Miss Em went back to school on Saturday. Today, Mr. FS and I sat with Frugal Son at the airport for a bit before he boarded his flight for France.
I always like people-watching at airports. Today we saw a large group of LSU athletes walk by (swimmers?) in their hideous purple tracksuits (Sorry fans. GO TIGERS!)
Then, in a crowd of people was the very sweater from Anthropologie so coveted by Miss Em. AND IT DID NOT LOOK THAT GREAT. Mr. FS and Frugal Son agreed. In fact, the sweater looked so--well, not that special--that I had to look closely to make sure it was the same one. It was. The wearer was decked out in what looked like full Anthropologie boho-luxe regalia, with a coordinating knit floral skirt. Nonetheless, the sweater looked thin. The embroidery did not stand out.
This reminded me of my own first catalog disappointment, which may be why I seldom order from catalogs or on-line (unless there is free shipping and free--or local--returns). When I was about 8, long before the influx of fancy catalogs in mailboxes, I used to while away many an hour reading the Sears Catalog. I remember reading about chickens and chicken coops and other farm equipment, not exactly relevant to my life in suburbia.
I also remember falling in love with a dress that was styled in a farm theme, in fact. The model was sitting on a haystack and wearing a bandanna. The denouement is no doubt predictable. One Saturday, we took a family trip to Sears, probably so my father could buy a tool. My mother pointed to a hideous dress and said "Do you still want that?" Without the haystack and the bandanna, the dress was drab. I was so disillusioned, kind of a junior version of the end of James Joyce's Araby!
We reported the sweater sighting to Miss Em, but, of course, she has to take our assessment on faith.
Are you usually happy with on-line or catalog purchases or, like me, are you usually disappointed?
No comments:
Post a Comment