I have a friend who is a shopping genius, which I am definitely not. I can go out and blow lots of money, and end up with nothing I like, or with things that are unwearable. Yesterday, I shadowed her in Winners, and took notes of her strategy. She started off saying, "OK. When my time is limited like this, I just go directly to the Handbag and Shoe sections, because that is where you will find the best deals in this store." As she fingered through the handbags, she said, "Once I found a Dolce & Gabbana bag for $80 here, if you can believe it." That statement didn't mean a lot to me, but I got the idea. I started looking at the black bags, and she said, "It's harder to find a good black bag here, I'll tell you that. You are more likely to find a high quality brown or tan one." Then, she pulled out a nice light, soft, camel coloured leather bag with dark straps. "Here we go. This is you. This is a really really good deal." We noticed a tiny tiny pen mark on it and she suggested we try to get it marked down even more. Then, we went to the shoes. It took her a few minutes there before she said, "Nothing worth looking at here today. It's been seriously picked over." Then, she suggested going to the Underwear and Sleepwear section since we had some extra time. She said, "Sometimes you can find Calvin Klein panties here for 4 or 5 dollars, and they really are better quality." We looked, but no luck on this. Then, she ranted a bit about fleece, and how it was a terrible fabric that doesn't breathe.
We had a couple of minutes left, so we went to the sweaters. We saw things we liked, but the sizing was all wrong. She said, "Don't ever buy anything that is the wrong size even if you love it. It will just frustrate you." We went to the cash where we managed to knock a few dollars off the leather bag. Then, she suggested I go to La Vie en Rose and pick up a pair of $10 flannel pajamas. She confessed to buying 4 pairs. She said, "When they are giving them away like that, I tend to just buy them up. Everyone needs flannel pajamas."
6 comments:
A shopping consultant! I need one of those. I love her advice about never buying anything the wrong size, because I've been repeatedly frustrated by that one recurring mistake.
Man, you have friends that spend 4 or 5 buck for one pair of panties? Very chi chi -- mine are usually 4 bucks for a six pack.
Zoom: Yes, this was my first shopping excursion with her, but I think there will be more. I follow her around like a puppy, and just take in all the shopping wisdom.
XUP: Indeed, I have very classy friends. I rely on them for my own cultural capital.
I agree with your friend regarding the flannel PJs. I love to put on my pink or purple flannel PJs and crawl into bed to read a good book. An added bonus (in my opinion), some men find them very cute!
I had to be taught how to shop too. My teacher's best advice: Every time you go into a store, always check the sales rack first! It's too easy to get tempted by a full price item, and then never see the 1/2 price just as nice item in the sales rack!
about the underwear - $5 sounds like a lot, but if you amortize it, it is actually amazingly cheap...
That even some of you need to come up with a rule like "Don't ever buy anything that is the wrong size..." leads me to believe there really are mental differences between men and women.
But then when I hear that someone is willing to spend more on undies because she is amortizing the cost, I say, Vive le difference!
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