Saturday, March 12, 2011

oh anthropologie

courtesy of anthropologie.com

the newest anthropologie catalog is beautiful, as usual.  i find rooms that i could only dream of within its pages and try to halfway mimic via my country flea market haunts.  i ran across an open letter by anna mantzaris to anthropologie yesterday via mcsweeney's and, well, it just sums it all up.


"Your little catalogue comes careening into our home every three weeks and suddenly I am dissatisfied with my life. Happiness flies out the window (sans Persian Velvet Curtains). You make me angry with my loving, live-in boyfriend, unhappy with our adorable dogs, and dissatisfied with our sprawling, albeit ramshackle, flat...

So after months of longing and lamenting, I took action. I knew I shouldn't have done it, but I made a pilgrimage. I braved the train, the crowds, the drizzly weather. I entered your doors and I stood directly in front of your Cooled Lava Dress (Oh, how very cool it was). I visited your Bay-of-Smoke Jacket. (You knew I always wanted to go to the Bay of Smoke!). Standing on your faux-sanded wooden farmhouse floors, amongst your clusters of light bulbs turned avant-garde chandeliers, I realized I've done it all wrong—the liberal arts degree, the MFA, the low-paying publishing jobs, the erratic freelancing and adjunct teaching... read the full letter here.

4 comments:

  1. 1) This is such a lovely blog.

    2) While I object to Anthropologie's business model, I too receive their catalogs and have the picture on the right torn out and on my fridge. It is the tiny flower print, I think that does it.

    3)I'm not entirely clear on what's going on at McSweeney's but I am excited to puzzle it out.

    Cheers!

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  2. Love Anthropologie! I wish someone would re-decorate for me in all things Anthro. My fantasy...a girl can dream.

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  3. Wildly funny...Anthro, Pottery Barn, and the rest of the "too cool for you" bunch, are trying to sell you a lifestyle. One that will allow you to finally, be with the "in" crowd. It's marketing 101, folks. Let's face it, without the inspiration to be unique, we only have Walmart! Besides a lot of their things can and are being knocked off, either DIY or at much better prices.
    That being said I am really, really coveting those red laced boots...sigh.

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  4. Oh, and I forgot to mention, I am a former employee of Anthro...I am here to tell you, it really is, just a retail store.

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