Monday, October 18, 2010

Shopping, Schmopping

I HATE clothes shopping. In a real and passionate way. I sweat, I get tense, I have to gear up for spending the afternoon looking through racks and running into dressing rooms, navigating over-helpful salespeople and annoying women in the store, hoping that I can trust my judgment enough not to buy anything that makes me look horrible. I don’t like shopping with people because I’m miserable when I shop, and I don’t want anyone I like to have to suffer through that with me. So I go it alone and just pray I come out on the other side ok.

Enter my new favorite thing: online shopping! I know it’s not a revelation for most, but it’s a recent discovery for me. Things arrive quickly, they’re free to ship back from Zappos, and I can try them on in the privacy of my own home, complete with all my existing clothes and shoes to see how things match. The other thing I notice is that I’m more willing to try new things this way. I’m not sure why, but it makes me a little more adventurous. Yes, I still mostly have all black, grey and brown clothes, thank you. Whatever.

I think part of the drive here is that I’m realizing that at this age, I want to have some nice clothes. A veteran Goodwill shopper who rarely purges her closet – I just started to notice that its time. Time to get rid of some things that I’ve had for WAY too long, that I never wear, that don’t have a place in my life anymore. And time to check out some new stuff. I’m willing to spend a little more on something that’s good quality – something I used to just walk right past because of the cost (part of hating shopping is hating spending money on clothes).

I guess this is growing up? Or just changing? All I know is that I like feeling good in my skin, and part of that these days is liking what I’m wearing. For years I wore sandals, a ratty pair of cutoffs and an old white v-neck t-shirt, but that’s not working for me anymore. Who would have thought? I can hear my mom’s sigh of joy. It took 37 years, but her little hippie girl is growing up. ;-)

1 comment:

  1. Do you know how some people have a knack for this? They just get it and it comes easy? Michelle is like that and she started her own business helping folks shop. She works with all price ranges and styles. My friends who have used her say they LOVE their clothes and they save money in the long run, because they spend less time and they spend their money in the right places. I don't work for her, I promise, just thought I would pass along the info - http://wellstyled.net/

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