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.
I am not really sure why it is OK to diss the girl just because some of you don’t like her bag. Maitri#50
is absolutely in bad taste.
Have I mentioned how much I love the Mutiny? On the other hand… the actual job I’m supposed to be working at (and making far less than Natasha’s 200K even though I’m much older)…
I feel bummed out now. I’m working my butt off and at 27, I only make $45K. I feel like an under-achieving Desi right about now. H&M and TJMaxx are still the only places I can afford…
At 27, I was working my kundi off and making all of $30k at a non-profit. Does that make you feel better? 😉
It’s not the size of your paycheck which matters, it’s what you do with it. 😀
Don’t mean to diss the girl. The bag is another story. It does raise the old question of money and taste. Why must one sneer at a relative’s gold-plated (not making this up) ceiling? Jealous? Delusions of taste?
louis #51 says, “I am not really sure why it is OK to diss the girl just because some of you don’t like her bag. Maitri#50”
Who’s dissing the girl? Did I say she shouldn’t attend Harvard? No, I specifically addressed the bag when stating, “I hope my fave cousin doesn’t have to deal with the Potato Sack of Doom.”
That thing has its own defined planetary orbit.
Aw come on, Louis. Admit you know her. 😉
You are not under-achieving. Unfortunately pay depends on the marketability of the industry you work for. Private equity happens to pay well b/c it brings in big money. Most of us at 27 are not making 6 digit salaries. Keep you chin up!
OMG!!!
This evil woman Natasha Mitra works for the CARYLE GROUP!!!
http://www.thecarlylegroup.com/eng/team/l5-team3137.html
Look for yourself!!!
Scoop, don’t stress. Your paycheck does not define your “achievement” — if it did, the world would be really depressing!
I also don’t think pay is proportionate to marketability (rankle, rankle), but I feel you on being underpaid. Although, if you are a “public interest”-head like me, then it comes with the territory. 🙁
This has to be the fugliest bag I have ever seen in my life. It reminds me of the sacks that were carried around in medievel times by door to door salesmen. Or perhaps its one of Mary Poppins’ carpet bag cast-offs. What is with the chain link that looks like it’s just been yanked off the Bay Bridge cantilever section?
Yes, we encourage pets in the office for good feng shui for all around, as long as they are trained Maitri.
No one is dissing the girl. I personally am just addressing her need to display logos and brag about how she drops her dollar. She’s obviously smart enough to get into HBS, and obviously has talent to earn her $200K. But, she is passing herself of as a trend connoissieur with the power of the logo brand, which I disagree. Any luxury enthusiast does not subscribe to such showing off. Pick up a Robb Report or Departures magazine and you’ll rarely see an ad for D & G or Prada because these aren’t considered “luxury.” Her idea of consumption is through her tasteless expression of fashion. And we all know fashion passes, style remains.
Since everybody has opinions on what carrying designer duds says about a person : What does carrying fake designer duds say about me?that I’m a wannabe, an arriviste or worse ?
I loved the look of a certain Louis Vuitton bag.No way could I fork over mucho $$$ for it – my cheap heart just would’nt let me. I am very ashamed to admit that I bought a fake one in Bangkok. I carry it every day , love the bag but feel so guilty that I will never buy fake designer duds again:-(
My problem with this kind of consumptive capitalism is that it creates massive amounts of waste. I doubt that bag will get more than a few hours worth of use, and will sit in her closet for three years until ms-$300k-mitra will look at it, roll her eyes, and chuck it.
Some of the classiest uber-rich folk I know buy big brands for quality, not garish visible labels.
Consumption = ok Consumption as statement = bad
I think buying things exclusively for the label is totally stupid, and (here is where I get super snotty and elitist), really “nouveau-riche.” Runa, if you liked a designer bag but couldn’t afford it, then you couldn’t afford it. A knock off is fine. The problem is not the designer bag, it’s whether you bought it for the cuteness of the bag (in this case, her bag is FUG), for the quality, or for the label. I think most folks would say that criteria 1 & 2 make sense, but 3 doesn’t really.
SkepMod, isn’t all capitalism based on consumption? And not only on consumption, but on increasing consumption. I think it’s endemic of the system, Ms. Mitra is just in that small % of extreme cases who have both the means and the desire to spend accordingly.
I agree with Camille. By the faux Vuitton if you like the design, but not for its LV label. I am a fan of the embroidered Dior saddlebags, but would never spend $1500 on a tiny bag. But, I will spend it on my Bottega Veneta, which I adore for it’s signature weave and stitching.
will sit in her closet for three years until ms-$300k-mitra will look at it, roll her eyes, and chuck it
This is why a friend of mine tells me she loves to shop at the thrift/consignment stores where all the “rich lady” clothes end up in almost-new condition (well, not for fug finds like Mitra’s bag, but you know what I mean).
Runa: don’t feel guilty; Mr. Vuitton is not ever going to be eating scraps from the dustbin no matter how many knockoff bags you buy in Bangkok.
.Means and desire maybe but no taste. Mind you, at 26 my taste was definitely questionable.
Listen…. she probably works 80 hour weeks if she makes any kind of money at Carlyle.
Let her blow off some steam with a fugly bag LOL.
But props to her for getting in with Carlyle.
I’ve got to love anyone who says “kundi”. I think I work my kundi off too but I’m not well paid at all (I teach in a school in Queens). I can’t think of anything I want to do which would make more money. I don’t want to get paid more to buy more things. It would be nice to be paid a decent salary so that I can feel that my work is valued, I guess (not talking corporate pay scaled here). I work in a small special ed school that is funded partly by the state and partly by a charitable organization so they pay way less than the public schools. I think when I reach boiling point I might just look for a public school job.
Comment #59:
You are calling her evil because she actually makes that much money? Well, the comments here only go onto show how we like to hate a person due to our own lack of success. While I don’t anyway support her taste, I am proud to see another brown person making 200k at such a young age.
C’mon, when did SM turn into the Sartorialist ? The article’s slight diss was all she deserved not outright revulsion.
71: Relax and have your humor meter recalibrated! I don’t think Cyrus was really making “evil” judgments about Natasha. Now, if she had a bf named Boris, that would be another story…
If that purse is how the girl gets her endorphins flowing, good for her. The only thing in poor taste is all of this cattiness.
Purse? Purse!?! That’s like… I don’t know. But I think I could get in it.
It’s certainly not poor taste to have an opinion about fashion. She put herself out there in a fashion-sense.
Friends, desis, folks, it is not about the person. The only thing that’s reached a semi-consensus is that her bag is ugly and that most of us would not have paid — especially not $3500 — to own an ugly bag, no matter who made it.
Taste is as taste does. I think her bag is ugly. Maybe she loves it. Whatever makes her happy.
Camille,
Absolutely, the name calling is unecessary and unclassy.
Is the moral of this story that People With Bad Taste Need Love Too?
Maybe its just a question of perspective. I mean has anyone considered that the photo itself may be misleading? Perhaps the bag is really just a cute clutch with faux rope/chain detail and she’s just unnaturally teeny weeny. Same for the
compound eyesshades.I agree with both Louis and the one who agrees with him; I don’t understand why “evil†needs to be applied here unless you know her IRL and can confirm that she eats puppies for dessert, while dressed in kitten fur. If the “evil†was a joke, well…I didn’t get it and I possibly need to have that humor meter of mine checked.
That’s like asking when did SM turn in to Dooce or Kos or…ad infinitum. We do everything here at this all-you-can-eat, online content buffet. 🙂
Look. If you want to play the fashion game, you have to take your lumps. That bag is fug. That’s not catty, that’s the damned truth. So now we can’t comment on the aesthetics of accessories, lest we seem bitchy? Come on. Is there ANYTHING bitchier than fashion?? NO.
There’s no accounting for taste and it is not in poor taste to discuss a $3,500 bag which was featured in something called “THE LOOK BOOKâ€. If anything is in poor taste, it’s blowing that kind of scrill on something which won’t be used forever. Birkin, people. If you’re going to consume, either do it well or make Camille happy and give away a fatty donation.
And I am SICK and fucking TIRED of being accused of “jealousy” when I write any sentence about another female. I don’t care about her salary or anything else with regards to her– if I met her on the street I’d be all, “Go on, girl with your bad I-Banking self” but I would also tell her, “I am NOT a fan of that LV ‘Stratus’ you rocked in NYMag, not that it in any way matters what I think”. Manasillayo?
Louis, that reminds me of Anchorman 🙂
begtodiffer, she seems Nicole Richie-sized (i.e. totally tiny), but I have the feeling that that bag and glasses would be huge on most people.
That’s not a purse. That’s like… a suitcase or something. I could get in it.
I think it’s unclassy to call out name-callers as unclassy (or envious).
Love her cufflinks….
I guess it’s the style vs fashion vs style argument…she’s fashionable but you just can’t picture the Hepburns with that bag.
Anna,
You are one of the reasons why this site remains a class act. Ignore the people with the jealousy accusations as they don’t know what they are talking about, people and circumstances are different and not everyone’s success can be judged by how much money they make. My only issue was with the insensitive comments about the person not with the analysis of the bag. I have no opinion on the bag and now I respectfully withdraw from this conversation.
=D
Donate! Donate! Donate!
Seriously though, yaaraa. Studies show that folks in the bottom 20% of income-earners give away a greater % of their wealth in donations than folks in the top 20%. You can buy an ugly bag AND save the world =)
I bet she gets laughed at a lot. She looks like a bag lady who found her “accessories” in some dumpster.
Agreed, I did love the fact that she was wearing them– I think more women should. I do as often as I can and I still can’t use every pair (50+ of them) in my collection. Good taste on her cuffs, at least.
Probably, Prema: but she probably also laughs herself… all the way to the bank to deposit her $15K+/month paycheck.
I think the point is, moreso than the fact that the bag is fugly, is that she comes across as a superficial Manhattan biotch…or that’s how I see her.
Camille:
Not sure about donating because you never know how well the money is used- I would hate for my money to subsidize some inefficient do-gooder. I wish there were US News-type reports of charities that truly make an impact as measured by objective/high-impact metrics (maybe they exist?).
As far as wealth goes, you generally don’t accumulate wealth by giving it away.
I have always had one question for women who buy expensive purses/bags. Will you ever carry the amount of money you have paid for it in that purse/bag?
I understand accessorizing(if this is even a word), but this is a bit beyond isn’t it. Should we mail her some potatos to fill her sack?
HEY. Manhattan does not have a monopoly on superficial bitches, OKAY? D.C. is sick of being the neglected step-sister of the greatest city on earth. We have JUST AS MUCH fug here too, you know. As that racist Martin once said: “Damn, Gina.”
Not sure about donating because you never know how well the money is used
I don’t know if there’s a “worthwhile charity” breakdown list, but I know from personal experience that direct contributions go much further than signing up to run in a charity race, or buying those cute “charity” tchochkes do.
You want to make sure that the largest part of the cash you send is actually going straight to the organization, rather than for underwriting the cost of the race, or the marketing of the cute collectible.
The only thing that disgusts me more than this interview is the knowledge that this fantastic new Indian economy is throwing up people like her on a daily basis. Except here in urban India the stark differences between affluence and destitution aren’t [yet] so easily hidden, and can hit you in the face as hard as the heat when you walk out of an air-conditioned building. There are more of those than before, though. Lovely. Also, the Sony store is selling flat screen LCD televisions for Rs. 80,000. Phenomenal.
I can’t wait to come back to America, where the whole world is happy.
I have always had one question for women who buy expensive purses/bags. Will you ever carry the amount of money you have paid for it in that purse/bag?
Depends on what you mean by expensive, I suppose. 🙂
LP, there are. I have to head out, but I’ll get back with links to different charity “watchdog” sites. I’m always a bit torn – most of these gauge “efficiency” by low overhead costs, but having worked in the nonprofit world I see this often translate into really despicable labor practices. I guess I find it ironic that even in “social justice” organizations there is often a lack of wage/employment justice, but this is very much driven by the same “bottom line” mentality that exists in the corporate world.
Honestly, I feel like the best way to donate is pick a group whose work you respect and give them money. More and more nonprofits/not-for-profits are introducing metrics to enumerate their successes – I think this helps those of us who give $ pick our own criteria for justifying our donations.
Hema, Second that about direct contributions.
Its just as easy to find a worthy cause and write a check directly to them.I tend to do that because as # 92 says the last thing I want is to have my money go to a non -worthy cause.
Personally, I support an orphanage and a school in India. I have visited one several times and know that the money is always well spent.Have a relative who is on the governing board of the other and know that is well-run too. I wish I could send more but there never seems to be enough to spare on a regular basis so I make my donations on my trips to India.
Anyway :the point I was trying to make to # 92 and others is – don’t let fear of where the money ends up prevent you from giving even a little bit. Find something you believe in and then give .Every bit helps.
Why would anyone need to carry that kind of cash ever unless you are talking about your combined cash power in the form of bank/credit cards. In which case that’s true for those that carry a $15 bag too 🙂