February 19th, 2020

More New Clothes?  What the actual Heck, Sam? You spendthrift!  Who do you think you are?  A Kardashian?

Nah.  Nothing like that at all.

Do you remember back a little more than a month ago?  I wrote a piece on my favourite clothing store, Beall's Outlet and how I found out that it was closing?  Yeah.  A sad, sad day.  If you recall, I took advantage of what I assumed to be my last day of shopping there and found a pair of white jeans and two really nice tops.  I was very pleased with my purchases but it was only because I thought for sure it would be the Very Last time I would shop there that I bothered to stand in that ridiculously long line.

And I was still certain it was my final shopping experience there as I finally walked up to the counter with my 3 items and my wallet in my hand.  I was absolutely positive while she was ringing it up and bagging my items.  I was totally convinced that I would never again cross that threshold until at the very end she handed me a $5 off coupon. Dang.

Now I realize that in today's world five bucks ain't much.   At least most of the time.   The only place you can go out to eat for $5 is a fast food restaurant and even then you are limited on your options.  I'm pretty sure a cup of coffee can still be had for a fiver in some places, but not in others!  And I know that a small Dairy Queen Blizzard will give me a little change for that money. But that's about it.

And honestly in most stores a five dollar off coupon wouldn't tempt me to purchase anything.  A pair of shoes that cost $100.00 with this coupon brings is down to $95.  That is not the difference for me between purchasing and not purchasing. The answer is still no.  If I get a $5 off coupon at Brighton and it's not a gift giving time of year (Christmas or certain people's birthday's) I give that coupon away.  I seriously do.  I don't want it to go to waste afterall and I know that I am sure as heck not  using it.

But for a $10.00 price tag?  If I really like that particular product, it's not even a question.  Yes yes yes.  And that's the kind of prices I"m talking about at this particular outlet store.  Affordable prices.  Lower prices.  Sam prices! 

So I was determined to not let this one go.  Yesterday I finally got around to going back there.

Wow.  I was surprised (though I shouldn't have been) and how little was left.  And what remained was crammed onto as few racks as possible.  Huge areas of the store were completely empty.  Kind of creepy actually.

But I perused.  I considered.  I took my time and, one item at a time, slid those hangers from right to left, seeking, well nothing in particular but whatever struck my fancy.  

I suppose in the back of my mind I am always thinking white blouse.  I am of the considered opinion that one can never have too many white tops or black shoes.  At this particular moment, including tee-shirts, I own 14 different white tops.  Wow!  (I just went in and counted them)  Each one is completely different from the others.  Some are long sleeved, some short sleeved and some sleeveless.  Some of them are very pain and simple other's rather fancy schmancy and some fall right in the middle.  Some of them are for wearing in cooler weather, some in the sweat of summer and other's any time I like.  Some have button, some have lace, some have ruffles but all of them are white.  Can never have enough of those.  

Apparently a lot of people agree with me because I didn't find any white tops.  So I looked instead of my fall back colour of blue.  Didn't find any great blue tops that I liked or looked great on me either. So I moved on to shorts. That's where I found the above blue shorts.

I wasn't specifically seeking blue shorts.  I was just looking at any shorts in my size.  I find that the colour of a pair of shorts or trousers doesn't matter nearly as much as the colour of a top piece.  Any old colour will do.  It's all about fit.  

Picking's were slim, my friends.  There were fewer bottom pieces than anything else.  And in my size, which must be the most common of all sizes, there was almost nothing.  And I was ready to give my coupon to the next person I saw and leave when I noticed this pair of shorts that had fallen off the hangar onto the floor.  I picked them up, only to put them back on a hangar (I do that sort of thing in clothing stores all the time not just in that store).  Lo and behold, they were my size!  

So I tried them on.  Loose, comfy, cotton with roll up legs...perfect for a comfy cozy relaxed sort of day. AND any beach day.   The orange shirt?  Well that was a surprise too.  As I was walking to the register with the blue shorts, I was thinking about what else I own  that would go with it.  Any of the white shirts, obviously.  But what else?  Hmmmm.  (I like having choices)  and I walked past this one of the staff who had just returned this shirt to the racks. Orange and blue.  That's different.  Maybe?  Yup...I liked that.  Maybe not every time but some of the time.

The oddest part, to me, is that generally speaking, I don't like tee shirts that have pictures or words on them. But this one doesn't seem to bother me.  Or at least it didn't yesterday.  The picture kind of suits the attitude of the shorts.  And most importantly, can be worn with other things if I so choose.

So there I was, new shorts, new shirt ready to check out when this little black shirt peeped out at me. I stopped, I considered. I added it to my collection without another thought and without even trying it on. I already just knew.  Because I had tried it on at my previous visit and loved it but you know, sometimes you make choices.  At that other visit,  I liked a different shirt just a teensy bit more and I had a limit in my head of how much money I felt comfortable spending.  And this top didn't make the cut.  That time.  This time it did.

So it turned out that not only is it an outlet store so the prices are already great.  But I had the $5 off coupon. AND since the store is closing there was a big something percent off everything in the store sale going on on top of that!  So I did very well.

And that's it.  The store closes it's doors next week so this was my final visit.  And it was a good one. I have no regrets.

Well other than that the store is closing. I am sad about that.   But woohoo new clothes.  And new clothes are always fun :)