Answer Angel: $280 for socks?!
Dear Reply Angel Ellen: By pure chance, I was recently reading something online about a man in the news. One photographic illustration showed an average-looking man wearing jeans, sneakers, and a baseball cap. The article mentioned that the guy was wearing Prada cotton socks that cost $280 and Stefano Ricci “plain cotton” boxer shorts that sold for $250.
My question: how can you justify spending so much on socks or underwear? How could any of these items be worth that much money?
–Kris T.
Dear Kris: They’re not worth much. You are right. It cannot be explained how some people, for whatever reason, spend mindlessly on designer brands. This is why some people drive a flashy $100,000 car while living in a messy, sparse studio apartment. Of course, the money could be better spent on basic necessities or charities that desperately need it. Maybe the guy in the $$$ underwear also runs a foundation for underprivileged children. But I doubt it.
And another question about a man in the news…
Dear Reply Angel Ellen: Please, oh please, explain Timothée Chalamet’s mustache to me! I just saw him in “Marty Supreme” and I could barely watch his Oscar-nominated performance, because I was so distracted by his creepy, sparse mustache. He’s a handsome guy, but that mustache needs to go.
–Maddy G.
Dear Maddy: I admit it’s a sad sight, this little vaporous thing under his nose. In a YouTube interview clip I found, he claims – while smiling insincerely? – that his friends and family like it. “But who knows?” he covers.
The role of “Marty” is loosely based on a real table tennis champion, Marty Reisman, who doesn’t have a mustache in most of the photos I’ve seen. Obviously, the actor knows that his not-so-hairy caterpillar is not appreciated by everyone. He kept it to work on a post-“Marty” project, he said in an interview with “Extra,” and “I’m having fun with it.”
Maddy, you and me — and maybe Timothée too? – are on the same wavelength. This is not a good overview.
Angelic Readers 1
Lorie I. writes: “Tell your reader Emma that the best things she can get to prevent frizzy curls are mulberry silk (not satin) pillowcases and a mulberry silk bonnet/puff. As a curly girl, trust me when I say I’ve tried everything.” (amazon.combeanie $12.99 and up; pillowcase, $9.99 and up – read the fine print to be sure you’re getting real mulberry silk.) Lorie specifically recommends the Fishers Finery 100% Mulberry Silk Pillowcase ( amazon.com$44.99 and up): “Expensive but worth every penny. For my shoulder length curls, I flip my hair while sitting and pull the cap all the way over the hair.”
Angelic Readers 2
Mary W. didn’t like my response to Peter R. who asked if he should actually use decorated napkins, which are often laid out for guests, especially around the holidays. Or are they just for show? I wrote that if it is possible to use an undecorated (uniform) hand towel or a decorated paper towel, use one or the other – although I pointed out that decorated paper towels are not very absorbent. Mary wrote: “I feel uncomfortable using a plain napkin that may or may not have been used by someone else. I place “decorated napkins” (aka: guest napkins) just for that reason – so my guests can have their own towel. I expect them to use them and happily wash them before putting them back for sale.
Linda S. addresses the issue this way: “Regarding ‘frillyphobia’ or fear of fancy hand towels for a guest bathroom: I bought two packs of 12 (cheap) washcloths at Sam’s Club and put them in a basket for one-time guest use. There is a larger basket on the floor for the used ones. Then I wash them with hot water and tap water. Bleach. People love the luxury of a washcloth and know that no one has used it before them.”
Marcia B. has a similar idea: “After many years of visiting several friends for parties, they had plenty of embroidered linen napkins to use and a basket on hand to put them away after use. Good idea, but then you have to iron them. A restaurant we frequent has real washcloths as napkins!!! Perfect. Many stores have packs of six washcloths, some with a seasonal pattern. That’s what I have now and they are a perfect size for wipe hands. And I took out a basket to put them after use later to be used again.
(Send your questions and rants – on style, shopping, fashion, makeup and beauty – to answerangellen@gmail.com.)
