Shopping for pleasure?????

[zaxdog]

Hi All,

I was listening to Radio 4 this morning as the presenter pointed out the difference between shopping for essentials and the joys of a Saturday spent in retail therapy. I am I the only one who comes out in a cold sweat at the thought of hours of touring shops full of people to buy clothes etc?

Don't get me wrong I am addicted to charity shops and can spend an hour or so touring the fab ones in my local town of Oban for books, fabric, wool and clothes, but the thought of department stores, trendy clothes shops makes me

What do the other ishers think?

[green_pea]

we were saying exactly this today when we were forced into a 'normal' shop for the first time in ages!

EDIT: (realised I wanted more of a whinge than that ) It's horrible, how much of a 'disposable culture' we have become. I don't understand the joy in it at all, you spend stupid amounts of money and come away with something that not only everyone else has, but also will break/wear out in the next few months.

[Susie]

Department stores and clothes shops are places of torture that only the insane could enjoy.

I'm now going for title of most unpopular person on ish , but...

I like shopping. I don't particularly buy anything, but I like going with other people and chatting and seeing what's in the shops and what's fashionable. It gives me ideas of things to make. I do buy things if we go to places I can afford (I'm going to Chesterfield next week and we'll be hitting the factory shops). I sometimes take my mum & aunty to London for a day out and their idea of an excellent time is criticising everything on Bond St, I wouldn't do it off my own bat necessarily but we always have a laugh. I like walking round markets as well, designer sample sales, charity shops, you name it.

I wouldn't do it every weekend though. I do sometimes have to nip into Cambridge on a Saturday because I need to get something and there are a lot of depressed-looking people wandering about weighed down with carrier bags. They don't look like they're having fun much and I wonder how people afford it! (Possibly they don't spend all their money on wool like me ).

Go on, revoke my ish membership, I dare you ;-).

[wabbit955]

hate shopping hate it hate it hate in shopping centra and super markets

but love markets and fairs type shopping

can not rember last time i shopped for cloths tend to make them or buy from e bay

[snapdragon]

really dislike shopping of any sort, especially in big stores/big towns, I can manage the local butcher's shop, and farmers markets, just now gathering courage to go buy milk from the soopermkt and i so don't want to go but I want a cuppa tea.

[RuthG]

People get pleasure from shopping??

I dont mind markets (not the trendy ones, like Greenwich), or charity shops. I love finding a bargain. But I hate shopping per se, especially in supermarkets and especially at weekends.

It makes me laugh when people publish lists of how to cut costs - I already do most of them anyway. Supermarket shopping, replaced with veggies from either the garden or the local market - already done; make your own clothes, or buy from charity shops - already done!

Going shopping for fun? not in a million years. You always end up buying something, whether you can afford it or not and then regret it, or it wears out or breaks.

[RuthG]

That's exactly what I mean SusieGee. I love finding a bargain. It might not be something priceless, but if it does the job and I like it, then it's a bargain to me.

Envy your find too!

[StripyPixieSocks]

Retail therapy for me in the high street is absolute HELL! Even Stupormarkets make me sick these days (I have to leave OH to finish and go sit in the car). The exceptions being bookshops and charity shops...

I'm surprised people have 'retail' therapy money spare to be honest at the moment, we don't usually have enough for essentials!

*ugh* crowds of people *shudders*

[boboff]

Well I like shopping too.

Why shop for clothes in a shop that smells of Old Peoples Wee and Mould, when the price of clothes is cheaper in other shops, where no one has soiled the garments previously.

I love Poundland too.

Why would you want to buy worn out boots and shoes?

Just because I love picking Blackcurrants, watering plants, cooking things I have grown, it doesn't mean that Capitalism, and consumption are wrong, you just have to find a balance.

I am lucky enough to be able to afford new things, and I don't mind admitting that I like buying them. I don't waste money though.

[zaxdog]

What a strange person I thought supporting a charity + getting something cheaper and/or usually better quality than the cheap end of the high street + occasionally finding a out of print or rare book or a stash of great wool = me as a happy punter and a benefit to a good cause

I hate to think where you live that your local charity shops sell "soiled" clothing

[RuthG]

I remember charity shops used to smell like that and there are still one or two independent ones that do, but by far the majority are well run and have clean stuff for sale. If you are unsure, you can always have the item cleaned or washed before you use it (I do even from the shops that are clean). And there's nothing like being able to nab a bargain, like a designer dress or jacket for a few pounds, instead of the tens or hundreds that it might cost in the 'real' shop.

[Susie]

In boboff's defense even though he is being very bad ;-), I think charity shops vary. I love having a poke round for books and bric-a-brac and I've got some excellent bargains, but I never buy clothes. I have no problem with buying second hand clothes per se (I buy from ebay/ etsy often) but our charity shops here have things like george at asda tshirts for £6. Now, they're not soiled at all, but if a tshirt has been worn for a year it does start to get a bit stretched and bobbly, which I don't mind at all if it's my tshirt, but I do draw the line a bit at paying more than it would have cost when new to have it when it's had some wear and won't last as long. So in strictly financial terms I just don't find some charity shop items cost effective - I know I can get clothes cheaper, better and in my size on ebay/ in factory shops. I appreciate this makes me a bad person and perhaps I don't have the right charity shop gene, at least I have the ebay gene though so I am recycling in that respect and I do try to give money to charity in other ways.

(I'm not blaming the charity shops, they are there to make money).

[RuthG]

Of course it doesnt make you a bad person. The idea is not just to recycle but to be sensible too. I would agree a tshirt for £6 when it has been worn and stretched is not a good bargain. I wouldnt buy second hand underwear either! Or shoes, for that matter (but then I have peculiar feet). In fact I buy fairly expensive shoes as they look after my feet and usually last a lot better than cheaper ones.

[zaxdog]

My last few buys were an "as new" Nomad top £2 and a beautifully thick mini patchwork quilt £1 for the cat basket (£3 for a lovely big wicker basket)!

I don't buy things like shoes or underwear in charity shops but most of my wardrobe come from them and at my new job I am chuffed by the amount of compliments I am getting on my outfits lol!

[boboff]

Well what have I said?

Apparently saying that Charity shops smell could be deamed offensive now! Wow! What a absolute load of rubbish!

Most of the charity shops I go into ( My wife makes her own jewlery and I often get dragged in to look for beads) Smell.

They have the same smell as Jumble sales off of the 1970's.

As you say, Oxfam especially have no clue what so ever and try and sell stuff second hand for twice the price it cost new.

But I suppose I shouldn't say that, as my face might not fit the profile, and might cause offence!

Oh and I suppose I could add a few smiley's now just to make the point that this is simply light harted banter, but unfortunately I don't suffer that particular side affect from HRT!!!!!