Adventures in Shopping

So I went to the local mall w/ Bev yesterday. Now those of you who know me at all will know that I A) have absolutely no fashion sense, n B) perhaps directly related to A, I really dislike clothes shopping. Fortunately I have several good friends who are the antithesis of me in that they both have excellent fashion sense and LOVE to shop (it takes all kinds eh?). hahaha so my usual strategy when I get to the point of being in desperate need of new clothing is to either buy what's on the mannequin (this has varying degrees of success) or better yet, take one of said friends to some store or another and let them find me stuff, which I will reluctantly try on, be appropriately amazed when it actually looks good, and buy -- going home feeling relieved that I won't need to repeat the procedure for another while. My friends have learned to be quick about this too, cause there's definitely an "off" switch to my patience for this game which tends to flick while they're just getting started *g* N if I'm on my own, flipping through racks of clothing to find something is simply not going to happen. This is why the God of Advertising (mini-diversion: The God of Advertising, we'll call her Adverta, never got her proper recognition in the times when the multiple gods were worshiped individually cause her providence hadn't been invented yet!). Ok back to our regularly scheduled (we have a schedule???) story... Short version: Lauren hates browsing so Adverta kindly invented the previously-mentioned mannequins.

All that being said, yesterday's mall experience was not supposed to be about clothing -- I was in search of such things as Hallmark, Shoppers, Telus, and of course, the book store :) All of which I'm entirely happy to peruse, so I was quite happy to embark on this particular excursion. N by the end I had completed the list except . . . Yes that's right, the one clothing-related item (see, there *was* a point to the last paragraph!). I needed more work-appropriate tops. That being said, I knew fully well I couldn't actually afford to buy clothing at this particular mall, so I figured I was safe from this task for one more day at least. hahaha But Bev suggested we at least take a look, n so we did, but nothing really appealed so I was saved from having to try anything on >;-P

Then we got to this one store that I really like. Now I really like it for a few reasons, not the least of which is they have a HUGE petit section (hmmmm does that strike anyone else as slightly oxymoronic?) Now, for those not in the loop (of which I'm generally one), petit does not mean small, dainty, etc as its connotations might suggest. It just means short. When you can find 38X (or insert whatever size you personally might consider less-than-petit here) in the "petit" section, you have to acknowledge that sad fact. What's worse, is that since, without fail, this is the only place I've ever found clothing that fits me properly, I have also had to acknowledge that I am, indeed, short. >;-P hahaha fortunately I've had some time to come to terms w/ this fact, n generally enjoy it now, so all is good. So the clothes in this store are generally colours/styles that I like AND they usually fit. Brilliant eh? And I can see the intelligent amongst you saying "well why doesn't she just shop there all the time? It'd make life so much easier and her poor friends wouldn't get dragged into the whole fiasco." Well, ladies and gentlemen, the catch occurs in that I can only afford this particular store when they are having a 50-75% off sale. N let me say, imho, this does not happen nearly often enough. As in I've only actually seen it once. Once. Once to get me in n make me realize what I'm missing. Oh how I miss my ignorance >;-P Regardless, it turns out that Bev's tastes are similar to mine (I apparently come by them honestly :) while her budget and sincere dislike of clothes shopping are not *g* So we went into the store and she found a few tops to try on, n after a few discrete looks at price tags I had ascertained that indeed reality still existed and I had better restrict myself to browsing. N so I wandered aimlessly around the store, briefly considering if anything was worth handing to Bev in the changeroom to try, when out of the corner of my eye, shoved way back at the end of the room, a brilliant shiny colour caught my attention. So I wandered over to see what it was, n stuffed on a hanger was a shimmery floor-length dress. A very simple dress, in a style I wasn't sure about; it was one of those that was either going to be stunning or hideous. And it wasn't on a mannequin so how could I tell? *g* Now you have to understand, this is a reasonably formal dress, and most of my friends got married *last* year, so odds of me having anywhere to wear it are pretty slim, and I was in a store where I couldn't technically afford a t-shirt. N yet, I was really curious whether it'd fall under the stunning or hideous category, n I had nothing else to do, AND one of the three there was exactly my size, so . . . Yes that's right, for the litterally the first time in my life, I tried on something I had absolutely no intention of purchasing just so I could see how it looked. N when I came out to twirl around in the 3-way mirror (yes I am at least *that* much of a girl :), Bev had already left the changeroom area, but the rather astute sales lady who had easily made the connection between us called her back. She walks around the corner, takes one look, n says "wow". hahaha I guess that answers the stunning or hideous question (although to be honest, the mirrors had answered that too :) But it was the next statement that really surprised me: "I think I should buy that for you." N I have to admit, once I realized she was serious (ummmm you do realize I have nowhere to wear it?), I was def pretty excited about it. That's right, she who generally despises the whole clothes-shopping experience, tried on a dress she had absolutely no reason to, and (with some help) brought it home. So it may have taken 30 years, but for at least half an hour yesterday (n another 20 min today typing my story) I was, in fact, a girl :)

The girl did not, however, succeed in improving her work wardrobe any >;-P hahaha ah well. Jen you up for some shopping?