Blog Minx

The NY Times is reporting that consumers are starting to shop online for clothes more often than physically going to the store. I just can’t understand such a trend. Why would anyone want to avoid long queues for the hot, unflatteringly lit changing rooms, and the underpaid salespeople cooing, “Have you got the right size in there? Do you need a $200 belt to go with that $300 sparkly dress you’ll never wear?”

AT 19, I was just such an underpaid salesperson in an allegedly elite clothes store. One day’s work, after tax, gave me $45 cash in hand! And there was a thick book of rules dictating how to act (“Customers must be greeted warmly within one minute of entering the store”) and how to look, down to the length of my fingernails and the tone of nail polish. I remember noticing that (in general) women shoppers would dither and anguish over purchases, while men would either whip in and out alone within minutes, or be marched in by a bossy girlfriend.

Working there was sort of useful. I entered a grunge queen, all black hair and big boots, and emerged, if not a beauty queen, with slightly more style. Sort of like that weird chick at the end of The Breakfast Club but minus the silly blue bow.

But I did spend more on clothes from that point on, a weakness which I’m working hard on especially now I’m out of the magazine industry. My efforts to NOT shop include:

• Avoiding fashion magazines.
• Not wandering through shops for lack of something better to do.
• Not going to sales just because “it’s a sale.”
• Moving across the world from my fashion and beauty writer friend (well, that’s not why I moved really).
• Forcing myself to back away from something I like and consider over 24 hours whether I really want/need it. This technique really works because it’s made shopping much more boring.

Are you a reformed shopper, or still off the wagon? Any tips?