The Good Life
The Burberry that stole my heart

The Burberry that stole my heart

There it was, in the window display of Selfridges - my dream jacket. I didn't buy it, but I still haven't got over it.

Maira Pagganwala October 21, 2010

Walking in the streets of London a month and a half ago, Q and I decided to eat at Wagamama’s. After devouring the chicken katsu, I miraculously managed to convince him to take the side street with me and head to Oxford instead of back home, like he had hoped. It was while we were walking past Selfridges that I fell in love!

I stopped dead in my tracks, much to Q’s puzzlement.

“Handbag…dangling from her arm, cell phone…in her hand, sunglasses…on her head”, he quickly did a mental check. “What, now?”

“Have you left the keys at Wagamama’s?"

When he got no response, he followed my gaze, and much to my disappointment all he muttered was a very unenthusiastic “oh.”

There it was, in the window display of Selfridges, my dream jacket, and in bold letters, it said, “Envy the Burberry Prorsum Aviator Jacket”, and envy-worthy it was!

Honestly, if I could conjure up the perfect jacket, this would be it. If I had unlimited access to funds, I wouldn’t even bother trying it on before buying it! Hell, I’d maybe even go to the extent of buying a fake from China. Ok maybe not, it just wouldn’t be as beautiful.

Q interrupted my lusty thoughts and reminded me that this Burberry beauty would be a waste of money and impractical for Karachi winters. He also reminded me that I was saving up for a bag. He used, what at the time seemed like very logical reasoning, but in retrospect was straight up manipulation – very well done, I must admit for he somehow managed to convince me that the bag had been my dream bag since I was 12, while the jacket I had just met. And although it’s true that the jacket was my newfound love, while the bag and I went quite a long way back, I highly doubt that I’d have known the value of a beautiful hand-crafted leather bag made by one artisan from start to finish, at the mere age of 12. I now realize that I’d fallen victim to Q’s political manoeuvring!

Alas, it’s not a perfect world and I had to make a difficult decision, which resulted in me choosing the bag and leaving my other darling behind. It’s been close to two months since my bitter-sweet decision making, and I’m still not over the Prorsum jacket, which is on my winter wish list.

Anyone feeling generous?

WRITTEN BY:
Maira Pagganwala A graduate in International Development and Political Science who went on to study Urban Development Planning. She is also interested in creative writing and fashion.

The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

COMMENTS (33)

Khakhul Kareegar | 13 years ago | Reply Beta, I too once used to be lost in the lust of designer bags, jackets and designer accessories. My life was, as it is yours an aspiration of somebody else's life, those of icons and socialites.Little did I realize, however, how royal I was in my own sense, and how royal I was in the eyes of the people around me. I had nothing but my family name to live up to and I always felt proud of this no matter what. Now when I look at my lumpy thighs and skinny arms, I cant help but smiling at the sight of my chanels or guccis closed in the dibba on my cupboard. Yes,yes, yours truly was a little steal in her time, heehee but now all i have and all i can carry off proudly are my timeless, glittering friends. I know of one such person who wore one of my pieces, purple set in gold around her neck on a very special night; with clothes reinvented to suit her time. It adds a little intrigue when a newly married woman carries off the hush hush's of the entire night eh? no gucci saddle bag or Chopard clutch could do this for me. Because these are the pieces that i will pass on and these are the pieces that were passed on to me. They help transform old battered women like me, who for one last time want to feel a little sparkle of youth again. Chin up!

Ghausia | 13 years ago | Reply I love the comments section of this blog. :D Maira, while it isn't your fault that ET posted this at bad timing, the last line could have been avoided. I know you meant it as a joke, but we don't need to be reminded of how bad things are in terms of money for pretty much everyone. And as for the life & style part, well, it was far too shallow and self-absorbed. A little more about the jacket and less about you would've helped. On the plus side, you write well, and it was still an amusing read so kudos to you, not everyone can write after all. :)

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Mehreen Shahid | 13 years ago | Reply After reading all the comments here, i just have one thing to say- readers need to stop being so judgmental, close-minded and learn to take things lightly. I mean if you all really want to read sad stories and stay in the negative state than i suggest you all read the local urdu paper (its got lots of gory pictures too!). As many have already mentioned, such reads are usually found in the 'life and style' section for a reason. I would understand if ET had this blog on its front page, but clearly it doesnt. Maira, please keep writing and maybe you can put in a disclaimer before each piece suggesting its only for open-minded individuals who dont take things to the next level. And while you're at it maybe refer to pakistan or karachi as 'karachi (peace be upon the city)'.

aysha | 13 years ago | Reply You do know that you can submit a rant without using your real name, right? We'd probably take your rant more seriously if you weren't a close relative.

HNQ | 13 years ago | Reply Honestly, why get so worked up over a jacket? (it's a cute jacket though) Did you really change your "Life & Style" after these tragic times in Karachi? I think not. It's so easy to lash out at others for writing a harmless article because that way we think we don't have to criticize our own actions - I did my part, right? I put down the girl who wrote an article about a jacket. No. You didn't. If you don't want to read about style or fashion, don't read the life and style section. Also, if you actually read the article, she clearly did not buy the jacket. I would like to end by saying: Relax people, this light-hearted article is not armed. It won't go out and cause more bloodshed. However, it may be able to help you take your mind off the constant bloodshed in our beloved country. Give her a break.

Anam Pugganwala | 13 years ago | Reply OMG! RELAX everyone!! jeez ! Yes Karachi is burning, basically the entire nation is on the verge of breaking apart - but have any of you stopped breathing, eating, laughing! what kind of double standards are we talking about here!! It was just a piece where she has said how she liked a damn jacket!! I wonder if anyone of you who spoke with such determination really have stopped shopping because nearly half of the population is sleeping under the open sky!! We all feel the pain, but we just got to stop blaming someone. Her admiring the damn jacket and wanting one does not mean she does not give a damn about her city! Maira it was a light - hearted blog! I am glad that you write -

zaigham | 13 years ago | Reply seriously, what is the target audience of this blog? a newspaper blog shouldn't target the yuppe crowd only...

Talha | 13 years ago | Reply The day a vast majority of women can relate to this article, then many readers will happily except this write up. Till then, you will face the wrath of many for writing about something like this.

anum | 13 years ago | Reply It's not that people don't write fashion-related articles in Pakistan. They do, all the time. Yours just happened to come at a time when you mention you're from Karachi but you're more concerned about a ridiculously expensive designer jacket instead of the fact that the sky is practically falling in your city. Even though you may not have picked the day it came out, I think the last line at the end "anyone feeling generous?" really ticked people off. We'd had Pakistani students studying abroad literally begging for donations for the flood survivors, who still are struggling to stay alive, and then here's a cutesy jokesy call for a donation- for a jacket which if you can afford to buy, you can afford to feed dozens of families for a year around here. And that is why no one was amused. Bad ending, bad timing. And it's not that this happened in Pakistan- it would have happened no matter where you are. Try writing something like that during the Haiti quake, Hurricane Katrina, or the days after 9/11 after admitting you're from those respective places. Tragedy aside, there's economics- people in England AND America, as well as many other countries are going through a recession. Even if you had posted in Daily Mail, you could have expected a lot of people replying with "No we're not feeling generous. We're just trying to hold on to our jobs and feed our families." It's not a time when we look too kindly on extravagance.

Confused | 13 years ago | Reply Man I loved the men's perfume [Burberry London] they had. Personal favourite. the jacket does look special... its the mix between the raw biker type jacket and the furry coat insides. Gives a nice rough yet comfy look about it.

Ali | 13 years ago | Reply Yea right Maira, cos all we middle class people know and talk about Burberry bags! You should be the one ashamed!

Maira | 13 years ago | Reply Rabia, you just referred to yourself as an "upper-class, designer bag carrying woman" - who does that? As shallow as my blog may appear to you, not once did I mention how rich I was or what social class I belong to...you just undermined your entire point my pointing out those things about yourself. Shameful, really.

Rabia | 13 years ago | Reply If I see such a shallow blog again I will seriously stop visiting the Express Tribune website. This is really not a place for Pakistanis pretending to be super rich to showoff their cool lives to their friends. A jacket that must be atleast 5 to 6 lakh rupees. disgusting. ET please, intelligent bloggers who have something useful to say, only. This is really not a personal blog Since ET ultimately decides which blogs are published and which are not. So ET must not publish such useless blogs

Rabia | 13 years ago | Reply This looks a like a blog for the writer to show off her happening life. Not appropriate ET

Rabia | 13 years ago | Reply Dear Tribune, I realize this is the life and style section. But even as an upper-class, designer bag carrying woman myself I find this blog extremely offensive.

aysha | 13 years ago | Reply In that case, my apologies. Write on. :)

Maira | 13 years ago | Reply Aysha, just thought I'd respond to the three points that you raised. You said I could have: "1) Picked a day to post this when people weren’t literally being killed left and right in karachi." You should know that I submitted this blog over a week ago. I had no way of predicting that it would be uploaded on the day that it did. "2) If you were going to mention karachi, have shown a little concern or sensetivity." I mentioned Karachi once in the entire blog and that too in terms of the weather. That is all. I didn't know I was required to show "concern" or "sensitivity" with regards to the winters in Karachi... "3) Made a personal fashion blog and posted it on there." True, I could have done that but I don't see the big deal. Blogs are usually personal and yes, it was fashion-related that it is why it was in the Life & Style section Also, I think ET is in the position to approve and disapprove blogs and well, they approved of it. P.S. Thanks for appreciating my writing style and wishing me luck :)

aysha | 13 years ago | Reply Of course one continues to aspire to have a good life inspite of wars, bad news, death, and destruction, etc etc.. But your post came when more than 30 people died in a single day in karachi because of violence. On that very day. More than 80 in 5 days. Its not the norm. Have a little respect. While you're enjoying yourself in london, window-shopping, it would be nice to know you have a SLIGHT amount of concern that people are literally dying by the dozens daily in a place where you want to wear said jacket which costs upward of 2 lakh. No one is saying you shouldn't talk about fashion in pakistan, it's just in very bad taste to do so on the particular day you chose. Maybe we have all been desensetized by the killings, but reading this was like the epitome of desensitzation. You could have: 1) Picked a day to post this when people weren't literally being killed left and right in karachi. 2) If you were going to mention karachi, have shown a little concern or sensetivity. 3) Made a personal fashion blog and posted it on there. Other than all that, you have good writing style, so better luck next time.

Maira | 13 years ago | Reply Woaaah, it was supposed to be lighthearted but thank you for the comments. I appreciate all the feedback. My apologies for differing from the usual blogs of death and destruction - it was, however, meant for the Life & Style section. :)

rocket | 13 years ago | Reply for all those who despise any kind of exuberance and celebrations of life,and want to perpetually stuck in doom and gloom,ET should start a new section dedicated exclusively to posts dealing with news of death and disaster.

Yasser | 13 years ago | Reply Alas, it’s not a perfect world and I had to make a difficult decision, which resulted in me choosing the bag and leaving my other darling behind hahaha love above phrase, you made me feel nostalgic, and yes a very nice post. i am not sure why the critics are getting too critical, and yes we can offer you generosity but only "MADE IN CHINA" :)

Amena | 13 years ago | Reply Please get over yourselves - we all know the country is going through a tough time, but everyone here, have you all completely stopped shopping? Have you stopped going out for dinner and lunch? Have you stopped watching TV? I agree with Normal here about the nature of this post, but just because someone's having fun IN SPITE of the current situation doesn't mean we all need to start mourning. Income inequality will always remain.

Live and learn | 13 years ago | Reply and we care because? Disappointing read.

Humanity | 13 years ago | Reply get a life !

Zuhaib | 13 years ago | Reply Utter waste of time

zaigham | 13 years ago | Reply typical express blog... mindless, sensless and for the yuppee crowd...

Hamood | 13 years ago | Reply Give her a break please. This is "Life and Style" section of the page. Is the whole newspaper supposed to carry only the death and destruction? Maybe they should delete the Sports section as well since it is insensitive for people to play sports as well. Have you guys stopped laughing and gone into perpetual mourning because people are getting killed all the time?

Anushka Jatoi | 13 years ago | Reply What a fun light-hearted read! A much needed change from the usual depressing news we read day in and day out. Lighten up guys, its in the life and style section for gods sake!

The Only Normal Person Here. | 13 years ago | Reply Am I reading some personal blog cum diary? Or Tribune blog? Seriously fellas, you really need to strict your policy regarding approving posts.

ahmad butt | 13 years ago | Reply ahan? so now what?

Anna | 13 years ago | Reply What an utterly shallow post!

A.A | 13 years ago | Reply Excuse my french, but what a load of crap. While no one is stopping the writer from being the person she is, would she please excuse the Karachiites who are struggling to make ends meet from her personal dilemmas!

aysha | 13 years ago | Reply I hope you can manage to save up enough money to buy your coveted jacket and wear it proudly during the Karachi winter. Pay no heed to the bloodshed in the streets- it doesn't concern us and life must go on. Let them eat cake!

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