Let me begin by saying that after two hours in Bed Bath & Beyond, adding items to our wedding registry in 2002, I vowed to never drag my husband out shopping again because he was practically fainting in the aisle with exhaustion. We rarely shop together except for maybe Thanksgiving dinner supplies and back to school shoes but many years ago, we had an experience I want to share with you.
What shopping with my husband taught me
I was a few months postpartum after my second birth (following anxiety and loss of appetite during the last few months of my pregnancy) when my sweet hubby offered to take me shopping for a new outfit as my anniversary gift.
At the time, I was a bona fide bargain shopper, in the habit of hitting the clearance racks first. I never purchased anything at full price. Of course that led to a lot of ill-advised purchases but, hey, at least it was cheap!
I started picking through the sale racks, finding random pieces, holding them up to myself and calculating the extra 15% off. Once I’d grabbed a few things and started looking for pieces that might actually create an outfit, my husband was already annoyed. I think he could tell that my excitement was at a “meh” level. I’m sure that’s not what he’d envisioned for our shopping trip.
“Why don’t you just look for stuff you LIKE??”
Whaaaaat….?!?
“It doesn’t have to be on clearance. Find an outfit you like and we’ll get it.”
Wait…without making sure it’s at least 40% off?? And without spending an hour sorting through the stuff nobody wanted at less than 70% off?? I’m supposed to just look for whatever caught my eye and BUY IT??
What a revelation.
I gravitated to this outfit. A pretty color top with a few unusual details and a swingy black skirt, both comfortable and a little sassy. Perfect for a new mom.
I tried it on. He approved. We bought it.
Without my trip to the clearance rack, the entire trip would have taken 15 minutes.
What did we learn?
- Buy what you like.
- Don’t buy it just because it’s cheap.
It doesn’t matter what you pay for a top you feel crumby in.
And a top that makes you feel fabulous is worth spending money on! (within reason, of course)
Now if I find something on clearance, I ask myself, “Would I buy this at full price?”
Unless it’s a silly or cute item I just want to play with, or a trend or color I want to try out, the answer needs to be YES.
How you feel in your clothes matters. Read more here.
LOVE YOUR WARDROBE!
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Do you shop the sales or buy what you love?
I would say I buy what I love, but I usually keep watch until what I love is on sale. Some things I have learned to buy because I know they will be gone soon. So it depends. I’m one of the lucky ones……….my husband loves to shop too. We do best together looking for something for our home. Recently we bought a new coffee table, and end tables and had the best time at American Furniture Warehouse………we even looked thru Potato Barn. He humors me with the small stuff and there are other things he definitely has an opinion on. But it all works and I never regret him coming along!
Buying what you love…on sale! YES!! 🙂 That’s wonderful that you can your hubby can shop together, Drew and I do much better with home stuff than clothes!
Great advice! I had an image consultant tell me once that when you try something on, if you don’t immediately love it, don’t buy it. So true. I remember trying to justify unflattering outfits because they were on sale. No more. If I don’t love it as soon as I look in the dressing room mirror, back it goes. I’ve also learned that an outfit can look great on the hanger, but unflattering on me, so I HAVE to try stuff on. For this reason, I don’t buy clothes online.
YES! I watch for that reaction when I shop with people. If they’re scrunching up their nose or fussing with the clothes, I say “Don’t force it! We’ll find something better!”