The Shopper in Me

Now those of you who actually know me, know how frugal I am.  Got this from my mother and father; my father was the King of Thrift when it came to food, and my mother?  My mother was a terrific shopper and so was my sister, and so am I.

There is something I'm allowing myself these days (since I'm only taking care of me) and it is clothes shopping in real stores (NOT thrift stores).

Now Lord knows I have nothing against thrift stores and much of what I love has come from them, but after years of buying my clothes in them, I want to shop like normal people.  Certainly it was self-imposed, but, except for all my shoe purchases and the occasional Macy's sale, I told myself I had to shop thrift.   It was a sure-fire way of saving a significant amount of money on our limited budget by NOT "splurging," and for me, shopping retail was splurging.

This in sharp contrast to my sister-in-law who could be considered in the last decades of her life to have been a true shopaholic.  After her death the amount of clothing and accessories to give away was staggering.  Closets, drawers, storage bins filling her bedroom in New York, and her home, the attic, the barn, and the loft in Connecticut — an absolute massive quantity of goods, all very excellent quality — absolutely none from a thrift store.  Maybe a thing or two from a really upscale consignment shop — she would delight in telling me the great "bargain" jacket she got for $400 ("It cost eight- or nine-hundred new!") and I would smile and shake my head.  

When it comes to bargain shopping, the women in my family take the prize.

I went shopping and while I can't say I needed these things, I sure did enjoy shopping for them.  

I got (counterclockwise):

a white mock turtleneck, a black mock turtleneck, a black sleeveless mock turtleneck, an orange & black leopard Jennifer Lopez turtleneck (hear me ROAR), three Dana Buchman tops in assorted colors and prints (I am wearing the pink & silver trapeze top in the middle as I write), and an Apt 9 black & white tortoise print peplum blouse...

and the grand total for all eight tops?  Drum roll please....

Yippee for me!

I'm very glad to say — my daughter seems to have inherited the trait.