs
retail at $3O.
Liz Claiborne's brand, in linen,
denim or corduroy, also has a fuller
cut at the hip. All her jeans sell for $3B
or less.
Jeans with a high rise (distance
from crotch to waist) make short legs
look longer. Giorgio Sant'Angelo's $35
brushed denims, made by Happy
Legs, have a definite waistline, and
come in 14- and 17-inch leg widths.
Most unisex jeans, like Sasson and
Fiorucci, look as good on slim men as
they do on slim women. For older or
heavier men, however, Calvin Klein,
Yves St. Laurent and Ralph Lauren
each have designed a "gentlemen's
jean" with a wider leg and looser fit.
The denim versions sell for $35-$45 a
pair.
When it comes to pure snobbery,
imports are probably the ultimate
jean's. As one shopper put it, however,
"Status ain't gratis." At $65 to $75 a
pair, imported French Mac Keens and
Italian .Clippers tend to lose
something in the translation,
especially if your budget is limited.
Within each brand, less trim and
fewer pockets usually mean a lower
price. Denims are also cheaper than
velvet, leather or corduroy jeans.
Copies are cheaper, too. Straight
legged denims by Sticky Fingers and
St. Tropez have the same tight fit and
slim line as designer jeans, but retail
for less than $3O. They even have
catchy back-pocket labels.
Overall, however, Cathy Hard
wick's and Calvin Klein's are
probably the least expensive status
jeans. In "Vogue" magazine, Klein
said, "I want the girls who can't
afford to wear my clothes to wear my
jeans."
Finally, a word about quality:
Don't expect any more (or less)
durability from status jeans that you
would from ordinary Levis or
Wranglers. Basically, the materials
are the same. The differences lie in
the cut, the 'price and, most im
portantly, the name.
"Unmistakably, people (buying
status jeans) are paying for the
name," said a State College
saleswoman.
And what's in a name?
You are from waist to ankles
like a lot of people I know, but
sometimes it is nice. I could buy stuff out
at K-Mart or Gee Bee just as easily as
down here, but I think the stuff you pay
more for holds up better," said a male
who said he wore the better clothes and
after shave lotions to impress his dates.
"Imagine you were a guy and you
were with a really nice chick, and things
got a little heavy. Wouldn't you look at
the label if you took off my shirt, if you
were the girl?"
"Male chauvinist," said a girl who
was near him."l love shopping, and even
if I get rich someday I don't think I'll
ever give up shopping for bargains. I
really get a lot out of shopping and
getting bargains. If I get a shirt for half
as much as the regular price, I feel
great. And it beats shoplifting to get the
things you want," she said.
"I need to save all I can, so I shop on
sales," said a University adyninistrator.
"Please don't use my name, because
this is for my wife's birthday and I don't
want her to know about it," he said,
holding up a sweater.
"You can't be like the
people in the old days who
only had one set of clothes
for good."
"Money burns a hole in my pocket, so I
get rid of it. My husband doesn't know
how much I do spend. He gives me
money to go to sales, so I bring out the
stuff I buy normally • (at regular price)
and tell him the bargains I've found. But
he never sees the price tags. Buying on
sales is like getting hand-me-downs,"
said another woman. , .
"I've tried to tell my husband the
dollar is shrinking and I can't get my
size if I go to sales, but he just won't
believe me. So I just do it this way.
Sometimes I feel badly about it, but
when you're a size three, the selection
isn't that big anyway," she said.
The people on the receiving end of the
money exchange have a different view of
sales and their importance.
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"A lot of people have the wrong ideas l(
about sales. They think of women
tearing through tables and pulling out
each others hair for the sake of a shirt.
They don't want the hassle of something
like that, so they don't come the first day t
of a sale and then they complain about
the selection. But its not at all like that,"
said a salesgirl in a local department
store.
"Do you know what they
say about a fool and his
money? . . . I think people
are bigger fools on sales
than any other time."
"I do get really tired of doing the same
thing and answering the same questions
every day, and sometimes I think my
arches must have fallen underground]
but it is a nice feeling to know that the
day's sales have brought a profit to me
and to them," she said.
"Sales are nothing but a pain," said
another. "All day long people ask if
you've got this or that on sale when you
know they just brought it over from
another rack that wasn't on sale. They
think you'll trip up and sell them
something that wasn't marked down."
"That's practically stealing, but
people don't realize it," she said.
"And you know what's really wrong?
Sometimes I'm tempted to let them get
away with it, because prices for clothes )
are so high and some of them are really
shoddily constructed. Even the best
names don't have deep henis or seams
that can be let out," she said.
"You'd think store owners would learn
that these things don't sell and they have g
to eventually be, put on sale; - which cuts
their profits: But the boss said they do it
to attract people into the store so they'll
buy more than they normally would if
they were paying normal prices. And it
works, too," she said.
"Do you know what they say about a,.
fool and his money? They say they're: 4 :
soon parted. Sometimes I think people
are bigger fools on sales than any othet
time," she said.
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