In speaking to another woman about clothes shopping, she mentioned that she also headed straight for the sales rack and often settled for clothes not exactly right. She pointed out that her husband never did this - he got exactly what he wanted and needed and didn't look for a bargain along the way. Nor did he allow any bargains distract him from what he wanted. In short, he didn't settle. Why do we?
Is this some sort of freakish female phenomenon? I don't think it's a question of having too many clothes and justifying the amount, since I know plenty of men who own more clothes than I do and they don't tell me about all the money they saved on each pair of slacks or shirt. (Is this another female trait - the obsession with believing that any compliment on our clothes necessitates a description from us on what a bargain any particular item was?)
Speaking of bargains, my friend A went out browsing thrift stores last week (a treat she allows herself each week after her therapy session, but I won't get into Freud's analysis of that), and picked up a lovely little black Benetton dress in perfect condition for only $4! On so many levels, this little dress provides proof of a lot of what I've noticed and heard. First, the dress was such a good deal she didn't even have to try it on because she couldn't pass up a $4 dress. Second, she had to tell me about the dress by describing its looks and its cost in the same sentence. Third, her retail therapy is discounted, as is mine and many other women's - why isn't she over at Sak's browsing after a therapy session? Still, she was proud of her find and it is a lovely dress. She planned to wear it during the holidays.
Apparently we women can justify any purchase if it's a bargain. And we mourn the losses of the bargains we gave up, don't we? I'm sure that faux leopard coat from the 60s that was on sale (but was not quite low enough to justify the cost) looks better in my memory than it ever did on me. Yet I swing from thanking the friend who talked me out of buying it ("Put the coat down and step back from the ledge!") to cursing her, for not only will I never revel in compliments on my cute Edie Sedgwick look when wearing it, but I never will get to brag about what a deal it was!
As for A's little black dress, it didn't fit and she's contemplating using it as a $4 dust rag.
1 comment:
For a tiny bit of perspective here Edie, as I recall that "that faux leopard coat from the 60s that was on sale" was still upward of $500!!! Thinking about it, though, I probably wouldn't have been so adamant [in a calm, supportive, good-friend sort of way] that you put the coat down had it been cheaper even though, in my memory, I thought the coat looked good, not amazing. I think most women I know would buy something that was just good and not amazing if the price was right [and to me, $500+ was not the right price]--I suppose that's one of the main reasons you're doing this experiment/blog in the first place. I'm looking forward to reading more - hopefully I'll learn something from it.
Post a Comment