Saturday Shopping

"Hushed Existentialist"

Let me preface this post by saying that I won't make a habit of posting on a weekend - you know, the whole "should be too busy to post b/c I'm out there in the world doing things" thing....

And what I am usually doing on the weekends is shopping. It's what I do. And I do it quite well, so I've been told. But don't get me wrong, shopping is not synonymous with spending. I do not go out and blow $400 every weekend just for the hell of it. No. I go and I check out what's going on, see what's happening in my favorite stores by way of styles and sales. Keep my eyes on the things that I like and I know will eventually go on sale.... and that's when I pounce.

That brings me to the purpose of this post. I thought it would be helpful to provide some background info for this blog and maybe even serve as a guide for anyone out there who is wondering how we get these insane deals on our clothing. I don't think I've ever paid full retail price for any of my clothes and I don't think you have to either.

The key piece of information is this: Everything. Goes. On. Sale. Eventually. EVERYTHING.

If you see something on a mannequin that you love, you don't have to buy it off of her like it's the last thing in the store. Come back to it, you'll see. By next Tuesday that same little number is going to be on the "Reduced" rack and you will be kicking yourself if you paid full price. Not to mention the weekly coupons (10-20% off weekly if you are on the mailing list or read the paper), the after season sales, the family discount (if you are chatty with the sales clerk this will work 65-70% of the time), and, little known fact, if you are shopping at a Macy's outside of your home state? You get an automatic "guest" discount just for stopping by the customer service desk and letting them know. For DC that's an extra 11% off when you shop out of state just for talking to a complete stranger for 5 seconds!! And I am the last person in the world who wants to talk to a complete stranger for 5 seconds and would do anything to avoid it!! But this is a freebie!! Whew. As you can see, these kinds of things are exciting to me.

Bargain shopping requires a lot of patience, a lot of energy, a lot of re-hydration and a positive attitude. You need to have a powerful imagination in order to make it work for you. When there's snow on the ground, imagine it's blazing hot outside and you want to try on bikinis. When it's unbearably hot, make believe it's cold outside and try on cashmere sweaters. Trust me. You will thank yourself later.

You need to keep tabs on what's going on in your favorite stores. When are their annual and semi-annual sales? When do they put out new merchandise? When do they offer coupons and other in store promotions? Keep your eyes on what you like and notice where it is in the "floor priority rotation scale" - which is a term I just made up for when an item that starts out in the display window is gradually moved toward the back of the store, until it eventually/inevitably winds up on the (you guessed it) Sale Rack. If you pay attention, you too can get things that you love for 95% off.

This is what I like to do in my free time. And if you're wondering how I remember how much I paid for each article of clothing I wear? It's not because I have an eidetic memory like that - I just have this thing about keeping the tags on new clothes until the last possible second before I wear them for the first time. Then I cut the tags off and stuff them all in this random box where I keep most of my favorite tags. Yes, my favorite tags. I have always had a thing for tags - mostly the pretty ones that were designed with me in mind, the ones with pretty ribbons and baubles and dangly things.... Here are some examples:


I am totally not trying to name-drop with these tags, I just genuinely admire them....

Sometimes I take them out and admire them.... Especially the ones that I got on ridiculous sale. For example, today's outfit? My Free People clamdiggers were originally $148 and I got them for $8. I was scrounging around Filene's Basement in like, November in anticipation of sumratimes - they were on the $19.99 rack, but they didn't have the sales sticker on them and there was a storewide 60% off all sales sticker items promotion going on at the time. It was 8:55 and the lady behind the register really just wanted to go home for the night so she keyed in the necessary codes and Poof! Eight. Effin. Dollars.

Get there.

Free People clamdiggers with cute embroidery and other details: $8
Cream boatwear-inspired ruffle-sleeve tank from Old Navy: $7.50
Silver flip flops by American Eagle for Payless - $3.50 (2 pairs for $7)
The Kenneth Cole sunglasses, I think I may have misquoted in the previous entry. I forgot that I used a 20% Macy's coupon on them and they were already marked down on a store-wide sale, so I forget how much they actually cost - originally they were like $100 and I'd say the most I paid for them was $40. (still, probably the most expensive accessory I own)

Don't I look positively ecstatic amongst all of my recent purchases????



Oops. I keep forgetting to bring my bag with me in the pics:

Mariposa tote from Target - $7



And for the record: I understand that this is all frivolous and probably indicates a deeply-rooted psychological issue. But come on, there are way worse things....