Friday, June 24, 2011

Shopping resolutions for the second half of 2011

Yes, I am doing my list of resolutions this late, as I didn't know what I wanted this year in January, and right now, I think I need to write these self-made promises down so that I can keep them. Also, they will act as a memo for me, if I have any urge to break them.

- Shoes: I've had a change of mind after buying my first pair of Chloe shoes. Truthfully, I was a little disappointed when opening the package and seeing the flats the first time. The material is suede, not grain leather that I'd seen in the store. Even when I read the details on the site, it didn't state suede, just leather, though the photos indicated differently. Guess I need to trust my eyes more in the future. And the fitting is a tad tight, but that is the risk I was willing to take. Then, that disaster with the re-heeling and re-soling. I am now very conflicting. Half of me wants to run to YSL and buy that pair of Love flats. Another half doesn't want to buy any more shoes, except those Ferragamo jelly flats for Pre-Fall 2011.

And guess what? I've decided not to buy shoes until my next travel, except for that pair of Ferragamore jelly flats and another pair of Ferragamo Spiffy flats. That makes 2 pairs of flats within 6 months, which is reasonable and practical. And from now on, I think I will buy my other shoes overseas. The reasons are plenty. First, the next pair I want to own, quite desperately, is from Chanel and Ferragamo (I mean their leather shoes). And the prices of these two brands are marked up heavily in Singapore. I feel so cheated to buy anything from them here (again, jelly flats are the exceptions, I have no other choices). And when they are having sale, like now, there are nothing left in my size. Trust me, I tried to go on the first day of sale, and there were nothing left, unless you have giant feet.

So overseas is the solution. When you travel, you feel less guilty to shop. Just think that you might not have a second chance to buy them, it will help you to hand over your card/cash. I made that mistake, not buying a pair of Chanel shoes and I regret it everyday. So next time, I will just close my eyes and pay for it. After all, prices never go down, they just go up every year. And the brands to focus on are Chanel, Lanvin, Ferragamo and Louboutin.

One big note to myself: No re-heeling and re-soling in Singapore for flats. Even if it means the life spans of my shoes are shorter, but at least I feel happy when wearing them.

- Jewelry: No buying online, unless it is a designer brand, i.e. YSL and Chanel. Chanel means its vintage earrings, brooches and necklaces. But I might want to wait until I go back to Manhattan to shop in those fabulous consignment stores. YSL means its in-store costume jewelry. I'm still in love with its arty rings. Such a statement piece.

Anyway, back to the reason why I won't buy jewelry online, it is because I was badly burnt by an experience with Amrita Singh jewelry. The photos on the site were deceiving. Except for its jewelry box, which is pretty, the two rings I bought were such a let-down. Even though I knew that they were made in China, I thought the quality should be above average as they were charged with such high price for gold-plated material and semi-precious stones (US$100 for a ring before sale isn't cheap). When I saw the rings, I was shocked due to the cheap-looking metal. Gold-plated, my ass! And the craftsmanship was poor, really poor. On the way back home, I had half a mind to throw them into the bin. Yep, they were that bad! So yeah, no more online "unknown jewelry" shopping!

So what will I do about jewelry? Hand-made and order-to-make. I've just realized that Thailand is a heaven for gorgeous hand-made jewelry and I will wait for those Thai fairs/festivals to buy those. Or I can travel to Bangkok and bankrupt myself with those beautifully-made rings, earrings, necklaces, etc. For order-to-make, I have my trusted friend and our favourite shop back in Vietnam, I just need to find the designs and send them to her. She will choose the stones, adjust the designs to match with those stones and have them made. When I go back to Vietnam, she will give them to me. The cost will be definitely much cheaper than those badly-made Amrita Singh rings.

- Clothes: Massimo Dutti and Zara are the shops to go. For dresses, DvF is still my trusted brand whenever one in my size is available on sale on Shopbop (the cheapest on the net and no shipping charge). And I will definitely stock plenty of them the next time I go to New York.

- Skincare: No more buying until I finish two third of what I have in stock. No more space to store. This means no shopping/shipping the next three months.

- Cosmetics: Except for sunblocks, facial mist and liquid foundation, no purchase is needed until 3 months later.

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"Wish you can forgive your yesterdays. Wish you can love your tomorrows"