splurge vs. steal

I woke up this morning with a plan in mind: grocery shopping, buy cleaning supplies and maybe buy a bathrobe. However, that didn't happen. I didn't even go near a grocery store. Instead, I ended up downtown, randomly ran into my sister on Robson Street and all of this happened:

Left to right: sweater + blouse from H&M, jeans + dress pants from the GAP

She had to go into H&M and I wasn't thinking about buying anything and BAM! I was holding 8 items in my arms and standing in line for the fitting room. Bad idea. Very bad idea. I ended up getting a sweater and a blouse.

But, let's take a moment and look at the coral and cream sweater that I got from H&M for $39.95:

It looks very similar to this sweater from See by Chloe that I saw on www.ssense.com. It's not exactly the same, but very similar in colours and design. The H&M sweater has a floral/wavy pattern versus the geometric design of the See by Chloe, but I actually prefer the floral design... and the price :)

See by Chloe red geometric patterned knit sweater, retails for $425 (but it's now on sale at ssense)

Studded and capped collared blouse in blush, also from H&M. I like to think of it as a cooler version of the cowboy shirt. 

Blood-orange dress pants from the GAP. 

Periwinkle skinny GAP jeans or, according to their website, "resolution blue." 

 Okay, now just take a LOOK at the price of the jeans and pants:

That's right; you don't need to check your eyesight, bring out the calculator or clean your computer screen. The jeans came to $9.09 and the dress pants was $6.98! The GAP is currently having a huge clearance sale and on top of that, an additional 30% off the sale price, which means I am SUPER happy with my items and so is my wallet :) So, the total amount, including taxes, for the two items... drum roll please...

 Oh yeah, EIGHTEEN dollars! YAAAAAAAAAY!

The shopping deals didn't stop there; I wandered into London Drugs to grab a bottle of water and noticed that N.Y.C makeup was 40% off so I bought myself a new mascara to try for under $5.00. The mascara wand looks very similar to the CoverGirl LashBlast volume blasting mascara that I love and if I can get a similar version for a lower price, I'm all over it. In my opinion, I don't think you need to spend a great deal of money on mascara and trust me, I've tried a few high-end/brand-name mascaras. So, if I can get a great quality mascara at the drugstore for a handful of change that is comparable to a high-end mascara, than that's the one that I want in my makeup bag.

shopping with purpose

Recently, I've noticed that I have become very particular about what I want in a purchase. I don't know if this is a result from the over-shopping that *might* have occurred over the Christmas holidays, or maybe it has something to do with the dismal selection of clothes hanging on the racks at this time of year (leftover winter stock in stores and spring clothes trickling in at a snail's pace leave much to be desired). Or maybe I'm just not excited about what I see.

Thinking back on past shopping mistakes and regrets and after finding this blog and reading this insightful blog post, I've decided that I'm going to allow myself 5 items to purchase each season, but only if they meet my standards. This will allow me to actually think about what I want, and also give me time to come up with the funds, if said item were to be a designer purchase (overtime, anyone?).

Also, by posting this on my blog, it's out there for everyone in the e-world to see (oh, haiii!) and therefore, pretty much sets this resolution in the proverbial stone. Hopefully, I can will be able to stick to this resolution and have 20 lovely additions to my closet at the end of 2011 that personifies {my style} in a nutshell.

Here's my list for Spring 2011: 

1. Leather cross-body handbag in a neutral colour. So far, it's a toss-up between this one or this one.

2. Envelope clutch in a colour other than black.

3. Ombre shirt, preferrably in blue or purple but I am open to trying any other interesting colour combinations.

4. White silk long-sleeved button up shirt.

5. Black straight leg or slightly flared pants (no jeans, no leggings, and definitely not skinny or wide-leg). 

* Side note - I will make an exception and allow myself ONE frivolous, unexpected purchase each season. Therefore, if I find something undeniably spectacular, no matter what the item is, I won't feel TOO guilty about purchasing it and breaking my resolution.

Today, I can check off two items off my list:

This Roots envelope is actually an iPad sleeve, but I think it would function just as well as a daytime clutch.

I've been obsessing over ombre for a couple of years now and finally found what I wanted in this shirt.

spread the good cheer

Vitamin V Daily hosted a holiday soiree at the GAP on Robson on Thursday, November 25, 2010 to ring in the holiday season. To get people in the shopping spirit, the GAP gave out mystery gift cards (worth up to $100!) for the first 25 guests through the door and a free pair of GAP premium denim jeans every half hour in a draw (or with every purchase over $200) and 25% off regular priced items. Yummy canapes and cocktails were provided by C Restaurant. Of course, I wasn't going to miss out on this shopping event. Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera, although it wouldn't have mattered since I had a glass of wine in one hand and a pile of clothes in the other and no room for taking any pictures with my massive camera.

I've been stalking this sweater cardigan for a while and since it was 25% off, I managed to scoop it up in my size. I also bought a grey herringbone men's shirt for myself (in a size small) and I love it because it's not too fitted, too boxy, or too short. On a sidenote: I noticed that everything I picked up or tried on was in all shades of grey... it seems I'm a little colour-shy when it comes to shopping for winter clothes. But, at least everything will match!

Other events happening on the same night: Fine Finds in Yaletown was also having a shopping event, where you got 20% off regular-priced clothes, shoes or handbags when you donated a can of non-perishable food item to the Vancouver Food Bank or made a donation. They were also serving champagne and mini chocolate cupcakes and who doesn't like champagne and cupcakes?! Made a quick stop and an expensive mistake at Fine Finds before heading over to the GAP. After the GAP, it was just a skip, hop and jump away to Blubird on Alberni where I didn't get anything (my credit card was grateful) but my friend did put her name down for a lovely black leather MJ by Marc Jacobs watch. We pretty much ran over to the newly opened Maison Louis Vuitton, which has now expanded to 2 levels and 10,000 square feet of luxury goods from leather goods and luggage, a bag bar, accessories, current prêt-à-porter and resort collections, as well as gallery space dedicated to contemporary art and a VIP suite. Le sigh. Nothing was purchased, but it was satisfying enough to just browse and drool look at everything nonetheless :)