The Evolution From “Need” To “Want”

[Monitor]

We convince ourselves we're incomplete without this or that, when in reality, it's just our brains and endorphin receptors teasing us.

Exactly. But this incomplete bit is what interests me - do we even have a clue what we're after?
Is there a specific way we want to look or is it just the need to own these rather expensive things for the benefit of our social status?

 

[steve u]

What I'd like to know is, why the want?

Like the crow, we have to have what's shiny....maybe. steve

 

[Colin G]

Stop looking at the internet and the want will go away.

 

[Carlos840]

Exactly. But this incomplete bit is what interests me - do we even have a clue what we're after?
Is there a specific way we want to look or is it just the need to own these rather expensive things for the benefit of our social status?

Personally i don't care about social status or the fact that these things are expensive, if anything i am actually a bit embarrassed by the cost of some of them...
For me the constant quest for the next jacket is a fun mix of obsessive compulsive personality, addiction, and a "collector mind" that i don't fully understand yet.

Edit: according to Freud, collecting is linked to loss of bowel control as a child, and "collectors are trying to gain back control of their bowels"...
Not sure how i feel about that!

 

[nick123]

Exactly. But this incomplete bit is what interests me - do we even have a clue what we're after?
Is there a specific way we want to look or is it just the need to own these rather expensive things for the benefit of our social status?

If there's anything to do with social status , I imagine it's really small. Like less than 1% of the whole equation. The members here don't seem to be after that at all.

I'm weird. My whole thing is paranoia over the idea of globalization, collapsing economies, and the eventual dissolution of artisinal goods. Or prices going up, which they sure are. Hence the need to collect asap. But as I said, I don't "need" jackets. But they do make me feel better!

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

Greetings All:
Gave this some more thought.
I like to sift thought provoking things down to their essence.

For this one it strikes me as this:
No matter what it is in life,
a need reflects survival,
a want reflects reward for our accomplishments.

Thank you again Superfluous, for once again challenging us to exercise our brains, in front of the mirror!!
B

 

[Gamma68]

What I need is more closet space to store all of my "wants."

Thanks, FL.

 

[zebedee]

We want non-essentials and just lie to ourselves that we 'need' them until we buy them. I am always somewhat disappointed after I receive a new jacket, because I have the ideal of what it'll be like and the reality always falls short. The jacket I like the most was the first Aero I bought- I hated it when I got it and then wore it and then wouldn't be without it. My buying of jackets went from 'I like this Highwayman, but my lower back gets cold in Shanghai; I'll buy a Stockman', to 'Hmmm, Cordovan's nice- I'll get a LHB because it's sorta short and sorta long', and then it got stupid. Bought a cafe racer just because I didn't have one and thought it'd look good (ha, ha), bought another long one because it was on sale, got a goatskin 50s as I was after a change, and then got SB to copy my whacky 70s oxblood leather car coat... just because I really liked it before I had an Aero. They got the shade of brown far too light (it's chestnut and not really Seal). I often really dislike looking at them in the cupboard: they were (mostly) unnecessary purchases and I do not 'need' more than one short one and a long one, although ideally I'd sell all but three of them. What utterly fazes me is that folks compliment me on the cafe racer jacket (which I think looks bollocks on me) and never say anything about the Highwayman (which I really like and think suits me).

REGAN:What need one?

LEAR
O, reason not the need! Our basest beggars
Are in the poorest thing superfluous.

 

[ton312]

Yes, and I need to stop wanting things...Ultimately a material possession only brings fleeting happiness so one goes after the high again and again b/c it wears off so quickly. At least this is my experience. I don't want to collect large volumes of anything (particularly leather jackets as the thought of massive amounts of them in my closet is unsettling to me)....I want the thrill of the hunt, the anticipation of the wait and the (short lived) delight of acquisition. It has nothing to do with being satisfied or not with the finished product...I just like playing the game...perhaps I should take up gambling...

 

[zebedee]

I was once stuck in a place for weeks with a bare minimum of clothing (and pretty much everything else), but had a tough, canvas car coat thing. Wore the canvas coat all the time and wondered why the hell I'd ever needed a leather jacket. Got home and pretty much wore three different leather jackets in two days...

 

[zebedee]

If only it were simple...

 

[zebedee]

Yes, and I need to stop wanting things...Ultimately a material possession only brings fleeting happiness so one goes after the high again and again b/c it wears off so quickly. At least this is my experience. I don't want to collect large volumes of anything (particularly leather jackets as the thought of massive amounts of them in my closet is unsettling to me)....I want the thrill of the hunt, the anticipation of the wait and the (short lived) delight of acquisition. It has nothing to do with being satisfied or not with the finished product...I just like playing the game...perhaps I should take up gambling...

When I was overseas, I whittled down my wardrobe to essentials that I could pack and move with easily, and I was remarkably happy for ages. I only had stuff I needed or really liked. It was also hot, which makes it easier.

There are two problems: you have to have had a lot of stuff to become happy by getting rid of the majority of it and buying habits change in colder climates. I was down to 5 pairs of trousers (3 for work, 1 smart casual, 1 layabout/pub pair of jeans), 6 shirts (4 work, two casual), 1 Hanes Beefy long sleeve t-shirt and 2 short sleeve ones, 1 formal overcoat, 1 Aero, 1 sports jacket, 2 suits, 1 pair of Docs, 1 pair Loakes (work or whatever), 1 pair sneakers, 1 pair crappy boat shoes (for work). All underclothes were disposable anyway. It was great- everything I owned was either well-made and durable or totally chuckable. Packing took no time at all.

I got back to the UK and started buying clothing. Oh. And I'm on a sabbatical year...

 

[Seb Lucas]

I don't think the "want" part of this is mysterious. It's slightly different for different people, but essentially you develop an interest or taste for something and you run with it though meeting fellow collectors and exploring on line. Not everyone gets as excited, but some get very excited.

Leather jacket collecting is no different to collecting anything - Beanie Babies, snow globes, Gibson guitars. Every consumer item like this has its own lore, its rarities and its must haves. It's also to do with boredom and identity. For some people collecting provides some meaning, a focus and flashes of happiness - often called the thrill of the chase. And I think leather jackets, especially, of the artisan variety, help us to rebel ever so slightly againt the bland conformity of modern aesthetics and life.

 

[zebedee]

I like the way that good quality leather looks better the more used it gets, and short-circuit this by buying sufficient jackets to ensure most don't get worn enough for this to happen to all of them.

 

[Monitor]

But when you see a photo of a beautiful, worn out leather jacket that's full of patina and character, is your first thought "This looks great!" or "Man, I'd look great in that!"?

 

[Peacoat]

Leather jacket collecting is no different to collecting anything - Beanie Babies, snow globes, Gibson guitars. Every consumer item like this has its own lore, its rarities and its must haves.

Beanie Babies?
Snow Globes?
Gibson Guitars—Yes!

I put my leather jackets and peacoats on a much higher level than the first two, and on the same level as Gibson Guitars. But I see your point.

 

[jonesy86]

I’ve moved up (and sometimes down) Maslow’s pyramid in my life.

I am currently somewhere in the middle of this hierarchy and I’m really Jonesing for another GW.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

Greetings Again:
Whomever coined the phrase for Homosapien Sapien as “hunter-gatherer”
was spot on, literally and figuratively.
We hunt (food/jackets).
We gather (food/jackets).
All for the same reasons today as then.
We need...to hunt/gather.
We want...to hunt/gather.
The whys and the whats matter not.
That’s just how we are wired.
B

 

[red devil]

Oups, forgot to mention that the only jacket I really need is in production, and it is a modern riding jacket with protection

Greetings Again:
Whomever coined the phrase for Homosapien Sapien as “hunter-gatherer”
was spot on, literally and figuratively.
We hunt (food/jackets).
We gather (food/jackets).
All for the same reasons today as then.
We need...to hunt/gather.
We want...to hunt/gather.
The whys and the whats matter not.
That’s just how we are wired.
B

Love that thought

 

[dudewuttheheck]

At the time, I felt that I needed my first two leather jackets in my current collection. The RMC A2 was the basic jacket that I could wear at any time and the Himel grizzly was the fun jacket for special occasions. However, looking back on it, I didn't even really need these.

The third and fourth jackets were purely wants even at the time. I wanted a cossack/campus style jacket so I got it from Himel and I bought the last one simply because @Carlos840 reminded me that I had always desperately wanted a Freewheelers jacket.