I can’t tell how I feel about this new Sundance Channel program Man Shops Globe.  I’m not sure what I’m more uncomfortable with- that the show isn’t a hard-hitting expose of high-end “bobo“/”boho” lifestyles or that it reveals just enough about what made Anthropologie such a perfect place to go when the library stressed me out that I start to see the artifice.

On one hand, I’m hardly one to complain about Anthropologie; if I had enough money I’d probably by 70% of my clothing and home items there (the other 30% would come from Etsy, of course).  Plus, I’ve been known to abandon all willpower in that store and come out with dresses I’ll get to wear… maybe three times in my oh-so-casual life. When I was finishing up my MA there was an Anthropologie about 7 blocks from the university library and I’d sometimes sneak off to just look at all the beautiful things.

On the other hand there is something about this show that is kind of off putting.  Probably two phenomenon are part of this.  First, something about seeing where all this stuff comes from actually kind of ruins the fantasy.  Suddenly its his vision and huge warehouses full of stuff and it’s all brightly lit.  I guess it is nice that we get to see where things are coming from and that these seem to be artisanal workshops and antique stores but I still suspect there are some less-than-ideal workshop practices involved in Anthropologie’s production, not because they’ve set out to do anything bad but because that is often the nature of trade and production for an upscale American brand.

But I think more interestingly, the show highlights that the “lifestyle” Anthropologie creates is just… well… commodity, a series of exchanges between wealthy countries and developing countries (though also western European countries) that seems to disregard the cultural context in which many of these products are produced.  When I go to Anthropologie I am emphatically not thinking about workshops in Thailand or Indian furniture markets– it is all about my own, American, upper-middle-class fantasy life.

Am I going to continue shopping at Anthropologie?  Of course– I could really use this or this or this or… Do I kind of feel like I should apologize for fashion?  Well, that’s a much trickier question and one that gets harder to answer the more curtain is pulled back, so to speak.

But, let’s be honest, who wouldn’t KILL for that man’s job?!