A few days ago, I went batshit nutters because I was having a bad self-esteem moment. My immediate impulse was to spend money and buy an expensive purse.
Let me explain a few things about when I was a compulsive shopper. I think everyone knows that shoes were my thing. Even if I felt like shit about how I looked everywhere else, my feet were always tiny and pretty, so shoes would always make me look beautiful. Feet don't look like an obese fashionaless manatee.
During my shopping binges, I would buy SHOES. Sure, there were countless pairs of black heels for work, but we aren't talking boring black pumps. They were always hot. The other SHOES were typically red, patent and sexy. Totally inappropriate for places like a law office. But if you wear a conservative black suit, you can pull off SHOES along with it.
Then I hurt my ankle in 2009. No more heels. Now, all I can manage is a kitten heel. When I went to Kate Spade, I was trying to replace SHOES with a PURSE. Which is why the buttery soft periwinkle blue leather purse seemed like the only bag that would fulfill me. It was a PURSE and it would make me feel beautiful.
Like I mentioned in the previous post, when I got home that night, I got a coupon for 25% off that weekend. I decided that if I was behaving rationally, I could go back and get a purse. The internet knew what I was up to and I knew I would be held accountable. On Saturday, before my Blogworld session, I went to the store and decided to look around in a more well-reasoned state of mind.
When I got to the PURSE, things looked quite different in the soft morning light without my batshit-nutters goggles. The blue was too bright and it had brown piping. I hate brown. HATE brown. My entire wardrobe is black. My husband calls me Morticia Addams for a reason. As I stared at the PURSE, I realized that I would have had serious buyer's remorse if the PURSE would have come home with me. Just like a cheap one night stand. It wouldn't have made me feel pretty. It wouldn't have filled the gap in my self-esteem.
I did continue to look around the store. It is not every day that I get to take 25% off of outlet prices (that are on a massive fall sale anyway) when I actually need a new purse. Then I saw it. A lovely black purse. Just the right size. Just the right shape. I was Goldilocks in the Kate Spade store. It was a lot cheaper than the PURSE. It's also something that I can carry into court and not be stared at. I happily purchased the bag. Here it is:
Don't you worry, it is still buttery soft.
(Since you are probably wondering, it was right around $130 with our excessive Clark County sales tax. I think we can all agree that is a reasonable investment for a quality purse that I can beat the crap out of for a lengthy period of time.)
This will be a lasting love affair. No one night stand that I will regret.
What a difference a well-reasoned purchase can make.
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…a happy ending! Always good to have a love affair with the things we bring into our lives!
I enjoyed your post! It is good to see someone using restraint. I got the all typed up clyde during the sale and now i feel guilty…
Oh, good for you. Im super glad you did NOT give into the Impulse Buy and Im even happier that you ended up scoring a GREAT BAG that you will use and LOVE for years to come!