69.0°,
Partly Cloudy That's Life — So last year
Posted
Issue of September 25, 2009/ 7 Tishrei 5770
Whether you are one to not wear white after Labor Day or insist on wearing a felt hat to shul on Rosh Hashanah regardless of the temperature, preparations for any holiday includes shopping for clothes. Online or in person, clothing shopping is a part of the preparations for Rosh Hashanah, along with buying a new fruit and, in my case, apple picking.
Whether you are one to not wear white after Labor Day or insist on wearing a felt hat to shul on Rosh Hashanah regardless of the temperature, preparations for any holiday includes shopping for clothes. Online or in person, clothing shopping is a part of the preparations for Rosh Hashanah, along with buying a new fruit and, in my case, apple picking.
Having a little extra time on my hands, I went to an outlet store for children’s clothes that sells items from a past season at a discounted rate. It is not a vintage clothing shop — the clothes are not from decades ago, leaving my kids to look more like the Partridge Family, the Bradys or even the Huxtables (where did Cliff get all of those sweaters anyway?) — items sold in this store are simply from last year. If you want everything that you or your children wear to be right off the runway, more power to you, but this store is not for you. As for me, it doesn’t matter.
Looking through the racks and having a couple of items already draped over my arm, I pulled out something to admire it in a better light. Another customer, younger than I, was standing near me and noticed the item I was holding. “I don’t know if it matters to you,” she said, “but that is SO last year.” Clearly she had not received the memo: the entire store was so last year.
“You don’t know me,” I responded, “but no, I could not care less.” Frankly, I was not sure she made that comment at all; the items she was holding were not straight from Paris either. “What I meant,” she said, trying to clarify and soften her remarks a little, “was that there are so many things here that could be from any season, but that [dress] is really not.” Still confused as to why she chose me as the target for a fashion intervention, I politely replied that I still didn’t care, nor did I think my three-year-old would mind either.
Telling a friend about my little shopping trip, she replied that she had gone to a children’s clothing store where the clerk had tried to sell her something at full price that she knew to be from last year. When she asked if the price was reduced from what was stated on the tag, the clerk wanted to know why she expected a discount. When she said she knew the item was from last season, the clerk was initially taken aback, but then made the necessary adjustment.
It was an Elle Woods moment: long live the smart shopper.
I walked into a store I normally frequent for myself, but due to my current very pregnant state, I was there to shop for my daughter only. Yet, the clerks on staff were so sensitive and appropriate that instead of saying ‘and who would you be shopping for today?’ clearly implying there was nothing in the store that could fit me (which would be true, but still...), they instead asked ‘did you find the size you were looking for?’ I thought that was very classy, told them so, and made a mental note to return when I could (again) shop for myself.
Having a little extra time on my hands, I went to an outlet store for children’s clothes that sells items from a past season at a discounted rate. It is not a vintage clothing shop — the clothes are not from decades ago, leaving my kids to look more like the Partridge Family, the Bradys or even the Huxtables (where did Cliff get all of those sweaters anyway?) — items sold in this store are simply from last year. If you want everything that you or your children wear to be right off the runway, more power to you, but this store is not for you. As for me, it doesn’t matter.
Looking through the racks and having a couple of items already draped over my arm, I pulled out something to admire it in a better light. Another customer, younger than I, was standing near me and noticed the item I was holding. “I don’t know if it matters to you,” she said, “but that is SO last year.” Clearly she had not received the memo: the entire store was so last year.
“You don’t know me,” I responded, “but no, I could not care less.” Frankly, I was not sure she made that comment at all; the items she was holding were not straight from Paris either. “What I meant,” she said, trying to clarify and soften her remarks a little, “was that there are so many things here that could be from any season, but that [dress] is really not.” Still confused as to why she chose me as the target for a fashion intervention, I politely replied that I still didn’t care, nor did I think my three-year-old would mind either.
Telling a friend about my little shopping trip, she replied that she had gone to a children’s clothing store where the clerk had tried to sell her something at full price that she knew to be from last year. When she asked if the price was reduced from what was stated on the tag, the clerk wanted to know why she expected a discount. When she said she knew the item was from last season, the clerk was initially taken aback, but then made the necessary adjustment.
It was an Elle Woods moment: long live the smart shopper.
MLW
Report an inappropriate comment
Comments