Why We Shop (Again)

 
This is not the first time I've attempted to explain why we women who love to shop, love to shop. If you hate shopping for shopping's sake you may stop reading now.

I've long said I would walk ten miles to a good sale, but it takes a mental mule team to get me to the gym. I actually reward myself after a workout with a spin through Marshall's or TJ Maxx, both located in the same strip mall as the gym. If you don't recognize me, I am in workout gear and trying to hide from you.

The other day at TJ's I spotted this love of a dress in the Runway section. It was both naughty and nice and reminded me of a prom dress I once had that was pink and white checked gingham trimmed in black lace. A hand-me-down from my older sister (the dress not the boy).

The spotted dress was by the oh-so-Boho brand Free People, and the price was a reasonable $129.95. Reasonable IF I had a reason to buy it; IF I had a place to wear it; IF I wasn't far beyond the expiration date for wearing it.

None of that mattered compared to the pure joy of seeing it hanging there. The thoughts that ran through my head were (in random order): I wish I had that dress 45 years ago... I wish I knew someone who could wear it... that could have been Rose's tea dress from Downton Abbey... my mother might have worn it around the time she got her HAIR BOBBED (an event recorded in her teenage diary in capitals).

So I took a picture. Because I couldn't stop looking at it, and I had to get home.

We shop sometimes to discover the unknown, to dream a little bit, to remember happy times, to appreciate someone's vision. None of those are reasons to, but they may be reasons why.

Dream dress fleshed out