Contemporary Sweatshirt Hell

Spending $110 on a plain gray sweatshirt is so crazy that this post should probably just be an Affluenza entry, but I've found myself falling in love with the look and the very IDEA of this Buzz Rickson set-in sleeve four-needle sweatshirt:

http://historypreservation.com/hpassociates/detailpop.php?uniqnum=176

I'm dead serious when I say that the copywriter of this ad is a straight-up genius who knows exactly what buttons to push in a person who is susceptible to being convinced of dropping a C-note on a sweatshirt. Not only does he know how important authenticity is to us--eighty year old looms! identical down to the label!--but he also speaks directly to the root of our sickness with lines like this:

"A Buzz Rickson's sweatshirt is for real men, not hip-hop kids or those with a build they want to hide. Take a bite of old-time machismo and see how true sweatshirts used to look and feel."

Oh god, yes! Yes! I CAN'T AFFORD *NOT* TO SPEND A HUNDRED DOLLARS ON THIS SWEATSHIRT!!!