The Closet Diaries, Volume 2

I bet you’re wondering about what left my closet this month? It’s what I’m here to tell you about today so I hope the answer is a resounding YES. I’ll settle for an apathetic “alright”. too.

Here we go.

Sam Edelman Black Pumps

I wore these pumps a lot. Like, A LOT. Stylebook is telling me 15 times, but that doesn’t account for the dozens of times I wore them as “commuting” shoes to work. The CPW was in the pennies, considering I spent $8 on them in the first place. They were nice, serviceable shoes but 2 things counted against them. One, they were cheap suede and showed wear easily. Two, the d’Orsay style had my foot slip-sliding quite a bit; this was fine before, but once I changed jobs I started walking 5 blocks to and from my office as part of my daily commute, and the shoes could not keep pace with, well, my pace. I like to walk fast, and the shoes kept slipping from my feet, which irritated me. Once I realized that the heel tips had been worn down and needed replacing, those 2 things proved to be the nail in the proverbial coffin. I wasn’t prepared to pay $18 to repair shoes that I didn’t capital-L love.

I’ll keep an eye out for a replacement pair of low heeled black pumps at the thrift store, and in the meantime, I will rely on other shoes to fill the gap. I have more than a couple of black shoes, some flats, some higher heels, so I should be just fine.

Rich & Skinny Pink Jeans

Stylebook tells me I wore these jeans twice (CPW $4), which is handy because I honestly did not remember. They’re perfectly nice jeans but I don’t wear a lot of pink currently, and I don’t foresee that changing. I have a number of coloured casual pants — practically a rainbow — and a bit of culling was in order.

Meanwhile, I have 3 pairs of mustard pants and I am keeping ALL OF THEM. Ahem.

Judith & Charles Grey Blazer

I’ve been purging my blazer collection ruthlessly, and this one simply didn’t make the cut. No hard feelings. I let it go simply because I found that it wasn’t super versatile in my closet. I paid $10 and wore it once, which is not great, but I will see about trying to recoup some money by consigning it.

Speaking of Judith & Charles though, a reader had a not-so-great experience with the brand recently. Here’s her story:

I purchased a dress I had coveted online from Judith & Charles, on sale (mind you from $450 to $370).

Their policy states that I can return the dress within 7 days for a full refund, so when it dropped an additional $45 from the sale price not even 5 days after the first price cut, I asked for what is a justifiably acceptable price adjustment, like I do with all retailers.

Right? WRONG.

They refused and told me that their policy only allows price adjustments on “full-priced items”. Customer service said that I had to literally bring the physical item I purchased online to the store, return it, and then buy it again online or in-store — if they happen to have my size — to get the discount. All that, rather than just adjusting it for me online. With a family and full-time job, that is a hassle I would much rather avoid.

After intervention from an in-store manager (who contacted her district manager to plead my case), the online store eventually issued me a $45 credit; but, instead of doing it correctly and making it $45 plus the 15% tax I paid, they shorted me $6.75 on purpose, I believe (no one can be that deliberately obtuse to forget taxes here in Canada). I don’t even want to write back and complain because I’ve completely lost faith in the online store. They went to some trouble, it seemed, to alienate a customer who was willing and able to pay higher prices for clothing. You can bet that I will be voting with my wallet in the future.

My take? Always check return policies extra carefully, especially when a decent chunk of change is at stake. Policies like this is why I would much rather shop secondhand any day of the week.