We've all heard how buying counterfeit goods negatively impacts the fashion industry, but when the real deal--like high-end designer handbags or sunglasses--costs as much as a mortgage payment, it's easy to see why buying a fake is so tempting. What you may not have realized, however, is how toting around a knockoff can affect your moral compass. Psychologist, author, and James B. Duke Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Economics at Duke University, Dan Ariely, has done studies on this topic and discovered that one act of cheating (like wearing imposter designer sunglasses) easily leads to another act of cheating. Ultimately, says Ariely, "Wearing imitation designer clothing or accessories can fool others--but no matter how convincing the knockoff, you never, of course, fool yourself."
So instead of sliding down that slippery slope filled with fakes, Adam Glassman, O's Creative Director, recommends staying on the straight and narrow in style. To raise awareness about the counterfeit issue and celebrate original design, the CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America) recently partnered with eBay and asked 50 designers--from Coach to Tory Burch--to create one-of-a-kind tote bags emblazoned with the slogan, "You Can't Fake Fashion." While these bags (which went up on eBay today) sold out faster than you can say "sale," you can still get your hands on the plain tote with this ultra-fashionable motto for $35 and customize it yourself. Plus, all the proceeds benefit the CFDA Foundation. Check out the gallery of designer totes online and get inspired to keep it real.
Have you ever purchased a fake? How did it make you feel? Did you find that you acted differently while wearing it?
| Photo:ThinkStock |
This
weekend on NPR, I heard this story about Katie Davis and felt compelled to go hug
my own kids--over and over--until they made me stop. Davis, at age 22, gave up
her own dreams of being a nurse in order to remain in Africa, where she had
been volunteering, and raise 13 orphaned or otherwise needy girls. Her plan is to one day adopt
them.
"I think that's definitely something that I was made for,"
said Davis. "God just
designed me that way because he already knew that this is what the plan was for
my life--even though I didn't."
Her first child was an HIV positive 9-year-old who was injured
when a mud hut collapsed. She asked if she could live with Davis--and Davis, then age 19, said yes. Thus began her new life, as a mother and full-time resident of Uganda where she and the girls live, complete with an oversized minivan.
In her spare time, Davis also runs a nonprofit called Amazima
Ministries, a job supports the family of 14. There she oversees educating 400 other children, setting up community health
programs and feeding more than a thousand children five days a week.
My first task tomorrow is to promote her to "MOST WONDERFUL HUMAN BEING" and send her a gold-star sticker--and a donation--that officially affirms the title.
My first task tomorrow is to promote her to "MOST WONDERFUL HUMAN BEING" and send her a gold-star sticker--and a donation--that officially affirms the title.
Note: This article has been changed as of July 12, 2011.
Every Monday, we're rounding up things--small and big--that made us
stop and think. Today, we were captivated by a Yankees fan who shows true sportsmanship, an author who found a way to learn from one rejection (and the 59 that followed it), and more...
Kathryn Stockett, author of The Help, telling Katie Couric about the 60 rejections she received from agents (via Glamour):
Every time I got a rejection letter, it made me go back to the story and try to figure out what was not working. I think there are a lot of bad books out there that got published on the first try. And you've got to take a story, write it, put it in the drawer, soak out the stains, go back, and rewrite it over and over again.
Yankees fan Christian Lopez, who caught Derek Jeter's 3,000th-hit baseball, volunteering to return the home-run memento to Jeter for little more than a photo op (instead of trying to sell it for, like, a bajillion dollars):
It wasn't about the money, it's about a milestone, and I'm not going to take that away from him.
WSJ writer Katherine Rosman on how friends strengthen a marriage:
When a friend says to me, "I saw Joe and your daughter at the park and she has him wrapped around her finger," my focus is drawn past dirty socks left on the floor and onto the fact that I married a terrific guy who is loved by many.
Former First Lady Betty Ford, who died last week at the age of 93, on giving her name to the now-famous drug and alcohol treatment center in California:
It was very helpful for women, too, because women had in many ways been underserved. And if my name was one there it was a safe place for women to come and be treated.
Kathryn Stockett, author of The Help, telling Katie Couric about the 60 rejections she received from agents (via Glamour):
Every time I got a rejection letter, it made me go back to the story and try to figure out what was not working. I think there are a lot of bad books out there that got published on the first try. And you've got to take a story, write it, put it in the drawer, soak out the stains, go back, and rewrite it over and over again.
Yankees fan Christian Lopez, who caught Derek Jeter's 3,000th-hit baseball, volunteering to return the home-run memento to Jeter for little more than a photo op (instead of trying to sell it for, like, a bajillion dollars):
It wasn't about the money, it's about a milestone, and I'm not going to take that away from him.
WSJ writer Katherine Rosman on how friends strengthen a marriage:
When a friend says to me, "I saw Joe and your daughter at the park and she has him wrapped around her finger," my focus is drawn past dirty socks left on the floor and onto the fact that I married a terrific guy who is loved by many.
Former First Lady Betty Ford, who died last week at the age of 93, on giving her name to the now-famous drug and alcohol treatment center in California:
It was very helpful for women, too, because women had in many ways been underserved. And if my name was one there it was a safe place for women to come and be treated.
Life's a beach (as they say), but if you didn't have time to get away this weekend at least you can fake that post-sun glow with this slim, purse-sized palette from Stila. It comes filled with a blush, bronzer, and four shadows inspired by the Hamptons--the ultra-chic beach retreat New Yorkers flock to for R&R. Plus, a step-by-step guide for getting an easy, warm-weather look comes screen-printed inside the compact (which means you'll never be at a loss for where to put that bold azure shade). With colors reminiscent of blue skies, sandy beaches, and golden sunsets, this is the only makeup you'll need to pack for your next summer escape.
| Photos: Courtesy of Stila |
Stila Haute in the Hamptons Palette, $14
For more info on the Hamptons this season, check out Stila's website for the best shopping destinations, restaurants, and summer sites they discovered while doing "research" for this palette.
For more summer makeup ideas keep reading:
Check out July's best beauty buys
10 ways to summerize your beauty routine
| Photo: Jason Lowe |
 | When I'm trusting and being myself...everything in my life reflects this by falling into place easily, often miraculously —Shakti Gawain |  |
If it's Friday, we must be grateful. Here are a few things we're saying thank you for this week:
1. The astronauts (including Elmo)
3. He makes clouds! Of bubbles! They float!
4. There really was a Charlotte (yes, the spider), and that, to us, is kind of beautiful
5. Turntable.fm: Because at least one of us will be going to a club to hear music, like it's 1994, this weekend—without hiring a babysitter or leaving the couch
6. Joan Didion @JoanDidion, for reminding us that it doesn't hurt to set attainable goals
(We really wanted to believe it was you.)
Here's to a productive and happy weekend!
1. The astronauts (including Elmo)
A Blast from the Past: Shuttle Through the Decades from NPR on Vimeo.
3. He makes clouds! Of bubbles! They float!
4. There really was a Charlotte (yes, the spider), and that, to us, is kind of beautiful
5. Turntable.fm: Because at least one of us will be going to a club to hear music, like it's 1994, this weekend—without hiring a babysitter or leaving the couch
6. Joan Didion @JoanDidion, for reminding us that it doesn't hurt to set attainable goals
(We really wanted to believe it was you.)
Here's to a productive and happy weekend!
| Photo: Thinkstock |
I kept hearing that the gourmet offerings at many of the country's newer stadiums threaten to steal the show, so I asked around and found six foods baseball fans can't get enough of. Even if your interest in America's pastime is limited to the endearing if ragtag group of dogs named for the Yankee shortstop, you'll want to try these recipes and make a playoff-worthy version of them at home.
Ballpark: AT&T Park
Team: San Francisco Giants
Must-try concession: Crazy Crab'z, center field
What to order: Dungeness crab sandwich with mayonnaise and tomato, served in a grilled garlic butter sourdough baguette.
Make it at home: Curtis Stone's Surf Sandwich
Ballpark: Citi Field
Team: New York Mets
Must-try concession: Danny Meyer's El Verano Taqueria, outfield concourse
What to order: Chile-Marinated Skirt Steak, served inside two soft corn tortillas.
Make it at home: Grilled Skirt Steak with Two Chimichurris
[After the jump, a delectable fried fish sandwich and onion rings as far as the eye can see]
Last week, the hilarious comedy troupe Improv Everywhere hijacked a carousel. I am a devoted fan of Improv Everywhere, who have pulled off such stunts as a public figure-skating display during which one man slips and falls all over the ice while romantic music plays, and the invasion of a subway car by Darth Vader and assorted characters from Star Wars.
"We try to keep the focus on doing something positive rather than something negative," says founder Charlie Todd. "We want to create scenes of chaos and joy."
The carousel, however, has a magical, feel-good quality that seems exceeds all others. Why is that? Is it simply by virtue of the fact that a giant bunny wins a horse race? Is it the dramatic slow-mo finish? In the other videos, I noticed there's a period of adjustment during which the crowd of adult spectators need to observe, digest, and understand that what is happening is a public prank. Then and only then do they react with laughter. But in the carousel scene, the adults plunge into the spirit of the enterprise almost immediately even more so than the kids, who seem perplexed, but willing to go along, slapping their animals into "galloping."
There is something so wonderful in watching grown-up people play as if still in preschool, where all of us were allowed to be firemen or doctors everyday. I plan on spending the rest of the afternoon at my desk with a thick layer of sunscreen on my nose and my sunglasses down over my eyes, playing lifeguard-at-the-beach.
Read More: Laugh Until You Laugh... What's Your Emotional Age?
The carousel, however, has a magical, feel-good quality that seems exceeds all others. Why is that? Is it simply by virtue of the fact that a giant bunny wins a horse race? Is it the dramatic slow-mo finish? In the other videos, I noticed there's a period of adjustment during which the crowd of adult spectators need to observe, digest, and understand that what is happening is a public prank. Then and only then do they react with laughter. But in the carousel scene, the adults plunge into the spirit of the enterprise almost immediately even more so than the kids, who seem perplexed, but willing to go along, slapping their animals into "galloping."
There is something so wonderful in watching grown-up people play as if still in preschool, where all of us were allowed to be firemen or doctors everyday. I plan on spending the rest of the afternoon at my desk with a thick layer of sunscreen on my nose and my sunglasses down over my eyes, playing lifeguard-at-the-beach.
Read More: Laugh Until You Laugh... What's Your Emotional Age?
| I
want the tree that stands / in the earth for the first time / with the sun
already / going down / and the water / touching its roots / in the earth full of
the dead / and the clouds passing / one by one / over its leaves — W. S. Merwin | |
Advertisement
about Life Lift
The Oprah blog is a place where you can find engaging news coverage, fresh inspiration, and the straight talk you've come to count on. A place that
provides the tools you need to make a change—if not in the world—then at
least in your little corner of it. It's a place that will raise your energy, lower your blood pressure and
occasionally make you laugh—in short, a place of possibility.
topics
Advertisement
Advertisement
contributors
archived posts
