to hell with shops

So when I arrived at work today – this is what I was faced with:

Fab.  Seven whole parcels – what a way to start the day.  Have we been slightly overindulging of late? Perhaps.. but I blame this on my shopping experiences over the long weekend.  This is a phenomenon I call ‘the value for money price matrix theory of spending online vs  bricks and mortar stores’; which can be easily explained/simplified in layman’s terms:  shops are not value for money.

‘WHAT??’ I hear shocked voices resounding through cyberspace – ‘simply not TRUE!’ ‘I love shops!’ ‘Shops are the best!’ ‘Take those cruel words back’ you scream.  What evidence do I possibly have to back up this revelation?? WELL here is the proof.  My mother, sis and I were having a lovely afternoon strolling along Hasting St perusing the boutiques, in other words – looking at things we couldn’t afford.  Correction – no, we could not afford to buy them from these stores at their exorbitant prices, but – buying them online is a totally different story.  Popping into this gorgeous boutique called Bellissimo and perusing through the racks, I spotted a Lisa Brown floral silk maxi dress that I wore to the races last year (Belissimo on sale = $499, Sarah eBay = $120), and a Lola Australia silk paisley print silk kaftan dress I have had for ages (Bellissimo = $299 full price, Sarah sample sale = $79), OH and is that an Elissa Coleman ‘Whiney’ silk ruffle dress? (Bellissimo = $399, Sarah eBay = $80).

Score: Bellissimo = $1197 v Sarah = $279. BANG. That is what I'm talking about.

Back to the matter at hand – this is why shopping in real life stores escalates my online purchasing.  Two major reasons:  1. Finding items I love in store only to then hunt them down online for a better price back at the hotel room/over lunch/at the beach...; and 2. Knowing that for the price of that one Lisa Brown dress I can buy five equally gorgeous designer pieces online, and then needing to prove this to myself and eBay by purchasing five such items to make my point. Humph.

So apart from the nude shirt scenario – these are the items (in no particular order) that I also bought over the weekend:

Okay so what have we got here? From left to right: Willow silk draped printed dress $70, Country Road colourblock hessian wedges $40, Seed Femme silk blend striped tee $29.95, Arnsdorf silk double breasted boyfriend blazer $45, and lastly Seed Femme black ankle boots $32 – all eBay. Total spent = $216.95. High five.  Love it.

Shops – who needs them?

FFIFY xxxx