Numbers dominate life, fashion too

Numbers make me irrationally angry.

Whether it’s the numbers on my stats exam, the number underneath ‘available balance’ in my bank account, the number of times my car gets towed or the number times I hear someone say they have “over 20 followers on Twitter” (it should most definitely be “more than 500”), numbers quite literally make me want to punch myself in the face.

There has always been an inexplicable urge to die that I associate with numbers – this column is the result of a tantrum thrown after a failed attempt at studying for the aforementioned stats exam.

But what in the Bazooka Joe do numbers have to do with fashion? Psh, everything.

The number on the tag of the average American woman’s pants: 14. In fact, approximately 40 percent of American women are at least a size 14. She is also approximately 166 pounds. The average supermodel weighs about 122 pounds and is a size two.

The number of women in the United States with an eating disorder: 7 million. For those still playing catch up or still coming out of their winter quarter slump, last week was body acceptance week. Studies show that anywhere from 15 to 40 percent of college-age women have eating disorders. Approximately 10 percent of college-age men suffer from an eating disorder.

The number of women who will wear uncomfortable shoes because they look good: 45 percent. The number of men who will wear uncomfortable shoes because they look good is, according to Harpars.org, 20 percent.

The number of handbags the average woman owns: six. And, according to marketing research by The NPD Group, there is a strong correlation to age and bags owned: Four in 10 women, age 55 and above, said they own at least seven bags each.

The number of times someone tagged a tweet on Twitter with #fashion Monday, April 20: 95. As of Tuesday, 95 was the greatest number of times #fashion had been tagged. The second most frequent use of the fashion hash tag was April 14 with 75 tags.

The number of pairs of shoes the average American women owns: 19. I think I own more than 19 pairs of shoes; I probably only wear five or six. But, that’s fine, because according to Consumer Reports National Research Center, of those 19 pair, the average woman only wears four pairs regularly and has worn 25 percent of her shoes only once.

The number of people who have accessed The Fashion Dungjen blog by searching “bonjour shoes”: Two. For the record, I had no idea what “bonjour shoes” meant. But, when I Googled it, I found that it linked back to a Nov. 7, 2008 blog entry about shoes I purchased. Coincidentally, the blog subject was ‘Bonjour shoes!’

Duh.

The number of Google results yielded from a “Nancy Zimpher AND fashion” search: 1,080. And, before you make any assumptions about the number of results that are attributable to me, if you add ‘AND dungjen’ to the mix, it narrows the search to 157 results. But, keep your panties on and your pitchforks down; I’ve only written two columns about Nancy.

The number of items tagged with ‘fashion’ on eBay as of April 20: 65,472.

The average number of dollar bills you’ll shell out if you buy a pair of Christian Louboutins: 750. That is a lot of dollar, dollar bills, ya’ll.

The number of times a woman will change her look during her lifetime: 26. Is it identity crisis or self-esteem issues? I guess that’s what you might call putting your face on.

The number of hairspray cans used during L’Oreal’s Spring 2009 Fashion Week: 60. So that’s what happened to the ozone layer …

The number of people I saw on Tuesday who were strutting around campus wearing leggings as pants: 12. Sick. I wish I was able to be more stealth so I could have snuck photos of all of them.

The number of times I regretted starting this column idea because it took forever: seven.

Paint by numbers, fashion by and in numbers? Want Taylor’s number? Hit her up at
dungjet@email.uc.edu.