Original.

Originality is something that’s individual. It is a personal option, opinion, and choice. To say that something is original means that’s it’s ‘origin’. So I bring up this question. Would wearing a North Face jacket everyday be original? Would buying what people literally call POTATO shoes [aka Birkenstocks] be original? Probably NO to both of those questions.

I will not lie, when I was in my freshman year of high school I bought a North Face jacket, and it wasn’t because they were super comfortable or really warm, it was because everyone had one. I gave it to Plato’s Closet the next year and got $30.00 for that thing. It goes to show that me even buying that jacket for $99.99 is a waste of time. They’ve become so popular that you WILL find them at Plato’s closets and even Urban Outfitters is starting to sell the brand. It’s just selling a name in all honesty.

You can go to a thrift store and find that same style of jacket for 5 bucks. Why do people not do that though? It’s because it doesn’t say North Face. Really though, if you actually liked that jacket it should be morally incorrect to be spending that much money on some letters that someone sewed on a coat. If you want to be ORIGINAL you would buy that jacket because that’s what you like, not what everybody else does. If you were like me at that age, I’m sure your parents would appreciate the effort to spend less as well.

Being original would be creating something new or having something that nobody else does on an everyday basis. Do you want to buy that band t-shirt with neon letters? Oh wait which band is it because when those guys found out that’s what’s selling, they all turned to bright colored with animations on them. I’d rather just buy a shirt that says the band’s name on it then something that looks like someone threw up the rainbow on it and you can barely make out what the font says. Let’s buy a shirt that says HOLLISTER CO. across the front of it. The shirts that I buy don’t say TARGET on them. That’s all that certain brands have become the brand. It’s just advertising where you bought something. Victoria Secret sweat pants say PINK down the side of them because…? It’s simply product placement and showing off how much money you spent on those sweat pants that you could’ve easily found without the obnoxious print down the legs or even better across your ass cheeks. Is that what has become of our retail services? Even Miley Cyrus brand at Wal-Mart doesn’t say MILEY on them. Overall, the origin of your clothes is on the tags, it’s not original to wrap it across your chest.