Happy Tuesday! Today we had another snow day, and tomorrow will be our fourth snow day! Tomorrow I plan to finish my Harry Potter movie marathon (which has been the main reason I've been loving these snow days). The days off have also given me a lot of time to do some online shopping. Recently I have become a terrible "brand snob," according to my mother. I have become obsessed with brands such as Lilly Pulitzer, Kate Spade, J. Crew, and Vineyard Vines. All of these brands are rather expensive and I have to buy anything from those websites with my own money because they're pretty ridiculously over-priced, and my mom is definitely a bargain shopper. But I justify it by buying items from those websites only when they're on sale.
I bought a Lilly dress for $39 during their New Year's sale, and it was usually $98! I bought the Kate Spade "Arm Candy" Bangle also for $39 during their sale, which was usually $89. On Sunday I bought a headband that was usually $30 for $12.49 and a belt for $19.99 that was usually $60. Today there was a Lilly Pulitzer agenda sale, so I bought a large agenda for $12 that was normally $26. Although these purchases may seem reasonable because they were a lot cheaper than their normal prices, if you add up all of them and include shipping, the total is about $130, plus I also bought a new coat and a pair of skinny jeans from Old Navy on Sunday, the total of which was $50, which means that in just a few weeks I spent $180 on clothes and accessories. That $180 definitely could have been spent on something much more useful (like, my college education...). To be honest, I really didn't need most of those things. Even worse, I hadn't even wanted most of those things before I knew they were on sale. I only bought them because they were on sale and because they had a name on them.
I used to always consider myself to be above consumerism, I realized that the important things in life aren't things, and it doesn't really matter what you look like on the outside; what matters is who you are on the inside. However, recently, I've noticed that girls at my school wear clothes from certain brands, and the clothes are so cute. And, somehow, the girls seem like they're confident in themselves because of the clothes they're wearing. I started seeing these brands on Tumblr and Pinterest and other places. I became obsessed with the bright, colorful patterns of Lilly Pulitzer (oh my god their dresses); the fun yet classy style of Kate Spade (oh my god their purses); the individual, elegant look of J. Crew (oh my god their jewelry); and the simple yet classic pieces of Vineyard Vines (oh my god their Oxfords and totes). I signed up for their email updates so I can be notified of sales and I check their websites religiously. These are just a few brands, believe me, there are many more (Ralph Lauren, Tory Burch, and Kiel James Patrick to name a few). However, I need to realize that there is more to life than just names on over-priced clothes, which is why I'm setting up a challenge. My goal is to not buy anything just because it has a name on it. This means that I will buy something if it is very reasonably priced and I actually need it. I might let my birthday be an exception, for which I can splurge a little for myself, but until then I will be saving every cent of my babysitting money! Wish me luck!
Carpe Diem,
Brooke
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