We're talking big.
As in the decision I make regarding this problem could potentially change the outcome of my whole life.
Oh what I wouldn't give for a sarcasm font.
In the grand scheme of things, what I'm facing is miniscule, but isn't it so strange how the very smallest of things somehow grow into monsters in our lives?
Maybe that is just me.
Anyway. My problem.
My problem is that I am this close to swearing off Target.
I know. I KNOW!
Not Target entirely, just their clothing section.
I have been avoiding the final shutting of my heart-doors toward the colorful and affordable mama-meca, but this morning just might have thrown the last straw on this camel's back.
Most of my wardrobe comes from Target. EVERYTHING that I have purchased since starting my new life as a foster mom has come from Target.
Why?
Well, the major factor is that if I want to shop at a real clothing store it requires weeks of planning and arranging to find a time to go (no sarcasm font needed here). It is much more convenient for me to take a scan of the selection on the first trip to Target in a week, notice what I like, and then quickly grab what I'm interested in on the second trip of the week and try it on.
It breaks the shopping process into two parts, making it manageable with kids in tow, which they almost always are.
The second reason is that with $17 for a cardigan (I confess a deep and librarian-like love of cardigans) I get instant gratification. I don't have to save up for what I want. $20 here or there doesn't seem like a big deal, whereas if I journey to the Loft (see... I should have been a librarian) or Macy's or some darling boutique, I have to go prepared with the reality that a single twenty isn't going to get me ANYTHING and that my stack of twenties is going to get me very little.
But here is the problem. Over the last few months I have purchased a few items from my standby, Target: two dresses, one pair of shorts, a workout top and a few clearance tank tops.
Within the first wash both dresses AND the workout top were destroyed. Gentle cycle, hang dry... the dresses both looked like they disintegrated in water and the sports top lost the entire seam along the bottom.
I exchanged the dresses and brought home new ones that have fared a little better.
But today I was ironing my shorts and realized that again something that I had recently purchased, and taken extra care with, had fallen apart.
Argh!
I'm mad.
The reality is, if I have to replace items every month, I'm not saving time OR money.
Target is the only place I know of that sells the perfect shade of green (bright but not too limey) so I may have to deal with a change in my expectation of color-selections... but friends, I think I'm over the concentric red circles for my clothing.
Am I being too dramatic?
Too harsh?
Expecting too much?
Please talk me off this ledge if I'm out of line because if you don't, this long-time relationship is over!
2 comments:
I say let it go! Save those twenties you would spend on "passable" cardigans and buy one fabulous thing instead. I, too, have handfuls of target "finds" that I picked up when shopping for something else. But you know what? I feel great the first 1-2 times I wear them (the allure of something new), but after that, I always know that "it's just from target" and those clothes do nothing for my mental state. On the other hand, I have a LOFT shirt that seemed too expensive at the time... I feel great every time I wear it, and it's still going strong after 3 years of weekly wear. (Consequently, I also now have multiple Loft shirts and cardigans, am slowly weeding out the Target stuff, and lamenting that they just closed our Loft store. Boo.)
I agree with Alissa. It's quality, not quantity. I love Target as much as the next person, but when it comes to wardrobe Target falls short for me. I'd much rather spend a few extra dollars on a quality piece than get a bargain for something and only wear it a few times before it falls apart.
Hopefully you solve your conundrum! Miss you <3
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