The Voice's Michael Musto on His "Bargain Basement Kitsch Tastes"

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Comedy writer Bonnie Datt once bought a chainmail vest "for clubbing"—a purchase she later came to lament, once she realized that chainmail isn't particularly slimming. Inspired by this, she now spends her spare time asking famous people to dish about purchases which they initially loved—but ended up regretting, for Buyer's Remorse.

The hilarious Michael Musto has been covering the juiciest and hippest celebrity gossip for more than two decades—in his must-read syndicated Village Voice column La Dolce Musto, his daily online blog La Daily Musto, and as a television pundit. We love his writing and are really excited to read his new book, a compilation of columns and original essays, Fork On The Left, Knife in the Back. We had a feeling that Michael would have a wonderful Buyer's Remorse story, and he did not disappoint.

Racked: Can you tell us about a time you had Buyer's Remorse?

Michael Musto: My regret story is a little twisty. A couple of years ago, I bought a piece of "yarn art" at a flea market. It consisted of multi-colored flowers made of yarn hanging off a canvas that was framed. I thought it was so me, and couldn't wait to rush it home.

But after having it up on the wall for a while, I grew tired of the thing. It looked cheap. The flowers were a little wilty. And it was suddenly looking too low even for my bargain basement kitsch tastes. So I donated it to a thrift store, the type that's always begging for merch.

The killer is, a few months later, I walked into the thrift store and on the wall was a yarn art flower piece! I loved it! I felt, "I have to have that!" And I realized, "That was mine! That's the piece that I donated to them!"

I begged the guy to let me buy it back, but he said, "No. it's not for sale. It's part of our decor now."

I was horrified that I couldn't even pay to get back something I'd completely given them. And I deeply regretted ever having bought the thing in the first place.
· All Buyer's Remorse Posts [Racked]
· Fork On The Left, Knife In The Back [Amazon]
· La Daily Musto [Village Voice]