Thursday, July 1, 2010

Stylin'

I've always been a Payless Shoe Source/99 Cent store/Wal-mart/Ross-type-of-shopper. Growing up my mom stayed home with my 2 sisters & I while my dad worked, so we had to make those dollars stretch. I never had the Guess jeans, Cross-colors, or any other "stylish" brand of clothing. We got $100 to spend on clothes at the beginning of the school year and no way was I going to get one half of a pair of jeans. I was going to get as many outfits as I could at Ross! My parents never gave us money for no reason either. We had chores. I got $1 a month for doing the dishes, emptying the dishwasher, feeding/walking the dog and keeping my room clean. I worked HARD for that $1! When I was old enough, I started babysitting. I got (on average) $20 for watching 1-2 kids for around 4-5 hours. I was RICH! I used to hoard my money and even kept a little journal where I kept track of my spending so I knew exactly how much I had at all times. Eventually my mom opened me a savings account. That was so much easier.

You know how they say you marry someone like your dad. I did. Mike is just like my dad. Doesn't like to spend money. Except for his little indulgences. I remember my dad always clucking and shaking his head when we got new shoes before the old ones wore out. But he'd spend $1,000 in a heartbeat on a custom-sewn cover for his boat. Mike is the same way. He clucks and tsks if I spend money on something he deems unneeded, but he'll drop $300 on comic books in a heartbeat.

But I digress.

So my point is, I don't buy things like Prada shoes and Gucci handbags because I don't think dropping a ton of money so I can advertise a designer's name is worth it. Especially when I can go to Payless and get BOGO free for a fraction of the price! Ha!

But in the last year I somehow ended up with a Coach purse. Now don't get all excited just yet. I bought it at the Camarillo Outlets when they were having a huge sale. I think I spent $80 on it. And even that they had to pry out of my clenched hands while I hyperventilated. But my dear, sweet, loving sister convinced me I was paying for quality and the purse would last. So I took the designer plunge. So far, I love my Coach purse.

So then a few weeks ago a friend mentioned she bought some real Ray-ban sunglasses, and I scoffed. $300 on a pair of sunglasses? Puh-lease. What do they do that other sunglasses don't?
She laughed.
I sighed.
She put them on me.
And low and behold, I saw a polarized world as I had never seen a polarized world before!

I couldn't believe the difference!

So this week, I went out and bought myself a pair of real Ray-bans. Now, don't think I spent $300 on them though! I had gift certificates, and I think I only had to spend $80 of my own money. But still. My world is changing. I'm stylish. I've never been stylish before. I think I might like it. Watch out Mike, I'm about to drain our bank account! HA HA HA HA!

2 comments:

Janice said...

I'm the same way. I hate spending money on designer stuff. Especially purses. I spent $100 on a purse and it about killed me. Glad I'm not alone!

Tricia said...

Right?? And I don't have a different purse for every season either. I have one black all-purpose purse that I use until it has holes in it!