There are so many different name brands in today's modern society it's so hard to keep up with what they are and who is wearing them. Some are ridiculously expensive, and some are just a tad more than the knock off versions of them. For me, I like buying the name brand stuff because I feel as if it's better quality and it's due to last longer. Just because I choose to pay more for something when I could easily get the knock off version doesn't at all mean I'm "high maintenance."

My family has always thought of me as this because I'd rather have the name brand than the less expensive knock off version. This doesn't go for everything, just certain items like shoes, makeup and clothes. This is mostly because the quality is much better and will last years longer than any knock off, but it's also because society has created this aura that if you don't wear the nicest name brand stuff you're looked down upon. I have always struggled with people and want to be seen as an equal to them. My friends always have the nicest name brand items and I just wanted to be acceptable by them.

In recent years, I learned that it's unhealthy to think I have to have the nicest clothes and makeup brands to be accepted by others. I have been raised in a small area where everyone's opinion of you makes or breaks you, no matter how you feel about yourself. This caused me to try to buy more acceptable brands to wear so people would like me. I was never trying to act stuck up or trying to act like I was the richest person in my town because I was nowhere close to either of those things. I just wanted to be accepted by the general public and strive for popularity. After coming to college, I realized popularity is a giant myth. People will like you for you, not for what you wear or who you hang out with.

Just because you don't have the most expensive shoes or clothes doesn't make you any less of person. If you want to wear the highest name brands that are expensive, then do it. If you want to wear a three dollar t-shirt and five dollar sneakers from Goodwill, then do it! The only opinion of you that matters is the one you give yourself. It's your life, dress and act however you please.