What is it about that thrill of trying on new clothes, looking in the mirror and seeing yourself looking AWESOME?! I love that self-centred rush of buying something just for me. Terrible eh? It is not that unusual a sin among women...to desire new clothes even though I have a perfectly functional wardrobe already. I don’t love that I love shopping, and neither does my wallet (and with the wallet issue means that my husband doesn’t really appreciate this desire either). But at the end of the day, I can reason myself into all sorts of purchases....even fake long hair attachments in this trip!
Several years ago I was introduced to the term “recreational shopping” – shopping without purpose… just because it’s fun. Marty and I do this fairly often (although a bit less now there are 3 terrors to take along with us) and it is one of my favourite activities. Every holiday must include a shopping expedition or two in order to make it a success! So when we planned to come to Auckland for 10 days over Christmas, you can understand that a trip to the mall was one of the top on the list of ‘things to do while in Auckland’. I did go a little bit overboard this trip…Marty spoilt me rotten and let me pretty much get an entire new wardrobe.
We had a secret weapon of Aunty Steph, who was wonderful and took the kids to the play area while I had a wonderful time trying on every single item in Pagani. Mixed results here – some dresses completely shocked me and made me ask Marty in horror where the heck that tummy bulge had come from?! It must have been a scorched almonds baby in there…and it was about 4 months along… hmmmm, must start that exercise program when I get home! But then I squeezed myself into a couple of rather stunning little black dresses that made Marty grin and made me feel like a supermodel….pity I really can’t wear cocktail dresses to playgroup and so couldn’t quite justify getting them to myself.
Later I timidly stepped foot into a lingere shop, something I generally avoid unless necessary because I can never get my size right. I once plucked up the nerve to get fitted at the Bendon Outlet store – what a disaster that was, resulting in me attempting to squeeze me into a bra that was at least 2 sizes too small and then leaving feeling rather puzzled and even more confused. This time, when the sales lady came over to me beaming and asking if she could help, I wasn’t sure if I wanted it. But she was like some kind of bra expert/angel. It was so pleasant to be listened to, explained to and with one glance to be fitted correctly. Everything she gave me to try on made me blink at my reflection in amazement and delight. I had sadly thought my 3 adorable parasites had sucked all life out of this area of my body and had resigned myself (and Marty) to this sad fate. But my faith (and gravity) has been restored thanks to the wonders of a well fitted (and engineered) bra. We left that store raving about the service, we were both very impressed –and also a lot poorer.
As well as the malls, I squeezed in a quick trip to the New Lynn Savemart – which can take a whole day to do properly as it is HUGE, but I stuck to just dresses and skirts this trip, meaning it ONLY took 2 hours.
At the end of the shopping adventures, I had enough bags to make me feel like I was in my favourite scene from Pretty Women.
It is just a pity that I don’t have Richard Gere’s money to spend.
So true about Save Mart shopping, it requires a lot of time - but worth it if you find some bargains.
ReplyDeleteI am surprised you take Marty shopping with you, Paul would be so bored I would never take him lol
A proper-fitting bra should be top of every woman's list, it does wonders for the figure whether you're slim or curvy. We have a great little shop in Palmy where the ladies are fabulous, and it's so helpful not having to leave the dressing room every few minutes, and not have to get dressed and undressed a million times!