Sometimes, you mutineers will see a story which you practically demand we post. After New York Magazine’s “The Look Book†slyly dissed and dismissed a brownie who works in Private Equity who emphasized,
“I love to consume. Consuming is my specialty.”
…some of you started screeching louder than the Howler monkeys in the bunker—and that’s saying a LOT.
Natasha Mitra (r) was interviewed by Amy Larocca and though I was also left smirking at the catty aftermath, I immediately heard the diminutive angel on my shoulder remind me that we don’t know how many questions were asked and then not included, whether Mitra’s words were edited to paint her a certain way, etc.
Having typed that, if my little sister sounded like this, I’d beat her with my red Ferragamo loafer. Not that there’s anything wrong with…sounding…like…this. 😉
Such big accessories!
My bag was a really special purchase. I work with this woman at Louis Vuitton—she picks things out for me, sends pictures, and tells me to pick what I like. She called one day and was like, “I picked a bag for you, and I’m sending it to your house because I know you’re going to love it.†I think it’s called the Stratus.
How old are you?
I’m 26.
Was the bag expensive?
Yes—about $3,500. I guess a lot of craftsmanship goes into it. Accessories for me are the key. I have about twenty bags, and I don’t know how many shoes. But they’re Vuitton, they’re Versace, they’re Gucci, and they’re Dior.
And your sunglasses?
They’re D&G. I was really excited to find them. They’re wild and crazy and different.
What do you do for a living?
I work in private equity. I love the sector that I work in, which is the consumer and retail group. It’s an area that I’m passionate about. I love to consume. Consuming is my specialty.
You picked the right career.
I’m going to Harvard Business School in September. Moving is definitely going to be the most difficult part of the experience.
Thoughts? After reading some of your emails, I’m tempted to respond with a “Tell us what you REALLY think”, but I’m certain you will already do that. I also look forward to the inevitable, “I know her, and, and–” which will appear below at some point. TWO DEGREES of separation, people. The fact that we couldn’t prove it with two random desi models doesn’t mean the theory is invalid, aight?
::
Because one of you who should know better shamelessly suggested it AND because I already received one vague piece of hate mail which mindlessly accused me of hypocritically not putting myself out there for dissection the way I heartlessly did to Miss Mitra above, feel free to ponder my homage to Natasha, below.
Vintage Gucci sunglasses: $45
L.L. Bean Boat and Tote: $32
Mongram: $5
Not being a slave to fashion: priceless. 😉
There are some things money can’t buy (like good taste and shame– I would know, I can’t find any of the latter to purchase). For everything else at Tyson’s Galleria/Corner, there’s MasterCard.
This girl has NO style. True style is about experiencing finest quality and craftmanship in its most artisanal form. Logo mania is disgusting to style aficionados. She simply is screaming, “Look at my bank account, so I can feel better knowing you know how much I spent.” I mean what is so exclusive about wearing Gucci or Dior when everyone else is wearing it? I love the fact no one recognizes my jeans or bags, and even am more proud no one knows how much they cost.
PREACH IT, Saira!
Consumption = Capitalism.
i agree, saira. brands do not equal exclusivity. they scream notoriety. also, i hate how people equate brands with style and class. like when vuitton came out with that murakami line – i could not believe how much people were paying for that horrid design. and if they bought it, it was either just for the trend. or because they liked how it looked – neither of which makes them a tasteful consumer. when my mom bought me a kate spade bag, it took me a whole year to use it (bad reminders of my long island high school days) and even then, with the label against the inside of my arm. but at least it was a cute bag. this thing is…i don’t know. but she is way too petite for that bag…
my future ex-wife
Some Rope: $25
Some Chain: $10
Potato Sack: $1
Sunglasses Big Enough for Four Eyeballs: Hilarious
Pursuit of Happyness == Capitalism
she needs to get rid of her personal shopper.
I do not know why she pays so much for things that look like crap.
I guess when she graduates she will earn close to $300 Grand a year. Not bad– for looking like a bug (specifically a fly).
I can only imagine what kind of family she comes from. Maybe her mother only dresses in Ritu Kumar saris.
I would be so embarrassed if I was carrying that purse. I don’t think I would ever like to be caught alive carrying that thing around…even if someone paid me.
I would have health problems too if I used that purse…my shoulders would crack for sure! I am sure it feels nice to be carrying the whole house around, but my shoulders would complain for the next decade.
I think she should make her own choices and instead of “working with this woman in Louis Vuitton”. Just because someone is eager to throw an ugly $3,500 purse your way doesn’t mean you can’t use your head and shop around for yourself.
Maybe it is a compensation-for-something-else thing.
I don’t know about ya’ll…but i just splurged on this in Black before my morning blog fix, hope she likes it. 🙂
I agree. She obviously has a small shame shame.
I am not completely against using branded accessories. There are some brands I swear by (for quality). I would consider it blasphemy if I used any other brand for that particular product.
However, it doesn’t mean I think buying anything non-branded as cheap / not my style. I will buy a Louis Vuitton because I love the purse, not because it’s an LV. And I agree that designer labels are ridiculuosly over-priced because of people like Namratha.
I guess she’s in the right field?
I don’t know, what can you say? I feel like Ms. Mitra is not super unique among Americans, she just happens to be desi.
how can you carry something that big? I mean the bag looks like it is 1/2 her height
gulti girl, you mean Natasha Mitra or Namrahta? 🙂
i’m not even sure it’s possible to cram $3500 worth of craftsmanship into a bag. esp. if it ends up looking like that. and for $3500, you better be sure about that craftsmanship, not just guess that it exists
I honestly don’t like the look of Louis Vuitton products.
When women dress in their finest designer duds, they primarily do so to hopefully look attractive, sexy, confident, stylish, refined, [FILL IN THE BLANK]. Do any gents on this site feel she looks like a woman you’d want to date, give a second look to, or swoon over, or simply mock her for such a potato sack with bumble bee shades?
A quick poll from the boys in the office here say LV and other logos usually scream high maintenance, so they end of making more fun of the girl’s accessories then actually consider her for possible qualities as a woman. (Sample size = 4 Indian men, 2 British, 1 African American, and 1 labrador, who barked at the image).
LOL.
I can only muster one word. Blech.
FUGLY AS FUG I detest her purse. It’s making me ill.
I had a frenemy visit with one of my good friends. We went on Rodeo b/c Frenemy insisted. Not that there’s anything per se wrong with Rodeo. Frenemy has zero style. She constantly pointed out the the most expensive Chanel/Prada purse and said something along the lines of, “I love this.. I just bought it” or “I need to get this purse now.” My friend and frenemy’s friend had the ballz to say, “look girl.. that shizz is fugly as fug. You don’t have style. If you’re going to by an expensive purse buy a beautiful or sexy one. Don’t waste money on fug.”
Frenemy pouted.
I like the color of the sunglasses glass part itself — and I think those brown ’70’s style sunglasses that a lot of people are wearing now are so pimp — but the specific one she is wearing is weird because the white frame makes it look like some cheap plastic little kid’s sunglasses she bought at walmart for $5..
I personally would never wear anything like that out in public because it makes you too noticeable.. Although she didn’t mention where she wears those kinds of things — maybe she does dress normal when she goes to normal places ?
from my limited knowlege of purses..that looks like a desi jhola
I’ve actually seen people wear stuff like that to work (and I work in a tech company). Who defines which places are considered normal places?
Okay, so who knows her?
Seriously. Okay don’t be embarrassed now…tell us if know her or know of her.
Ok, I have to say…there’s nothing wrong with accessorizing, but there’s no need to go crazy with the labels either.
For the record, I do own a pair of those “big enough for 4 eyes” D&G sunglasses. What can I say? I’m a slave to fashion…
Camille. I heart you. I have to disagree. She is super unique. How many Americans whom you know regularly drop $3,500 for a purse like that? It’s not even a heritage bag like the Birkin. It’s disposably trendy. And she has a dozen just like it. We’re not talking about the LV Speedy, we’re talking about…that…sack-thing. I’m just saying, I don’t know anyone IRL who buys shit like that and I especially don’t know anyone desi who does.
vuitton should donate a bunch of those bags to unhcr… enough room in there for an entire family’s possessions. refugees around the globe would appreciate it.
Fill in the blank? How about “rich.” That is extremely attractive to some men. Also “not independent-minded” (expensive labels demonstrate one is willing to allow others to determine what they buy and wear) which certain men find attractive as well. She’s broadcasting to the particular type of man (and friends) she wants – the kind probably no one on this board is, or socializes with. A rich man who wants a rich woman who doesn’t do too much independent thinking. They’re out there. (And we all conform to one tribe or another with our clothes, what’s sublime to me looks ridiculous to someone else.)
She works for one of the largest PE firms (Carlyle). The sector has seen unprecedented number and size of deals in the first five months of 2007. She must easily be making 200K range including her bonus, if she can afford it why not, all this hate is unnecessary. I have seen plenty of people that buy stuff like this IRL and working in PE.
I’m proud of her for getting paid in full, but that doesn’t mean I must support her fugly choices. The “hate” is because no one likes that bag, nothing more than that. And if someone is making that kind of dough, why not drop 10x that amount (i.e. $35,000) on ONE legendary Birkin, which won’t go out of style later this afternoon. If I could afford THAT, I would. Potato sack? Not so much.
Amen! Mad props to the girl for being 26 and making tons of dough. There’s no hate for her being uber financially successful. But fugly is fugly and it’s so much worse when you’re wasting money on a potato sack. Buy some good taste!
I really don’t see a big difference between Ms. Mitra and the “disposable” (great way of phrasing it) trendiness of SJP/Sex And The City – I could easily envision Carrie Bradshaw carrying this bag and (strangely) women were all about that.
AMEN!
As for her D&G sunglasses, the best stuBner shades (and the best deals) I ever found were in Uganda in a matatu station. She should come to the bay if she wants glasses that make her look like a praying mantis 🙂
Haha, so now I am feeling a little squirmy inside because I do know people who buy ugly shit like this on a regular basis, specifically for the label status. Maybe my sample group is HIGHLY unrepresentative? Chalk it up to going to high school in a super affluent, insulated community?
I agree that the bag is FUG to the max. I guess what I meant by my comment was that I meet plenty of folks, desis included, who define themselves and their fashion by the labels on their clothes. I saw this a lot in college, too, which I found astounding. I guess it spoke to the income gap at a public school? I mean, here I was, working 15-20 hours/week to pay for tuition & rent and skipping meals, and girls would roll through with ugly ass LV suitcases on their way to the airport! I tell you, nothing riles me like designer suitcases.
IMPORTANT NEWS UPDATE
JUST BECAUSE CARRIE DID IT, THAT DOESN’T MAKE IT OKAY.
I know, it’s hard to accept. But sadly, it’s true. And the more I watch those shows in syndication (twice a night in DC!), the more I cannot stand her wardrobe. I dress more like Charlotte. But whatever. Carrie was a fantasty– it was impossible to support a Blahnik-addiction AND pay rent pre-her book deal, IMO. Natasha is a real person, spending real money. This bag didn’t come from Patricia Field over in wardrobe, na’mean? 😉
IJC for the browns?
Anyone who sets such great store by labels and prices can’t have any personal sense of what is really beautiful and stylish. Designers take people like this poor woman for a ride knowing that a fool and his money are easily parted. Instead of saying
, read the subscript: “I’m terribly insecure and want people to admire me”
Or on a charitable contribution? I’m not saying folks shouldn’t enjoy their wealth, but sometimes I seriously question our priorities in this country.
ANNA, I love you for bringing this up. Carrie’s Manolo-madness was a MAJOR source of contention among my friends. I was staunchly in the “who the hell can afford buying $300 shoes, REGULARLY, on a weekly freelancing salary?” I digress.
And what makes you think she wants to look attractive, sexy, confident, etc just to pick up gents?
Ah big bags and couture whores. This morning I was subject to a discussion in the elevator about Taryn Rose flats, 3 chicks with the same damn shoe that I personally think is way too ugly to be paying $400+ for. This particular profile of self absorbed couture consumer is so common in NYC no one cares or bats an eyelash.
Personally I hate big bags. Those massive bags that Nicole Richie carries with her; hell she looks like someone can carry her sitting in one of those bags! It’s stupid. Big labled things are tacky at best. However I’m older than this chick. At 26 these superficial things impress you, I was a little younger when it stopped impressing me but I also couldn’t afford it so the impression factor was higher.
You grow up to be able to afford the stuff and realize you can buy the same superficial fabulous things but you stop obsessing about the labels. Because when you grow up you stop buying it for others to see and you start buying for yourself 🙂
Aaah… thank you (and thank goodness).
To those of you who know me, you will know I am no fashion princess. but even, I have to say: “Yo, what is with the hair?” It reminds me of the lady at the beauty saloon who did my “hair-shtyle” for my first wedding by asking me if I wanted “puff” center ma, ke side ma?
Sadhu Chhap Basmati Rice
I’m pretty sure I knew her (circa 1998). Though I can’t be 100% certain because of the giant sunglesses. This article somehow made it into the NY Times dealbook and will probably make gawker (they tend to poke fun of all NYMag’s Look Book profiles).
Saira jealous much? Different strokes for different folks. That handbag is limited edition and is an investment that would double in value in a couple of years. As Carrie Bradshaw would say “I like my money right where I can see it… hanging in my closet.”
The correct statement is: That handbag is limited edition and is an investment that would probably double in price in a couple of years.
It’s value is not too different from a $30/- handbag, and won’t change much during its lifetime.
M. Nam
I am not sure if the question is anyone supporting her choices. The question is of choice if she likes it and can afford it let her be.
“JUST BECAUSE CARRIE DID IT, THAT DOESN’T MAKE IT OKAY.”
Now just put this on about 12,000 billboards and maybe the message will sink in..:} Better yet implant it directly Matrix steez..
Saira #18: (Sample size = 4 Indian men, 2 British, 1 African American, and 1 labrador, who barked at the image).
You have a dog in your office? Lucky you! I want a Labrador in my office (pout), screw LV potato sacks.
As for Natasha Mitra’s plan to attend HBS starting this fall, I hope my fave cousin doesn’t have to deal with the Potato Sack of Doom.