I just got the new Ikea catalog. It's usually a minor event in my household, especially now that I'm only about a half-hour away from New Haven, home of one of the stores.
Is it me or does this year's version of the catalog suck? I'm not a huge fan of their stuff -- some of it is pretty flimsy and garish -- but I like a fair amount of it, in fact I'm typing this blog on my home computer... which rests on a Mikael corner desk.
But, the catalog this year is really uninspiring. It's about the usual thickness, but it's smaller in size, kind of like a digest not a book. And, they've decided to show us the merchandise. WTF?!?!
Yeah, yeah I know. It's a catalog, it's supposed to show us the merchandise. But, the thing I always liked about it, and with those old J. Crew and Abercrombie & Fitch catalogs, was that it showed us a "lifestyle." All these idyllic pictures of touch football games in the fall, or dinner parties at a beach house, or people curdled up on a huge sofa reading with 4 billion shelves of books behind them. Lazy Sunday mornings, lounging in bed, reading the NY Times and giggling with your girlfriend. Sure, the people looked impossibly perfect and annoying, not to mention ridiculously happy. I hated them, but I loved the catalogs because they showed us this carefree, American lifestyle that was intoxicating. It was pure escapism, easily better than a movie.
Not any more. Maybe this year's catalog was more indicative of the times, where everything's scary and disorganized? Maybe the producers of the catalog were worried that they would piss off too many terrorists if they showed self-absorbed people enjoying their materialist lives too much?
I don't know the answer, but please for the love of god give me back the old-style Ikea catalog!
Is it me or does this year's version of the catalog suck? I'm not a huge fan of their stuff -- some of it is pretty flimsy and garish -- but I like a fair amount of it, in fact I'm typing this blog on my home computer... which rests on a Mikael corner desk.
But, the catalog this year is really uninspiring. It's about the usual thickness, but it's smaller in size, kind of like a digest not a book. And, they've decided to show us the merchandise. WTF?!?!Yeah, yeah I know. It's a catalog, it's supposed to show us the merchandise. But, the thing I always liked about it, and with those old J. Crew and Abercrombie & Fitch catalogs, was that it showed us a "lifestyle." All these idyllic pictures of touch football games in the fall, or dinner parties at a beach house, or people curdled up on a huge sofa reading with 4 billion shelves of books behind them. Lazy Sunday mornings, lounging in bed, reading the NY Times and giggling with your girlfriend. Sure, the people looked impossibly perfect and annoying, not to mention ridiculously happy. I hated them, but I loved the catalogs because they showed us this carefree, American lifestyle that was intoxicating. It was pure escapism, easily better than a movie.
Not any more. Maybe this year's catalog was more indicative of the times, where everything's scary and disorganized? Maybe the producers of the catalog were worried that they would piss off too many terrorists if they showed self-absorbed people enjoying their materialist lives too much?
I don't know the answer, but please for the love of god give me back the old-style Ikea catalog!
VIEW 6 of 6 COMMENTS
kattrinak:
i am so not looking forward to cracking mine open now that you've warned me of this. and this while i type from an IKEA desk....muah ha ha....
sauda:
That is very insightful. I've not seen the new IKEA mag just yet. I do, however, love to run through the store pretending I have the money for everything I want.