Retail Therapy

[velvetpage]

This morning at nine o'clock, Oma, Opa and Aunt Krista arrived to pick up Elizabeth and me. We headed out in their minivan to Vaughn Mills, which is north of Toronto, out in the general direction of Canada's Wonderland. It's about a forty-minute drive in good weather, but we stopped for coffee at the busiest, slowest Timmy's in Hamilton so we actually got there just as it opened, at ten o'clock. Oma, Opa and Aunty Krista took Elizabeth shopping while I went on a hunt for The Perfect Skirt. I had prepared so well that I was actually wearing the (decidedly unseasonable) top I wanted to match with a periwinkle skirt.

The goal was a flowy, uneven-hemmed, approximately knee-length skirt in a fairly bright, almost-turquoise shade. I was prepared to settle for a grey or black skirt that met the other criteria and looked good on me. As it turned out, the skirt I got met only two of the four criteria. It is burgundy, a shade which is just slightly too dusty for me to wear with the new top I got a few weeks ago (pictured in my icon.) It has an elastic, invisible waist, is very flowy, but has an even, just-past-knee-length hem. It has sequins in a pretty floral design right near the bottom. It's flirty and pretty and it only cost $25. I'm thrilled with it.

Now I need to go shopping to find a top to wear with it. I'm thinking a dusty rose in the same basic material as the top I was originally trying to match. It shouldn't be hard, or expensive, to find.

After this purchase, and after trying on and rejecting at least a dozen other skirts, I met the rest of the party for lunch at the food court. Oma bought two complete outfits, more clothes than she has purchased in years. They're great colours, too. Krista made sure everything matched. They bought a Pooh bear blanket for Elizabeth and a Miffy bowl that looks quite Chinese.

I bought four picture frames, two matted to an 8x10 size and two matted to 5x7. We have dozens of pictures waiting for frames around here, and I want to get Elizabeth in for pictures soon again. Piet wouldn't agree to that until some of the ones lying around the house actually got onto the walls.

So, having already spent $70 or thereabouts, we finally passed by Fairweather.

They had coats on sale racks right by the entrance. They were wool coats, several different styles, regular $200 or so, on sale for $75 and $50. I descended on them. I tried on coat after coat, in half a dozen colours and styles. We compared the bulk factor, the bulge-in-the-back factor (these coats were made for someone taller than me) and the fact that for most of them, we'd need to sew all the buttons back on. I even tried on one suede one that I absolutely loved - except that the sleeves were miles too long and the lowest button was pulling a bit tight through the hips. I decided I couldn't justify that money for a coat that didn't fit right.

Then I saw it.

I wandered over to the racks of leather coats, most of which were on sale for $100. I didn't want a black one, so I skipped past those. But one colour caught my eye.

Purple. Subtle enough to look black in certain lights, bright enough that Elizabeth took one look at it and said, "Mommy purple coat!" Waist-length, zip-up, low, flat collar, perfect fit in every respect. It was gorgeous.

And it was way beyond my budget. (I didn't exactly have a budget, so pretty much any further expenditure would have qualified as beyond it.)

Opa gave me $20 towards my coat, which paid the tax plus a bit. I shelled out $94 for a purchase that makes me smile every time I think about it.

It was worth it.

Comments

[anidada.livejournal.com]

Heh. Oh, I'm tempted, but I just had my good winter coat cleaned, actually. I've had it for about 15 years (it's a navy wool double-breasted trench, and was bought at the YWCA thrift store in Ptbo, so it was old even then) and it's still in great shape, except for a little wear on one cuff (I've been lazy about stitching it up, but I'll do so before I put it away in spring). In that time I also bought two parkas (new) that have worn out, and that, combined, cost five times what the wool coat cost -- hmm... Not to mention how ugly they were by comparison. Another thing about well-made coats with classic styling: you never regret buying them, and they always make you feel like a million bucks. :)

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

That's why I considered the wool ones they had there for a good half an hour before deciding none of them fit well enough to justify.

I am sick to death of my parka, but in my job a parka is an absolute necessity. We're getting to the time of year, though, when I can leave it at home and wear something more fun and stylish. I pulled out a filmy scarf that I haven't worn in about five years, to wear with the coat. I tied in the French way, around and around with the ends tucked in so it looks like a thick choker. It looked so good, and so European, I missed Paris for the first time in ages - I would have felt Parisian walking down the street in that. :)

I'm going to have to invest in a good hat-and-scarf combo, possibly of the boa persuasion, to set it off right.

Ever notice how really good purchases tend to require more really good purchases to complement them? C'est la vie. . .

[anidada.livejournal.com]

All perfectly justified! :)

You could make a nice boa scarf with some of the new fancy yarns out there, of course -- and quickly, too, of course. Alex's mom was knitting up a scarf with some funky eyelash yarn, it looked like spumoni ice cream (of course that wouldn't go with a purple leather coat...) and was very, very soft and light. Zeller's is having a sale right now on some kinds of yarn. *incite*

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Actually, Oma was given a scarf exactly like that for Christmas. Since she has nothing purple to wear it with and it made her neck itch, anyway, she gave it to me. :) Now I just need the hat and gloves!