I'm a shopaholic; it's my only vice. What's more; shopping is good for my soul. There's nothing like the excitement of waiting to get my hands on something I've ordered online. If it disappoints upon receipt, that's okay. I'll get over it. On to the next package. I don't shop online because I'm lazy but because I'm large, and because I have specific preferences in fashion according to my age and body type. I like flowing garments that smooth over my middle, not the skimpy, revealing clothes that most stores offer nowadays. Brick
and mortar shops consider the sizes and styles I wear as somewhat of a "specialty", and so they usually don't carry them. The large-size garments they do have are HORRENDOUS and positively geriatric-looking. Retailers
seem to have forgotten that the millions of Americans who got older and fatter still need clothes that fit and don't make them look like museum pieces or teenybopper wannabes. So, many of us have deserted brick and mortar for the web, a place of infinite choices where you
just might find what you need. Of course, there are pitfalls. You'd better watch what you click on or you might end up with something you didn't order or want. When shopping online, you have to assume that everyone's out to rip you off because, to some extent, they all are. Give your personal information only to major websites and reputable merchants and you'll diminish the chances of identity theft.
In particular,
sidestep Chinese websites that carry shoddy goods and too-tiny Asian sizes. Or Chinese websites that are nonexistent and out to steal your
information so they can empty your bank account.
You can pick out these
impostors because they'll advertise fancy designer goods for sale at improbably low prices, their writing reads like translated Chinese, their graphics are weird, their links dont work and their background information is nebulous or absent. Where are they based? How can you reach them? What are their policies? If you can't tell these things from a website, don't shop there; stick with the known sellers and you'll be (mostly) okay. As for me, I have so much of everything that I can go shopping in my own closets. I don't ever have to buy anything else again, unless I'm moved to reach for my wallet by some extraordinary piece of goods.
I really don't need any more clothes, jewelry or shoes.
And I'm grateful for that
surplus; inflation threatens to turn online shopping into one of
its many casualties. The price of everything has skyrocketed.
These days, before I buy anything, I ask myself: Do I really WANT it? Do I really NEED it? But more importantly, do I already have two more like it in the closet? That's
my new policy of austerity, motivated by the current economic situation. I can't tell you how often I see a pair of boots, jeans, or a dress, listed online or in a catalog at $30-$100 more than I paid last year for the very same item. Womens' sweaters made of cheap synthetics --NOT cotton or wool-- are going for $70-$90 a pop. Shoes and bags made of plastic are going for what used to be leather prices. Faux fur prices have been jacked up as though fake fur is the real thing,while authentic leather and fur are now unaffordable. Worse,sellers are making it increasingly difficult to return things, hoping that you'll give up and take the loss and let them keep your money.
So I'm hanging on to my rags, and I recommend you do the same.And if I ever feel the overwhelming urge to shop, I'll just find some teeny-tiny item at a discount, buy it, and hope that it holds off my shopping addiction, at least for a while.
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