Labels

[gimmethesimplelife]

How do you feel about labels? Case in point: I'm so anti the concept that I recently bought a few pairs of jeans at cringe Wal Mart.....cheap and no label. I've pretty much applied this to many areas of my life since I arrived here in 2005. Rob

[bae]

I care about function.

[iris lilies]

Sometimes the name of the manufacturer signifies the quality I am looking for. Most of the time it doesn’t though because I don’t know the manufacturer.

Sometimes at the thrift store the label signals certain things to me for, instance, I saw three pairs of slacks by Alfred Dunner which tend to be petite ( short) sizes for little old ladies. They’re not anything I wear yet someday it might be something I wear!

I love my Fiatta car because it has a “label” or badge in the front that says ABARTH. No one knows what that means. Love the anonymity of that and it suggests a car that’s more expensive than it really is, so in that case yeah I’m a label snob.

[catherine]

Sometimes the name of the manufacturer signifies the quality I am looking for.

Yes, that's true. And sometimes the fit of certain labels you get used to is different from the fit of others.

I bought a really nice sweater/hoodie at LL Bean, and I love it, but I have to admit, I'm almost embarrassed wearing it up here with the label on the front among my rural VT friends, who are not at all like the Burlington Vermonters. The Burlington folks are the Bobos in Paradise who proudly wear their Patagonia and LL Bean.

[JaneV2.0]

I'm agnostic. I recently had a conversation questioning why someone would pay a small fortune for an Iphone when you can get a perfectly good alternative for much less. I don't have much brand loyalty, but if a product suits my needs, I'll consider it before other manufacturer's offerings. Maybe that's the secret to Apple's success.

[Teacher Terry]

I rarely care unless it signifies quality such as a Maytag washing machine.

[Yppej]

I usually don't care but I do love my Tims which are warm, comfortable, durable, and have a good tread for snow and ice. Upending expectations about what a woman my age should wear is a plus.

[Alan]

I don't normally pay much attention to labels, with just a few exceptions. My butt looks great in Levis 501's so I have several pair. They look especially nice as I'm getting into and out of my Ram truck which tows my camper as if it weighs nothing at all. I'm also now enamored with my Pixel phone because it's not an Apple and I'm convinced that Android enhances sexy nerdiness for everyone paying attention.

When I read the foregoing to my wife she applied another label she thought might apply, but I try not to share too many personal details to the world at large, especially if it hurts my feelings, so you'll have to guess at that one.

[happystuff]

For me, it's price and function before label.

[Gardnr]

I could care less about labels. I look for fit and/or function. Used/new-don't care.

[flowerseverywhere]

Only some labels. Levi’s I find to wear forever, certain shoe brands for fit and comfort. I could care less about a car. If it gets good mileage and runs when you turn the key I’m good. I buy my clothes at a church thrift store so obviously labels are hit or miss. They have to be almost brand new (some still have tags) and fit well.

[ApatheticNoMore]

To the extent it signifies anything. My laptops are brand name (Dell and Lenovo), yea I've tried off brand computers before, nope. Some of my shoes are SAS (San Antonio Shoes) as they do make them in the U.S.A. and I like that. Etc. To impress anyone? No I don't care. But do I wear the cheapest clothes out there? Nah and not the most expensive (because I'm not spending all my income on clothes here). Because I do actually dress for a station, I just want to look the part around the office. Do I believe it's a major factor in anything? How my career goes etc?. No, no, no, 1000 times no. It's not a BIG factor at all, but a tiny little one, maybe as frankly are a lot of intangibles, so I do it.

[LDAHL]

I have found labels can be useful for indicating quality in whiskey and power tools, but little else.

[SteveinMN]

I don't care about labels. I buy stuff because it meets my needs. Never had one of those big KitchenAid stand mixers sitting prominently on my kitchen counter because I don't need one. A handheld is fine for what I do with a mixer. We had a KitchenAid hand mixer because they were well-built, not because it made me feel more special to own a KA or that anyone else ever saw it. When it died we replaced it with a thrift-store Mixmaster that sits in a cupboard except for the few times it actually gets used. It was cheap and it will run for the rest of our lives (the KA did not).

I (more or less happily) pay "the Apple tax" for our computing electronics because I've liked the environment for 30+ years now, it mostly "just works", and I use the daylights out of whatever it is I've purchased from them, for years. But if someone can't tell the difference, for their needs, between an Apple product and someone else's, I tell them to buy the brand they want and save some money up front.

If anything, maybe I care more not to flash labels around. I found a great casual shirt in a thrift store some years ago. Right color, right price, everything -- except for the darned polo-player logo on the front. I don't like to advertise any company for them unless they're paying me to do so.

[KayLR]

Generally I do not buy anything for the sake of the label; as others have stated, price and quality are more important.