Old dressing gown

We delight in acquiring new things, but seldom do we consider the resulting ripple effect described by the French philosopher, Denis Diderot. In an essay called Regrets on Parting with My Old Dressing Gown, he wrote about receiving as a gift a beautiful scarlet dressing gown, then quickly discarding his old one. But as he began to sense that his surroundings now appeared worn and unworthy of the magnificence of the new garment, his pleasure turned sour. As Juliet Schor explains, he grew dissatisfied with his library, the desk, his chairs, and even the room's bookshelves. One by one, the familiar but well-worn furnishings of the library were replaced. In the end, Diderot found himself seated uncomfortably in the stylish formality of his new surroundings, regretting the work of this "overbearing scarlet robe that forced everything else to conform with its own elegant tone."