So when you generally go out shopping with the girls, who aren’t particularly that interested in shopping and window shopping (important: window shopping is as important for the soul as shopping itself is!, with some girls and non-girls (who are almost automatically disqualified as shopping company), you, as a person who thrives on retail therapy cannot satisfy yourself to the optimal extent with the resources (time and cash, which, by the way, are always limited) you have. So you must get rid of these barriers. SOO, spend some alone time and hit the shops!
Imagine yourself in a street full of shops, the glimmer, the bustle, people eating ice-cream, randoms wearing funny things, some very well dressed people, all on their own way. Soak in all the products all around you. The sight of wonderful clothes, that LBD (Little Black Dress which you MUST buy when you grow up and earn pots of gold), those Swarovski studded shoes, that pretty beige sweater, those gorgeous plum bags. As you walk past these shops, it’s all a blur when you also try to absorb the fragrance of delicious perfume , clothes , bags and shoes. So what is one to do when she’s overcome with all the wonderful things on earth that money can buy? She must follow a three pronged strategy to maximise utility of an afternoon or evening in the midst of shopper-land.
Step I: Breeze past the street
Soak it all in, woman. Soak-it-in. FEEL it. Walk up the street and mentally short list a couple of places that you MUST spend a lot of time at and some that you would like to explore. For instance, every time I do this, I MUST visit an Archies and absorb all the stationery around and perhaps even buy letter papers (my favourite stationery article). It’s amazingly soothing. SO well, now that you have mentally shortlisted your targets, stop at the end of the street and turn around :)
And then it begins…
Step II: Close (read: Open) your eyes (read: eyes and ears and olfactory nerves) and take it all in
Enter your shop and look around first. If you intend to buy something specific then go ahead and try out whatever it is that you want. Meanwhile, be extremely perceptive to everything else around you. The soft, elegant lighting of exquisite stores, the special dim lighting of craft and soap stores and the jing-bang lights of the big malls. The fresh fruity smell in Pepe stores, the serious and strong i-need-that-in-a-perfume-bottle fragrance in a KBN type shop. So you know, retail therapy is not only about shopping random things. It’s about the experience. Everything counts.
Don’t spend too much time in one shop though, unless it’s absolute heaven of course. Malls are therefore a good place to spend an afternoon. Because of risk diversification, they generally have a number of different types of stores. So you can get a taste of everything! However, covering a street with assorted shops gives you the illusory satisfaction of having ‘covered more’. Well, both are okay as long as it’s therapeutic!
Street shopping is wonderful but it’s wholly different. The satisfaction that you derive from that is not really about the ‘experience’ but about the end result (your bounty). However, shop-shopping and WSing is pure therapy because it’s a delight for all your senses. It’s like a spa treatment, if not better! Well, I’ll write about street shopping in another post. Worry not!
Don’t be afraid to pick up that face wash here and the lip gloss there to read the exciting little story that they usually print on the back about how it smells delicious and makes your skin soft and supple and you will have not a single misery in your life if you use this product. Certainly go ahead and try out those delicate black shoes! Yes, even if you can’t afford it! The point is to be in the moment and feel like a princess. So be there, do that. But don’t ‘lose yourself’ in the moment and forget about it. HOLD on to it. Picture yourself in those shoes whenever you’re feet aren’t feeling pretty :) Smile at yourself in the mirror and feel happy about your existence! Just stand there and look around. Again, soak it in.
Step III: Imagine, wonder and BUY!
Depending on how much cash you have, buy a little souvenir or so from almost every shop you go to. Shopping is almost like travelling, yes! And BlogOwner loves both :) If you can’t buy something, it’s alright. Few years from now, when you’ll be earning pots of gold, come back and buy that, alright?! Experience it now, then own it :)
THAT, girls and boys, is retail therapy. Not just entering a departmental store and buying toothpaste and soap (though that can also be turned into a very, very satisfying experience by feeling the right things. BO often does that! In fact, BO’s usual quick pick-me-up therapy involves going to a pharmacy and buying face wash or shampoo or lotion or some such wonder good.).
Watch this space for Part II, III and IV *giggles* Happy Shopping to you too! Now, run along!