2006-12-03 - 10:33 a.m.

...this girl needed to shop...

This past week I took a good look at my clothing. I am wearing a sweaters that are 20 years old, and they are beginning, not surprisingly, to get holes. Which is a shame because they are my favorite sweaters and they are of such quality that they have lasted 20 years...but you know, at some point you just have to let the pebble go.

K and I went shopping yesterday. He had a long list of errands that we needed to do downtown. I finally looked at him and said - this is a must, babe. The girl NEEDS some clothing. So, he and I parted ways, I happened upon a great event. Customer appreciation day = 30% off many items. Store credit card = 10%. Newly signing up for credit card = additional 10% off. I went broke saving money. One look tells me that these new sweaters will not last me 20 years. But I will also have something reasonable to wear when I stand in front of a classroom.

I was even able to score a black suit for a conference that I will be attending this month - K thinks that the jacket is simply too big, and doesn't fit me properly. True, the arms of the jacket are too long (as is always the case - I have stumpy arms - painting a lovely image of myself here I know). I will see a tailor for a second opinion on whether or not this can be fixed, on my way to the beautiful shoe shop around the corner. Van also brings the need for a different style of practical shoe.

Amazing that I lived for years in New York City and found nothing to wear - perhaps because of my mental state while working there, perhaps because of the enormous expense, or perhaps because it it is simply not necessary for an academic to look like a fashion plate. I lived in Queens without a car - everything within walking distance made you look like some Queens adolescent girl stuffed into her clothing, or the Nanny. The shoes were ridiculous. Oh please - what is the POINT of stinkin' stiletto HEELS when you have to walk or stand in them? Sure, there were other stores (hell, it was NYC), but quite frankly, shopping was exhausting there. I didn't take to it, and I'm just not the kind of person who feels the need to buy some new ridiculously overpriced designer something every other day. I guess I am a true geek - my clothing doesn't define my personality (and therefore in the end, it probably does....).

The fashion sense of the Drive is a bit different. First of all, to enter any store, you have to be immune to the odor of patchouli (which I hate). This keeps me out of most stores that would make me look like an aging flower child or a German history teacher - not altogether a bad thing. I did patchouli clothing (batique prints, gathered cotton skirts with bells, flowing thin cotton blouses) when I was in my early 20s - no need to go back there. The other direction is second hand clothing, which I've never really tried. But since I walk past about four stores of this stuff on my way to the skytrain, I may be lured inside. Assuming of course, that the 2nd hand stuff on the Drive didn't belong to patchouli lovers....

My only concern is that these new purchases go against my motto of scaling down on STUFF. And so I probably need to sift through the remains of my wardrobe and discard, so that I do not overflow my clothing nook in the wall. There are 20-yr-old sweaters, but there are also the buying mistakes to be removed - you know, the things that looked great in the store but you have never worn them since.

So off I go, to a day of winter shopping.