My three sisters are all fond of shopping for clothes. I am not.
We once had a rare occasion when all four of us were in the same city, in a shopping ‘precinct’ (precinct? I use the word to differentiate the area from a purpose-built shopping centre).
Walking along the street, a voice calls to me and I see it is Jan, an acquaintance of mine, who happens to own a dress shop in this city. She is calling out from her shop.
I greet her warmly and introduce my sisters to her. They say a quick ‘hello’ and then proceed to examine the fashion items in Jan’s shop. Each of them chooses an item to buy.
‘Come on, Dianna, this would look good on you,’ one says as she holds up a scooped neck black top.
‘Yes, go on – try it on’, says another.
I decline and say my usual frugal mantra of, ‘If I don’t have that necessary amount of money in my purse, I don’t buy.’
It’s not good enough for them and they convince me to buy the black top (which I don’t bother to try on first). But, before that purchase is completed (with the aid of EFTPOS) they have found a brown lacy number that they insist I try.
Almost to shut them up—and to stop them from pestering me, I try it on and decide that it is rather nice, so out with the EFTPOS card again and I have two new items of clothing.
The sisters are victorious.
Some days later I go out to lunch with friends and wear the new brown lacy top. A couple of girl friends tell me how lovely my new top is. I feel very self-conscious.
It is nice, but, when I get home, I wash it gently and put it up for sale on eBay.
It’s gone quite quickly.
As for the black top, I wore it to a birthday party, with a scarf tied around my neck to hide the embarrassment of a too low neckline.
A week or so later, I gave it to a friend who loved it.
I hope the sisters all enjoyed that day’s purchases.
As for me, I wasted money and learned a lesson.
We once had a rare occasion when all four of us were in the same city, in a shopping ‘precinct’ (precinct? I use the word to differentiate the area from a purpose-built shopping centre).
Walking along the street, a voice calls to me and I see it is Jan, an acquaintance of mine, who happens to own a dress shop in this city. She is calling out from her shop.
I greet her warmly and introduce my sisters to her. They say a quick ‘hello’ and then proceed to examine the fashion items in Jan’s shop. Each of them chooses an item to buy.
‘Come on, Dianna, this would look good on you,’ one says as she holds up a scooped neck black top.
‘Yes, go on – try it on’, says another.
I decline and say my usual frugal mantra of, ‘If I don’t have that necessary amount of money in my purse, I don’t buy.’
It’s not good enough for them and they convince me to buy the black top (which I don’t bother to try on first). But, before that purchase is completed (with the aid of EFTPOS) they have found a brown lacy number that they insist I try.
Almost to shut them up—and to stop them from pestering me, I try it on and decide that it is rather nice, so out with the EFTPOS card again and I have two new items of clothing.
The sisters are victorious.
Some days later I go out to lunch with friends and wear the new brown lacy top. A couple of girl friends tell me how lovely my new top is. I feel very self-conscious.
It is nice, but, when I get home, I wash it gently and put it up for sale on eBay.
It’s gone quite quickly.
As for the black top, I wore it to a birthday party, with a scarf tied around my neck to hide the embarrassment of a too low neckline.
A week or so later, I gave it to a friend who loved it.
I hope the sisters all enjoyed that day’s purchases.
As for me, I wasted money and learned a lesson.
