Let me start with a disclaimer: this post is not really about confessions, at least not in the common sense of that word. It’s more about … unexpected things I have learned or realized, and are style-related.
1. Getting My Dream Bag Did Not Change My Life
I mean, duh. I wasn’t really expecting it to, but I did think that the walking-on-air feeling I experienced when I first got my dream (Chanel) bag would last forever.
Nope.
Two years on, it’s just another bag. It’s not even – gasp! – my favourite. I do wear it regularly (when I’m working), but not enough to justify its price. And I don’t feel any different when I do wear it. It’s. Just. Another. Bag.
If you’re currently lusting over some unattainable sartorial object of desire, I know this will probably not help in the slightest, but I’ll say it anyway. Console yourself with the thought that the pleasure you get from thinking about owning it is about as intense – but far more long-lasting – as the pleasure you’ll get from actually owning it.
2. I Don’t Really Care What Size I Am, As Long As I Have Cute Clothes That Fit
It only took 34 years.
Listen, do I wish I still had the body I did at 30? Yes. Much in the same nostalgic, but-not-really way that I miss my pre-kids weekends. Let’s face it: if I was serious about it, I could probably do something about getting back to that body, or something more closely resembling it (unlike my kids-free weekends, which are not coming back anytime soon, le sigh). But I’m not, and I don’t, because I have way better clothes now, and none of them would fit if I lost 20 lbs.
Priorities, people.
3. Fashion Magazines Are Boring
Along with the eleventy billion fashion blogs that try to imitate them.
Ok, playing the what-would-I-buy-if-I-had-a-million-bucks-to-spend game is still fun. Never gonna be not fun, because I’ll never not enjoy spending imaginary lottery winnings. But that consideration aside, I much prefer looking at what the woman next door (figuratively speaking) is wearing as she goes about a day that resembles mine more than Gisele Bundchen’s. (Bonus points if she’s wicked funny, because you can never have too much of that in your life.)
The funny thing is that I used to be a huge fashion mag addict. I have years’ worth of scrapbooks full of collages I made from fashion mag clippings. (I’m positively prehistoric, you guys, and believe it or not this is what we ancient ones did before Pinterest.) But, now, the real fun of fashion, for me, is a participatory one, not a purely voyeuristic one. I might enjoy ogling pretty clothes, but it ain’t a real thang unless I can realistically picture myself wearing them.
4. I Have Price Set Points, Good Luck Changing Them, J. Crew
… well, 99% of the time.
I’ve been meticulously tracking my clothing spending for over 5 years now, and one thing is clear: no matter how much I spend overall, the amount I spend on individual things doesn’t really change. My income might have gone up by 50% in the interim, but I still shop like it’s 2009 up in here. (Just … more.) I can count on one hand the pieces of clothing on which I’ve spent over $100.
That 1%? Bags and shoes, man. Always the bags and the shoes. Five years ago, I damn near hyperventilated when I bought my first $200+ bag. Nowadays, a $500 bag seems perfectly reasonable. (Provided it retails for at least twice that, because I ain’t taking that “new off the lot” depreciation hit if I can help it.) Lifestyle inflation, I guess.
OK, your turn: hit me up with your confessions in the comments.
