I spent all winter anticipating the day when I would don a beautiful new trench coat in the Spring. Since December, I have been scouting catalogue after catalogue, shopping-site after shopping-site, in hunt for the perfect trench.
From cheap to sleek, nice to nouveau, cotton to polyester, I've seen them all. And after months of searching, I can announce that I've finally found IT. The One. Perfect price point. Perfect construction. Perfect details.
Behold, the trench of my dreams:
From cheap to sleek, nice to nouveau, cotton to polyester, I've seen them all. And after months of searching, I can announce that I've finally found IT. The One. Perfect price point. Perfect construction. Perfect details.
Behold, the trench of my dreams:
Notice the tortoise shell buttons and buckles, the traditional double-breasted trench styling, the on-seam side slash pockets. Ah, at last, the holy grail, the stairway to heaven, nirvana, eureka!
But a funny thing happened on the way to perfection.
In the end, I could not bring myself to buy it.
Why? At first I could not explain it. Why? Why, after months of pouring time, money, and effort into finding this coveted object, would I just let it slip away?!! All the previous duds I had purchased and returned...was it all for nought?!
I can think of two minor reasons and one major one:
(1) It's a wee bit too pricey.
(2) Michael thinks it's too fancy-pants.
(3) What social psychologists call, the theory of reactance: When our sense of freedom is threatened, we attempt to restore it.
I can't bring myself to own a trench coat because after scouring the fashion retail world for months, I realized they are one of the top 10 trends for Spring. I hate following trends! I want to assert my individuality and autonomy! No marketing ploy is going to make me buy anything! No trench, no leggings, no cropped jackets, no jewel-colored tights, and no ballet flats! (Ok, maybe just one pair of ballet flats).
So in the end I returned it,
the trench of my dreams,
the shortest love affair that never was.
6 comments:
oh no!--I've got a trench coat! I might be mistaken for a fashionbug! call the exterminator! ;-)
[I don't know where that came from - must be the four hours of sleep talking]
Well, if you purchased it prior to 2007, you're in still in the safe zone. It wasn't really trendy until this year.
Fashionbug, eh? I haven't heard that term since...1987?
Props for not compromising your personal values! Oh well... I suppose it was better to have owned and returned than to never have owned at all...
Ha! Nice Bren.
I have the same problem with clothes and trends, excpet i never return them, they just sit in my closet never to be wore in broad daylight.
But i must admit i have a pair of ballerina flats, they are just too cute for words.
the "safe zone." I like that.
just like the "blind spot." ;-)
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