And So It Begins.........

Well, I am still Not Shopping. Hard though this is, I am learning, by default, to be more picky with my purchases, and as such, am developing a capsule wardrobe of key pieces, the classicism of which will see me through seasons, nay, years to come.

Maybe.

Thing is: I still have a little bit of birthday money left. (£30)
And I am considering purchasing a KEY pair of boots for AW09/10, which, by style rights ought to be thigh highs, but, due to practical reasons (I live in the countryside, so unless they are waders, they'll probably be ruined in a week) and style reasons (show me a regular lady in thigh highs who doesn't look like a 'lady of the night', if you will, and I'll show you my next style icon...) Truly, they are possibly not the best thing to put my birthday bucks towards.

So then I spot Alex Curran (I KNOW. ALEX CURRAN. Who'd have thought it? Sister's doing it for the WAG community, I'll say) rocking a fierce pair of ankle boots which she claimed came from Topshop, but I'll be damned if I can find them anywhere. So then I'm thinking ankle boots could be the way forward. Anyhow, thats the latest fashion conundrum.

And THEN. A lazy sunday morning, the boy dropped off at work, an hour to wander around a sleepy shopping complex...yowzer. I ventured into Bay Trading...you know, the poor sister of New Look, the plain jane of the high street, a shop into which I never normally set foot into, on accounts of the cheap looking stock and shabby exterior. However, the salesgirls looked unusually trendy, one was even sporting a black wicker trilby over her kicky pixie cut, so I thought, oh, maybe they are onto something. And in I went.

Only to be told that all the sale stock was Buy One, Get One Free. Oh, my very, very favourite kind of retail promotion....I worship at the alter of this deal because, lets face it, who doesn't like to get something for nothing, eh?!

And yet....the old Amie would have gone wild in the aisles, scooping up armfuls of bounty, buying ten items in order to blag the ten freebies. The new me, however, is not so needy when it comes to fast fashion. Well, I have learnt to control it, in any event. And I actually found something that a) I like, and NEED...it was on my 'must buy' list from a couple of blogs ago....seriously, it was like shooting fish in a barrel. A no brainer, I was sold, and b) only £5. Who'd have thought it? the fashion turnaround is so fast though, nowadays...and I suppose in these bleak times, all retailers have gotta make a quick buck somehow or another. So, my first triumph was a pale grey, slouchy, slightly cropped, shoulder padded tee shirt. Jackpot!

And then. The age old quandry. What to get for free? after doing a couple of circuits of the store, I was left feeling slightly uneasy. Buy something for the sake of it? I wasn't convinced. Looking past the neon sale rejects, the mismatched bikini's, the oversized t shirt dresses, I was considering cutting my losses and letting the salesgirl have my freebie (someone did that to me once when I woked in a fashion shop...I could have kissed her) I stumbled upon the perfect freebie: a strapless, slouchy, black jersey harem jumpsuit (I KNOWWWWW, harems!!!! I showed the boy, and he only raised his eyebrows knowingly....such is his acceptance of my addiction, bless him). Sold! two smashingly on trend items for a paltry fiver. And thats the sort of shopping trip I like.