Well, it was Lisa’s first day of school. And the first day of “Frosh Week” where I work. Sadly, I’m sitting in the same crappy clothes I’ve been wearing all summer, not shiny new clothes that would normally accompany the change of a season (I know fall doesn’t officially arrive for a couple of weeks, but for me, September = fall). Sara wrote a great post about changing over the kids clothes for a new season, which made me wonder when I stopped getting all new stuff every season, donating the old stuff to a younger sibling or a worthy charity.
Now, I find myself buying clothes that are:
1. Not too trendy (so I can wear them for years);
2. In basic colours (I have so much grey, black and khaki, it’s stupid); and
3. Practical (Ew. Just, ew.)
I’m living vicariously through my children (really, just through the girls), who always have trendy clothes and cool footwear. Between me, my mom and my aunt (who finds AMAZING deals on the cutest kid clothes), we have bought Bart 17 new shirts, 5 pairs of pants, 2 pairs of shoes and a couple of new shorts to start school next week. Lisa has 12 new shirts, 2 new hoodies, 7 pairs of pants, 3 dresses and 3 pairs of shoes. Maggie pretty much lives in hand-me-downs and gifts from my mom and aunt, but they’re nice and cool and new to her.
I remember my mom bought a new winter coat when I was in high school and she commented that she had bought the last one 15 years earlier. What what what? I couldn’t BELIEVE that she could wear the same thing for that long. But now, I kind of get it. I don’t think I have anything that old in my closet (yet), but I do have some dinosaur jeans and sandals that are pushing at least a decade.
Part of the problem is that I hate shopping for myself. I don’t like trying things on, I hate paying full price for anything (thanks Mom!) and sales associates drive me crazy. I don’t read fashion magazines, so I never really know what’s “in”. My strategy in the past has been to point to a nicely dressed manikin and ask for my size in all the pieces that make up her outfit. I’m not exactly of manikin proportions, so the strategy, while good in theory, falls apart in the change room. I usually end up in Winners (like TJ Max in the US), picking out black pants and collared blouses in a variety of boring colours. Most of the time at work, I look like a sharply dressed man on casual Fridays.
So, like I was saying “first day of school”. Yay! Lisa, by the way, looked awesome!
8 comments:
you soooo need to come shopping with me!!!
Really.
My plan is always to read fashion magazines (but stuff like Glamour - not vogue that is too fashion for me) and then pick out some of the key seasonal items. Then I go to Winners for those.
The rest of the stuff I try to get on sale.
I don't think it's about spending a ton of money - it's about knowing your body and the season and all of that.
In all honesty my friends take me to Winners to help. It's not cause I'm a fashion guru - it's cause I insist on trying tons of stuff even if it seems a little crazy. You never know.
Let's make a pact....we are both getting new and trendy fall/winter items this year.
I'm not saying let's throw caution to the wind and max out our credit cards or anything, (or maybe I am....) but we deserve to live a little.
Yes.
If I hadn't already taken my lunch break today, I'd be on my way out the door.
Oh, I loved this whole post.
"I look like a sharply dressed man on casual Fridays"--HA!
My criterion for clothes are:
1)Cheap, if not disposable
2)Low maintenance
3)Comfy
Shopping is a total nightmare for me because of my height. There are about 2 stores I can shop for pants in, unless I hit the kids section. Pathetic.
I am not a huge shopping for me fan either, I tend to buy pants. I have boobs so shirts never fit. But thankfully, sorta, my size changes with stunning regularity and I have to buy some new stuff every season.
Get out and get some nice things, a fitted little jacket maybe, with a little feminine shape? Some good butt pants? ohh tall boots!
hmm I wanna go shopping now!
I do the SAME THING. Kids are so easy to buy for: she's wearing 3T, I buy it in 3T without trying it on her, it looks great. The kids look great in everything. I look great in .01% of everything, and trying things on? *scornful pfffing sound* And even if I arrange things so I can try on clothes, I end up feeling horrible.
I hate shopping for myself, too!!! It's so darn expensive to be trendy. As opposed to our kids -- three pants for $30? SWEET!
I can never find ANYTHING in Winners. Everyone else I know finds these gorgeous things, but for me - bleh, nothing. I always end up shopping at Mark's Work Warehouse. Yes, I am horrible to look at.
I can soooo relate to this post. I don't think my mother bought a new outfit the entire time I was in elementary school. at the time I thought she was so very lame, now I think she was totally awesome to sacrifice so my sisters and I wouldn't do without. And now I find myself doing the same thing; of course, I complain about it because, unlike my mother; I am not a saint.
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