I have a shopping problem. No really, it's getting pretty serious. When I saw Confessions of a Shopaholic in theaters, I was the one nervously laughing along with everyone else, while really thinking...mannequins don't speak to other people?! Walking into a store gives me a barrage of emotions that I can't quite cultivate any other way.
Emotion #1: pure excitement! I'm rounding the corner to one of my favorite stores and I see it's front window with the mannequins perfectly, if not somewhat overly layered. Clothes I would never be caught dead wearing simultaneously look beautiful and cohesive. I want that exact ensemble (no I don't-where the hell would I wear that?!) But let's for a moment throw reality aside and focus on the perfection of that dress. GOD i'm excited to go in!!!
Emotion #2: overwhelmed! Now, I go from being sooo excited, to being a little scared. There are so many pretty options all around me! I have what I call my scanning eye; often useful in finding lost friends at crowded venues, scoping for hot guys, and of course taking in mass amounts of clothes and zeroing in on what I like. So I have to take a moment to freak out over the selection and then focus on bringing out my scanning eye, so I don't have a meltdown.
Emotion #3: Love! This emotion doesn't always happen for me. It's like when you go to the beach and you see a dolphin. You're like, whoa, I just saw a dolphin, that was so special! But the next time you go to the beach, you'll still have a great time, but you might not see a dolphin. But when that dolphin does arch above the water, and you find that perfect piece, there's really no other way to describe it! I feel like I was called to this perfect item-fits like a glove! on sale! adorable! Many of you reading this may recall a certain skirt that I fell in love with around my birthday. It was a Kimchi Blue high wasted pinstripe skirt with all the right details, down to the cotton covered buttons up the side. This skirt was made for me by the skirt gods, and we would live happily ever after together...until I got chocolate on it. I felt like a loved one was injured. My poor skirt, you did nothing wrong, and I was careless with my birthday cake and hurt you! After a careful hand wash with Resolve, my skirt soulmate made a full recovery...but still, I felt like I had betrayed a good friend.
Emotion #4: disappointment! I suffer a huge blow when I find something that I'm sure will be the equivilant to something like my skirt soulmate, and it turns out to be all wrong. Too big or worse-too small! Too expensive, too many defects, too baggy, too weird, too all wrong!!!! I thought this was it! I was all in, and it let me down.
Emotion #5: greed! My inner mantra while shopping: "I need this". These pj pants, this flowy shirt, these leggings, those boots, that jacket...the list goes on. I get so emotionally attached to these items that I start to believe that my life will actually be better with them. I envision a small scenario in my head: upbeat music starts playing and in I walk wearing those to die for riding boots with a girly skirt and tucked in oversize tee. A faceless, but extremely attractive guy (? i don't know how it's possible, it just happens...) notices my effortless looking style, and leaves that other faceless, but extremely attractive girl to come talk to me. Obviously, these scenes actually do play out around 2-6 times a week...I know a lot of facelessly attractive people, but I should still be practicing a little more self control. .............nah.
Emotion #6: Triumph! I feel a sense of accomplishment and pride after I've purchased something. I wear it as soon as I can...but after I do, it almost always loses it's charm. Either that or it's so unique I have to wait at least another 3 months to wear it again. It's not really about what I bought though, or how much I'll actually wear it. I love my clothes like my friends or my children because they're the physical manifestation of my taste-which is a reflection of me. Each connection I build with a piece in the store and in the dressing room is emotionally charged.
So maybe I'm shallow, or maybe I have a serious problem that will require years of psychotherapy and credit card swiping withdrawl...or maybe I just love to shop, and there's nothing wrong with that.
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