shopping Archives - Page 9 of 9

Shopping: The Search for Simplicity

All of my family has not yet come to grips with the fact that I'm not buying clothes for another 9 months. Thus, I found myself, after the winter holidays, as the owner of a very generous gift card to a lovely retailer, with both online and bricks and mortar presence.

Now, when I set out my personal rules for my year-long fast from shopping, I did hold out the exception that I would be permitted to replace any garment(s) that were completely destroyed in the course of normal life. Having spent the last couple of months in the heavy-lifting crew of a retailer, I have destroyed (rendered rag-like) a couple of long-sleeved tee shirts. So I thought that this would be a reasonable opportunity to replace them...

This ... View the Post

Shopping: The Logical Flaws of the “10 Must-Have Items” lists

If you search on the internet for "2012 must-have items", you get more than three hundred MILLION hits. Even if you assume that most of these won't, in fact, tell you to buy something, that's still a tremendous number of people bossing you around about how to spend your hard-earned money!

And these lists are full of logical flaws:

If these are truly must-have items, why don't all of the lists agree? Or at least have a significant degree of overlap? After looking at the first handful of "top-ten for spring" lists, I saw at least 50 different items I absolutely have to buy if I'm going to be able to show my face in public. Why do all of these lists assume that you can't look around a store and make your own choices? ... View the Post

The Ultimate Style Mystery

Even though I'm 47 days into my year-long shopping fast, I'm not unaware of stores, catalogs, and clothing websites. If anything, since I've started blogging, and looking for perfect wardrobes for you, I see even MORE clothing than I ever saw before! And while there's a fair amount of dreck being marketed to women under the guise of clothing (or shoes - what STUPID shoes there are in this world), most of what I see is beautiful. At every price point, there are stacks of lovely clothes available - far more clothing than any of us need, or should want.

So the mystery is this - WHAT HAPPENS TO ALL OF THIS CLOTHING? Because I do NOT see that many women who look really well-dressed. And as you can tell from the ... View the Post

The Elements of Style, according to Paul Stuart

Paul Stuart is an ultra-beautiful menswear store with locations in New York and Chicago. Years ago, they had an advertisement in the program for the Lyric Opera of Chicago, which I reproduce here in it's entirety. These people are wise:

The Elements of Style

It’s easy to say what style is not. It is not, for example, fashion. (see below) But when a friend asked us, the other day, to say what it is, the only answer we felt sure of was: our bread and butter. Perhaps because that answer was true, our inability to define the word rankled. So at last, prompted by some half-remembered sentences, we reached for our copy of The Elements of Style.

This useful little book was written by William Strunk, Jr., and ... View the Post

Doing the right thing…

As many of you know, I've sworn off buying any new clothes (or shoes) for twelve months, beginning this September first. I'm now 29 days into the project, and have felt no pain regarding it, so far. In fact, it's been quite a relief to be able to just completely turn a blind eye to all of the "must-have" lists that float around this time of year.

Why is it that I don't see so many "must-have" lists for men? They have more money than we do... Maybe there's a connection there? But I digress...

One thing that has become even more of a priority for me now is the upkeep and maintenance of the things I currently own. This could sound like drudgery, but it really is quite gratifying for all sort of reasons:

The obvious saving of ... View the Post

Paris shopping: agnès b.

Since I’ve quit shopping, I’m starting to really notice the garments upon which I frequently rely when I’m scrambling to get dressed. Foremost among them has to be my agnès b. cardigan. It’s made of a sweatshirt fabric, and has pearlized snaps down the front. I can wear it almost anywhere I would wear a black cashmere cardigan, but it’s more… relaxed? Cool? Fun? All of the above, I think.

The agnès b. stores that I’ve been to in Paris (Village de Bercy, rue de Marseille, rue de Castiglione) all share the same qualities of clarity, light, and ease of shopping. Nothing is crowded, things aren’t layered to the point of being impossible to dissect, and everything looks terribly appealing. ... View the Post

Paris shopping: Les bouquinistes

It is impossible to walk through Paris and not see the (approximately 200) dark green book "boxes" along the Seine. In addition to selling the usual posters, postcards and refrigerator magnets, one can find amazing old books and magazines. Unfortunately, unless you can read French, there's not necessarily a lot which might be of interest.

Except... I've started buying magazines which were released the month that I was born. They're a fascinating little snapshot of history, and it gives me a good reason to support a Parisian cultural institution. They're easy to carry back in my suitcase, and they only cost, on average, around 10 Euros.

In the next few days, I'll post some more information about my most ... View the Post

Coup de Coeur

Vivienne taught me years ago that it is essential to only buy things you really love - for which you experience that elusive "coup de coeur". This is a phrase I particularly love, because while it is generally understood to mean love at first sight, it has a more... physical? feeling about it. After all, a coup de pied means a kick, and a coup d'etat means overthrowing the government, so to me, a coup de coeur is like a kick in the heart, or your heart being overturned. What we're looking for here is a really deeply felt, visceral reaction.

And this is something that I've struggled with for a long time. I've always been very influenced by other people's opinions about the right things to own and wear, and so ... View the Post