I am pleased to report that there is a new trend in town, and it goes against everything that I despise about the fashion industry.
Scientific American reports that researchers surveying California consumers found that people who are seriously well-off are willing to pay a premium for items whose branding is more discreet.
In short, these are people who are willing to pay more to leave the logo off the item.
Can you imagine?
A Coach bag that isn’t plastered with the letter C? How will anyone know how much money I spent on this bag?
A pair of Gucci sunglasses without the brand name scrawled on the side? Someone might think that I bought these at a kiosk in the mall!
A polo short without a stupid little alligator sewn onto the breast? How will anyone know that I am a person of value and worth?
As a man whose wardrobe is nearly free of any outward logo or label (I’ve yet to 
find a pair of well-made athletic sneakers without a logo, and a few pairs of my gym shorts might also be so adorned), I find this news incredibly refreshing.
It’s my secret hope that this new fashion trend will become so popular that the closets bursting with labeled and logoed clothing that stretch across America and have cost so many people a near fortune to assemble will become utterly worthless, the fashion equivalent of Toughskins, parachute pants and Enron stock. Imagine a vast wasteland of overpriced, brand-named merchandise that’s very ownership confirms the mealy mouthed, shallow-minded, sweaty desperation of its status-seeking owner.
Heaven, perhaps?
The thought that the nonsense of high school fashion demands would end in high school was something that I (and Bowling for Soup) gave up on long time ago.
Today I have been given hope.
