I have exquisite taste. Take me to a store and I will immediately gravitate to the most expensive item/product/line they carry. Now granted, exquisite is subjective, but this is my blog entry, so for the sake of getting along, I shall pretend that we all agree Mrs. Knightly has -=The.Most.Exquisite.Taste.Ever=-
On my current wishlist are the following items in no particular order:
Carnival Lamps from Lum Lighting
At $2,250.00 it’s no wonder I fell in love with their Gaudy Goodness!
I paid $37,500 for my first home back in 1989. It had 4 more bedrooms and 2 more baths than this $49,500 1955 Chevrolet BelAir Convertible. I don’t care. I still want it.
1937 Bechstein model B Grand Piano
While I currently do not know how to actually “play” the piano, I am quite certain that were I able to plunk down $49,000 for one, I could also afford a personal Piano Teacher. Additional points if they were married to a Yoga Instructor.
Wait! This can’t just be about My Exquisite Taste! I need to somehow tie this in and give it a Design & Marketing Spin. The fact is, each of these is all about Design and Marketing. Everything that gets manufactured has appealed to someone at some point.
Being in this industry has made me look at the world in a whole new way. Grocery shopping takes longer because I get so involved in the packaging designs and I think longer and harder about brands and why one can of tomatoes looks better than another, even though they probably came from the same processing plant. It’s the visual presentation, while the can shape is pretty much the same, the fonts, colors, photo’s and verbiage are what compels us to buy even more than the price in some cases.
I am a fan of San Marzano Tomatoes. They’re pricey, so I don’t buy them for everyday cooking, but once in a while, when I am at Pasta Works on Hawthorne, I heed their siren call and splurge on a couple of cans to up the culinary ante on my Pasta Surprise. Wouldn’t you?
One of these things is not like the others...
Compared to the Hunts can on the right, the Italian tomatoes “feel” different to me. More authentic, wholesome and flavorful. Interesting that a drawing of a tomato can evoke that sentiment more strongly than an actual photograph. It just does. In the same way that a 1955 Bel Aire feels more authentic to me than a 2010 Cadillac.
Perhaps “nostalgia” is the word I’m really looking for here. Tried and true, like Helvetica. Sturdy and strong like a Bel Aire. Fancy lamps made from real metal and wood and a piano that was made by hand 73 years ago and is still around to grace someone’s living room (even if it’s not mine!).
Nostalgically Yours,
Mrs. Knightly
Tags: bechstein grand piano, bel-air convertible, piano lessons, vintage lamps, vintage lighting, wishlist, yoga teacher
