The Knock-off of the Knock-off?
I must preface this post by saying that I love high design. I love thoughtful, functional and hand-crafted items. I appreciate quality things that are made to last and span lifetimes. I also realize that, against my best efforts, I am middle class. Being middle class, especially living in large cities, you have to learn to balance all of your luxury wants with practical needs. For instance I love gastro-pubs and fancy food, but my practical need is that I really just need to eat food. I really love expensive shoes that are made to perfectly fit your foot, but I just need shoes that won’t fall apart and look moderately presentable. This realization kinda of stinks, no?
Well, I had another funny realization this week as I basked in my middle class glory. I had been looking for a floor lamp for our living room for a few months. Our apt lighting is harsh and gross and not what I want in my face in the late evening/early morning (the only times I am usually home.) I tried to go vintage retro, but frankly the really lovely lamps were pretty pricey and the affordable ones needed to much TLC. A gal at the vintage store said she saw similar lamps at Target, so off I went. I got a small, stainless steel floor lamp with a modern, petite lamp shade. It’s cute, but really just “okay.” The lamp only cost $40 and isn’t even featured on the site. Last night I received our CB2 catalog and found a similar, but more expensive lamp which I thought was kind of funny. I mean CB2 is kind of the poor man’s designer choice (I hope that doesn’t offend anymore–I love CB2!), so it got me wondering where this lamp really got it’s start. Just for fun I found a similar style at Design Within Reach for $500+. That is right, I can’t even afford to purchase the knock-off, I have stooped to the knock-off of the knock-off. *sigh*
p.s. Yes, the shades are different, but my shade looks more like the first one.
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