Bag of Wonder

The flu has moved on to Big-P but luckily he hasn’t been hit too hard and has a long weekend to get plenty of rest. After stocking up on fruit and veggies and so on at the Market with Mum first thing this morning I met Special-K for a coffee and a much needed chat which was a lovely way to spend a chilly Melbourne Winter morning.
We also had a wander into a couple of shops and I made great use of my two new shopping philosophies gleaned from a very brief reading of Brenda’s Wardrobe Companion. I intend to go back and read the book properly as she has much more to say to a lost shopping soul like me, but so far these approaches to shopping are doing me well. It’s pretty simply just about being confident enough to try things on that really, really appeal to me regardless of whether I think they are “me” or not, and then once I am looking at myself in them in the change room mirror I have to be 100% in love with the item before purchasing it.

For a long time I have been in a rut of buying black knit tops and various shades of the same style of cord pants, because that was what I felt most comfortable in. It was easy – I didn’t have to think and I felt ok enough. But I was so bored with my wardrobe and longed for the days when bizarre op-shop finds filled my cupboard (well actually, clothes rack it was then in those student days). I didn’t shy away from dresses and skirts and colours and scarves. It was all about fun and expression and dressing up. So lately I have been walking into shops, and as usual I find myself immediately drawn to the cords and then I shout to myself (very quietly) “NO! RUT! RUT! MOVE ON!” and dare myself to try on the most amazing thing that catches my eye in the store. Of course, it’s early days, so when I am standing in the dressing room I am still not sure about what I have on. But then it’s obvious to me that it’s not 100% love…

This means you end up walking away from a lot of purchases that could have been just alright (and I have a lot of ‘just alright’ things in my wardrobe) and theoretically I should now feel completely justified buying that one particular item every now and then that does look fantastic even though it might cost more than my usual purchases. Brilliant!

When I first got the book Big-P groaned at my affirming cries of “Yes! That’s right! I am worth full price! I do deserve to spend money on myself!” etc. and said to me with a great rolling of his eyes “this book could not have come at a worse time”. But actually, as a result I have found I have put back many more (cheap, cruddy and ugly) items than I ever would have before.

Today I was disappointed by the incredibly cute pink cardigan that looked so beautiful and felt like a dream but left puffs of pink fluff flying into the air every time I moved (definitely not 100% love), and a little disappointed by the other cute cardigan which was a little prickly around my neck (almost 100% but more like 95% love), but it felt fabulous to buy nothing and know that I had just had a successful day shopping. Weird but true.

Unfortunately I then made the mistake of going to the always devine Sunspun with Grandma to buy her yarn for Evie which she is keen to start. Here I made the even bigger mistake of spying the cutest little knitted bag I have ever clapped my eyes on (unfortunately that photo from that link does it no justice – it was much more like the scene pictured below).

I want to knit it for me! For my mum! For every single one of my friends! It’s from Rowan Magazine #30 and it’s knitted in two balls of Rowan Polar (or three according to the Woolshack). Ah no! At $25.45 a ball (plus the $45 for the magazine) that is no cheap project. So now I am grumpy and although I would prefer to use the beautiful Rowan stuff, I desperately need to learn how to substitute yarns.