Sales – Cartoon Illustrator
Christmas is over, the kids are back in school and it’s only now I have time to browse around the sales. But at this stage, I think “What’s the point?” Surely all the good stuff is gone? Although there might be a few bargains left.
Sales are great when you really need something. You’ve spotted that key item in the run-up to Christmas, the warm winter coat, household gadget or three piece suite. Common sense prevails and you’ll stall until sale time, ready to pounce when the shop doors open. Remember the days when people camped in the street outside stores like Cash’s in Cork (now Brown Thomas), to be first in line to nab a £1000 suite or exorbitantly expensive electrical appliance for the giveaway price of £1?
Without the drama of the overnight stake-out, a friend’s daughter similarly took the early-bird approach when she waited outside a department store for its 7.00am opening. Being first paid off as she had her pick of the business attire necessary for her new job, at a fraction of the original price.
But it’s not a bargain if you don’t need it. At least, that’s my opinion. Before going to New York some years ago, friends enquired “Are you going shopping? You must do the retail outlets and Century 21.” My budget was for sightseeing but nonetheless, I couldn’t resist visiting iconic stores like Bloomingdales and Macys. With my shopping-mad pals, we checked out the luxury store Bergdorf Goodman and ogled Prada, Jimmy Choos and Monolo Blahniks. We spied dresses and coats with jaw-dropping price tags exceeding $10,000. Further up 5th Avenue, we drooled over Tiffany’s glittering diamonds, no tags shown. As they say, “If you have to ask the price, you can’t afford it!”
Four old school-pals reunited in New York? Of course we succumbed to clothes shopping, trawling through the discount racks. But by the end of our trip we were ready to drop, moaning “I don’t care if I never see another clothes shop again!”
Sales are not for the faint hearted. Bear in mind the following: 1. Budget – have one and stick to it. 2. If in doubt, leave it out. If it doesn’t fit properly, forget it. 3. Don’t buy if you don’t need it. (But then, to blow that out of the water) 4. She who hesitates is lost. If you like something, grab it. Chances are you won’t be back and someone else will snatch it.
I don’t have any special events coming up this year, so no need to splash out on a new outfit. Still, it would be nice to find something. Provided I don’t leave it lie unworn in the back of the wardrobe, along with all the other impulse buys of Sales Past!
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Maeve O’Keeffe, the Frazzled Mammy! ©Maeve O’Keeffe 2015
Maeve O’Keeffe is a Cartoonist, Illustrator and Journalist in Cork, Ireland
Contact : e-mail [email protected] or tweet @frazzled_mammy