Quality or Quantity - Eke van Victor

#FridayFrolics

Working in the corporate world exposed me to the significance of dressing up and dressing well. Though it was a struggle to fit into that system, considering the fact that I didn't have the money to match a brown belt to a pair of expensive brown brogues or the money to afford packed shirts and quality denim trousers like many other senior colleagues.

In fact, on the day of my internship interview, I went dressed in a pair of brown over-worn chinos trousers, a red long-sleeved shirt and a pair of black gladiator sandals. After passing the test answering all 60 or 50 questions correctly (which I guess was rare), Lizzy the junior HR sized me from top to toe and told the HR manager "The GM won't take him, he's not properly dressed." It was a spit to my face, but I gulped it all down with an indifferent look like that of a sufferer and then the truism of "the way you dress is the way you will be addressed" dawned on me.‎

The HR Manager responded "Take him there first. He's good enough after all. And this result? Wow." She took me to the GM anyway, he liked me at first sight and voila! I was in their employ.

With the excessive demands and the relatively low amount I earned, and the pressure to fit into the class I now found myself, I learnt how to maximize money in a way that made 5naira seem like diamond. Girls that frequent Yaba will understand this; I could buy 8 pairs of 'fairly used' Jean trousers at the price of one new pair in the boutiques. I could as well buy 5 starched shirts at the price of 1 new shirt in the boutiques. I was living the life, fitting in. Wasn't I?

But as months passed by, I realized that spending on those cheap clothes was becoming a monthly ritual and my room was becoming overstuffed with trousers and shirts, those I couldn't wear more than once, twice or thrice either because they faded too fast, got torn or something else. Then I realized how much I had wasted getting quantity over quality. If I had saved and waited, I'd have been able to afford a few quality wears that would outlast all the rubbish I had stuffed my room with. I eventually tried it and it worked! Still working.

Some would carelessly say "It doesn't cost much to look good". Absolutely! It doesn't. In fact, the picture you see up there corroborates that statement totally. But, how durable is your cheap good look? How? ‎

Save up your money and get you some quality things. Don't spend cheaply on 100 things that would last one month, spend relatively on 1 thing that would last 100 months.

‎

Learn to save, wait for the right time, buy quality and spend wisely!

PS: How much do you think the top and trousers in that pic were worth?