Before starting there are two pieces of housekeeping:
This piece is about shopping, most of these pieces will be about shopping and clothing and me obsessing over my personal style.
I took a pause in the middle of writing this to anxiously delete every shopping app off of my phone.
Today I made a mistake, it’s one I’ve made for years that I genuinely thought was over.
I succumbed to the pressure of a sample sale.
This week I went to not one but two sample sales. 260 LA was hosting a Staud sample sale. I like Staud and when I saw the prices and the TikTok I was watching said it was “so worth it” I truly dropped everything and took an HOUR LONG uber to Beverly Hills. With the Staud sale, I had a lot more restraint. There was no prep going into the sale so I had to think on my toes and I made a point to be responsible (something I am often not). I made the point of trying on every single thing I found, and I spent nearly two hours there trying to make smart choices. I walked away spending a little over $100 on a gorgeous bag, a green top, these cute shoes, and a black skirt.
My second sample sale was admittedly where it all came crashing down. This one I had prepared for. It was two brands I only sort of knew, so I went on their websites and looked around for pieces I would keep an eye out for. I showed up to the sample sale and the brand I’d liked the most only had half of their products on sale, the second half was retail price, with no real indication of what was what. I didn’t figure it out until I was checking out and I was stressed. The top I had gone in with the intention of purchasing was full price. I bought both tops. Probably because I felt the pressure of the scenario but also because it’s way easier for me to say yes to something I think I want than to step back and consider why it’s worth saying no.
After my two top fiasco, I went to the second section of the sample sale and found nothing I liked from the website. I was told by a very sweet woman working that their flagship store was just around the corner and they had the exact top I was looking at. So of course, I went and purchased it.
I got home after spending twice as much as I had wanted to, feeling defeated and confused about what I had even purchased in the first place. I tried everything on and that’s when reality set in, the two tops from the sale I tried on I didn’t love. I didn’t hate them but I wasn’t obsessed or even really all that happy. I quickly dm’d the girl and asked her if I could return or exchange the full-priced top to which she agreed. (Thank god) I’m currently trying to figure out if my best friend or someone on Depop will want to take the discounted top from me.
After this slightly tragic experience, I’ve decided there will be no more sample sales for me. There are no brands I shop religiously enough for the sale to be worth it. Of course, there are brands I love but no one or two specific brands I consistently shop enough to not get sucked into the allure of a sample sale. I know that I can achieve most of my wants by buying things second-hand. Getting “a deal” is really the only reason sample sales are interesting.
wearing a lot of these items this past week gave me a lot of clarity on what pieces were mistakes (that cropped black shirt is my living nightmare rn), and what pieces I definitely didn’t need but weren’t as big of a loss as I anticipated. It’s easy for me to drag myself into the rhythm of shopping and these few purchases brought me all the way back to reality - where I will not be absentminded about my purchases.