Real vs. Ideal

One of the biggest concepts I picked up from my freshman anthropology course is that in cultures there is always the ideal way of doing things versus what people usually do.  That is - think of a royal wedding versus your own!

i suppose in an ideal world I would get all my clothes from Macy's and Nordstroms - but the truth is that I get them from thrift shops! and it's the same stuff.  I picked up a lovely M.Fredric folkloric jacket - yellow with folk embroidery - with the tag still ON in my neighborhood Out of the Closet for $7! (M. Fredric is a higher brand retailer & the jacket would have cost @ $75-100 new.  I can't afford that but I can afford the $7 - even though my husband bitches.)

I realize that in my early days in Hollywood, I did a lot of DIY projects for my wardrobe - although at the time one had to be sneaky about it! I cobbled together jewelry, made myself a clutch from a straw placemat when I couldn't find a suitable one - decorated my own hats & of course, sewed & mended & dealt with stain removal.  (Dry cleaning   = $$)

Now, of course, the diy strategies appear in fashion magazines like In Style...

Another example of real vs. ideal is my ukulele experience.  I had been intrigued by one & then hubby found one with a case for $20 in a 2ndhand store.  We strung it & then had to re-glue it when the old glue went.  Hubby even made a new bridge for it by hand from an old wooden clothes pin! He was certain that it would never really be playable & was just a toy - but I have proved him wrong.  I can now tune it up (using the online uke tuner) & I am teaching myself how to play with FREE materials downloaded from the net..

Now - in the real world, I would have bought a uke for at least $50-75 -plus case - Plus $15-20 in materials =  at least $100.  I spent $20 or rather hubby did.  Sure, it took some ingenuity.  (That's also how I got my $25 concertina - it needed fixing & I figured out how to do it.) I reminded hubby all through the process on the uke  that people used to make ukes out of cigar boxes - so I could make a usable instrument out of this old one by repairing it!  Note:  I see on the net that somebody in Canada sold a uke of my brand for $95???)

There is SO much material now on the net about instruments & maintenance & repair.  Even patterns to BUILD them...and oodles of music. (Oh, & I made a nice flexible pick for the uke by cutting up a plastic card Victoria's Secret sent me!)

Funny thing is that  3/4 off ratio seems to be true for many of my purchases - and 75% off is a REAL savings, no? 

Hubby & I both came from very comfortable homes - but on my hubby's teacher's salary we can emulate the style we grew up in - with all of our BARGAINS! That really is my success.  To be able to have the things I want on my shoestring of a budget!  " Luxuries" CAN be affordable -  if you finagle.

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Real vs. Ideal

What's "ideal" anyway?