Fashion: Sales

There is money to be saved. Money for the wedding, money for birthdays, money for groceries and bills and rent. There is no money for clothes even though I buy them anyway.

I have never enjoyed sales. The racks are messy, they're always in the back of the store, the thing you want is never in your size and when I do buy sale items sometimes I buy it just because it's on sale and then later it sits, taking up precious room in my closet. Sales frustrate me, they push me to make a decision now, because who knows if the sale ends tomorrow or if the item will still be there in 5 minutes. I used to really hate sales.

But now I live with Mr. Fiscal Responsibility and a towering list of things I need to do and pay for, and now suddenly sales are my dearest, most whored-out friend. I haven't really gone shopping since I moved to Seattle from San Francisco, became earthshatteringly (one word) poor, and then spent the money I did have quitting my job there and moving back to San Francisco. Until this years Nordstrom Sale and then once I started I just couldn't stop.

So first I bought the jacket because the jacket was just so effing cool and I love jackets and the nordstrom catalog with their fancy pictures of beautiful people just got me. But I didn't get it in white because... I spill... I got in turquoise. I think it works.

*Sorry about the dirty mirror. bummer about that.

And then, because I was all about risk taking (why not) I got the shoes. THE shoes. The shoes I've been mentioning? Were so cool? Too cool for me?

They are also incredibly, ridiculously comfortable and, surprisingly, keep my feet nice and warm on chilly San Francisco nights. These are the shoes that had me running to buy skinny jeans, yet another sale purchase during all of this hullabaloo. I also bought a pair of running pants because I can't seem to ever quite purchase enough of those.

After raiding Nordstrom I went on to Anthropologie, one of the best sale stores ever. Their sales are huge, constant, and rotate every month? I'm not entirely sure, but I know it's at least a few times a season. There I bought this shirt, because I am a slave to ruffles:

And these sandals, because I have honeymoon visions, visions of comfortable, yet stylish feet, visions of skirt wearing days somewhere in my future:

And this giant yellow flower, because it's a giant yellow flower:

Here's the thing: I have had an awakening and I honestly don't understand why anyone would buy anything not on sale in any scenario (quicky weddings and funerals aside). I know there are certain items, as a shopper, as a clothes-horse, that we feel we absolutely cannot live without right this very moment. Except you can, and you probably should. Almost everything goes on sale, even the highest designer brands, and what I'm saying is, you can have everything you want at a reduced price. I'm a girl on a budget, but even if I wasn't, sales just make sense. I bought all of this for two-hundred-something-dollars (definitely under $300.00). Two pairs of shoes, one shirt, one pair of pants, one jacket, and one pair of running pants. Yes there are cheaper places to buy, but quality over quantity is a whole other post. Sales, my friends, go forth and shop.

*Note: Watch out for places like Jcrew that do these big sale events but then don't let you return anything if it doesn't fit. I don't like shopping at stores that make me feel like a theif, a pauper, or make me suffer for wanting to try things on that are only online but then don't let me return them if they don't fit. Amen? Amen.