Fashion Fast Week 2

The bow is barely off the New Year and I’ve already experienced my first real temptation. Wow, it was tough! I was shocked at how hard it hit me and how easily my mind slipped into shopping mode without as much as a flinch. It was an unconscious reaction to an item that caught my eye as I walked into one of my favorite stores. I know, you may wonder why I threw myself into the lion’s den by entering the place to begin with. Well, many of the shops I frequent sell much more than clothes. I didn’t go with the thought of clothing temptation at all. I went to purchase a small appliance and got distracted by my favorite color, yellow. And this was my very first test.

It was a Sunday and it was beyond cold outside so I wasn’t really thinking about venturing out into the brisk weekend air. But I had on my list to get a few things done, which included going to one of my retail hot spots. Like I did hundreds of times in 2009 and even more before last year, I walked in through the clothing department and decided to take a quick look before focusing on the things on my mental shopping list. What do my eyes devour but a whole rack of delicious lemon and buttery yellow clothes! There were blouses, and jackets, and pants, and dresses, and the one that got me into a tailspin of trouble, the perfect yellow skirt.

I could tell this was a new line and collection because they still had every size. So I clicked through the rack of hangers and yes, there it was in my size! Like an old habit I tucked it under my arm and was about to scurry off to the dressing room to try it on when my feet stuck to the floor like I was in quicksand. Noooooooooooooo! Stop right there Missy. You can’t buy this, remember? All kinds of expletives popped in my head as I recalled my decision to go the ENTIRE year of 2010 without buying any new clothes. Ugh, this may be harder than I thought.

Then my mind started to work. OK, how can I work around this? What method can I employ and not break my pack with myself yet still have this skirt? No, this wasn’t the inner workings of a devious mind but one of a person who has taken lemons (yellow ones of course) and made lemonade. So as I started to squeeze the pulp into the pitcher and come up with that cool refreshing way around my predicament I immediately thought of my original partner in crime, my younger sister Neice. That’s it, I’ll call Neice and tell her to buy it for me and keep it for a year. That way I didn’t buy it and I’ll just get it from her and pay her back in January 2011. Brilliant!

Not so brilliant, I realized. Then the other voice in my head, well one of the other voices anyway, reminded me that this would be cheating. Bummer! But I knew this was true. It would be cheating. So I slipped it back onto the rack, did a 180 pivot and walked away with my integrity, the shakes, and no yellow skirt. And with yellow being a hot color this year, I realized that I’m going to meet this challenge on many more occasions. I can’t begin to tell you all how much I really liked and wanted that skirt. And I had my eye on the matching silky blouse. The cut, the length, the fabric and the color, oh that beautiful, rich, full yellow color all made it a perfect complement to my already over abundant closet. Sigh.

I walked away sad but strong. I don’t own a yellow skirt and at least I wouldn’t be duplicating something. I felt good in knowing that I would have to work at this process and that I went through this realm of emotions and came out safe on the other side of the experience. But how would I do the next time? I think going through this actually helped to build a foundation for the next time. It was such an innate reaction to search for my size and proceed to buy this skirt. Then to remember I can’t was almost like when I was a little girl and I’d pick something off the rack and my father would quickly give me that look that meant put it back.

One of the tougher parts of the whole equation was about the color. Like a butterfly, I’m attracted to bright yellow. It’s hard to miss, which I guess is why road signs are yellow. So now I have to look with caution. Maybe I need signs that say Warning! Clothes for Sale Ahead. At least I need to have that imprinted on my brain.

So how did I find my way out of my yellow skirt funk? I went home and got creative with what I already have. I went shopping in my closet. I put together combinations that I’d never worn before. I pretended they were new and that I was in Helen’s Boutique, trying on things that I may have never seen as compliments to each other. And I even got to wear something new! Don’t tell anyone but there are a few things in my closet that still have the tags on them, from two or more years ago! So that helped me to let go of the yellow skirt and the notion that it won’t be there next year. But I probably felt better about the things I wore last week than I had since back to school outfits in junior high school! One challenge down, many more for me to tackle on the way!