Wind In My Head: See No Touch
Wind In My Head
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
See No Touch
A friend of mine has decided my birthday present this year will be bought online and chosen by me. The only things I have bought online are pyjamas and DVDs . Not difficult to screw up. But to buy clothes? I love buying clothes, at the store.I get to pick them off the rack, do a preliminary check to see if the colour doesn't clash too horribly with my skin tone (I am told some shades of yellow and me apparently cannot be in the same room, let alone share the same skin). So I've had fun. And I've been at the malls for a large part of the time the last three days. This is what is called packing 4 weeks into relaxation and shopping into just the last week.
So when L said that I was supposed to go online and look at some stuff from Gap, I wasn't sure how to do it. I guess eventually, I would have to learn, seeing that there are certain types of clothes and brands that are impossible to get in the shopping paradise that is Singapore. But no matter how nice the layout is, they're just pictures and nothing else. You can't touch the fabric, put it against yourself. It becomes more of a visceral experience than a physical one and you're really not sure what you're getting until it arrives in a box.
Not my style of shopping. Me, I like it traditional. The same thing occurred to me yesterday at Mango. The sale starts tomorrow and traditionally, I wake up at the crack of dawn and head down to the store, squeeze and push with the crowds. YM and I decided to do some reconnaisance first. Figure out what colours and sizes we wanted. So yesterday was the pre-sale mission. Even the salesgirls were aware of that and I overheard one of them telling some customers how they could just reserve everything they wanted now, pre-sale and then it will be pack and chraged at the discounted rate, to be picked up tomorrow.
A neat idea, if you're sure of what you want and if you don't have the time. But seriously, where is the fun in that? I leave a lot of my buying up to chance. If I see it and I can find the size, it's meant to be mine. If I can't find it in size, then it doesn't matter. There's a sense of achievement to be felt and got when it's a prize find at the sale. Where's the fun in it if you've already picked out everything and are just standing around waiting for the sale price? So much in life is already boring and predictable, what's squeezing with crowds once in a while.
But having said all that about predictability, then I should embrace the unpredictability of online shopping. So why haven't I? Perhaps the reticence also stems from knowing that this is one Pandora's Box, that when open can cause much damage.
Then again, it is my birthday and my birthday present awaits. How shallow. :)
Ondine tossed this thought in at 00:21
5 thoughts...
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At 5:27 pm
wahj said... Happy birthday!
(or, as I always say, "Hippo Bathday!")
Online shopping's not all that bad - the key is to hedge your bets by getting things that aren't size-sensitive (i.e. won't look like crud if it's off by so much as half a size) and to be prepared to give them away if they are.-
At 6:46 pm
Angeline said...
Your birthday!
Happy Birthday!-
At 10:13 am
Threez said...
You're too young to remember but Mango today is to young women what Esprit was to us 20 years ago. We also could scope out what we wanted to buy when sale started, reserve it, and pick it up on sale day.
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At 10:43 pm
Elia Diodati said...
Happy belated :)
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At 1:03 pm
Belle said...
happy birthday!!
i didn't even dare to go to the mango sale. i'm not up to fighting with aunty's for clothes..
hee.
and online shopping is fun!! and if you're unsure about clothes just choose bags and accessories. their bags are soo nice!!
enjoy!!