Understanding Shopping and Shoppers

Well this should be the favourite topic for a ‘shopoholic’ like me. That’s what my friends and family thinks I am. Well I enjoy shopping. And there is nothing wrong in feeling good; feeling happy.

When I was a little girl, my mom told me that I demanded something new to wear every day. Inability to provide a sparkling new dress would result in a whole lot of hue and cry that would bring the house down. So my mom found out an easy way to go about me. She learned stitching and went to tailors to pick up little pieces of fabric to stitch me a new dress everyday. She used to dress Daddy’s little girl everyday before dad came home from work with tiara, flowers and accessories. However, as I grew up and the little pieces would no longer suffice me, she got fed up of daily tantrums. Sure I no longer looked like a cute doll anymore. So that’s when I got introduced to shopping. However I realized very early that things come in two prices. The ‘me’ prices that got all shiny and bright stuffs that would not last more than a few weeks; and ‘mom’ prices that got boring and dull things that would last months. Yes being dependent on parents there is not much to do except to go for ‘mom’ prices. But when I passed through the streets and stopped by a window, I saw a different world. A dream where every thing was perfect. I saw that if you grew up and earned your own money, you could get whatever you wanted. Little did I know that soon I got possessed by an obsession. An obsession to identify every piece on someone’s body with a brand. Shirt – Raymonds, jeans – Levis, Belt – Hidesign, Shoes – Catwalk. Yes, for me, these brands are worth every penny. With a job and money in my pocket, the brands I dreamed of owning, were soon stacked in my wardrobe. But one dream gives rise to another BIGGER dream. So now I dream of GUCCI, PRADA, ARMANI, LOUIS VUITTON, JIMMY CHOO, VERSACE, and BURBERRY… ooh and lots more. And its not only clothes and accessories. I think I am as fussy about gadgets and pets as I am with clothes.

That’s just not me; there are hundreds and thousands of us out there. Can you catch us? Do we come easy? No. we are the well informed ones. We know what price will fetch us what status and what quality. With one glance we can tell you what brand you are wearing and with a touch we can tell you what’s the composition. We know the do’s and the don’ts.

And then there are my brother types. They will wear anything they can lay hands on or people gift them. For them, shopping is a chore. If they want a shirt, they pick up the 1st decent one which fits well. It’s quick and short; means boring. But these very people when asked to buy something they really really want... Will follow the same pattern. Ask my brother to buy a gadget, and he will go gaga over it. He would search for every detail, every model, brand and features available and pick the best piece which would be value for money. So you see these people are not excited about how they look but they are as excited and sensitive to what they want as the previous category.

Shopping comes naturally to everyone. It just depends on what you really like and what you really want. And off course, how you want it. Some enjoy mall hopping by walking through the long aisle of merchandise. While some cannot think of shopping without putting up a bargain while others are merely disgusted with the though of it. For some it’s a get away, and for many like me, it’s a Therapy. Some love it, some deny it. But the bottom line is you can’t escape it...

A few I have come across often complaint the brands to overcharge on merchandise. Well, Lemme tell you that the brand does not charge you just for the brand name. They charge for assurance. Assurance of quality, longevity and comfort. For example you wish to buy a pure cotton t-shirt for the summers. Most of the things you see which are ‘not branded’ or ‘counterfeits’ look good the first time you see it. Until you look closely or use it sometime and realize it’s not real as it claims itself to be. Its cotton blended with terylene or other synthetic fibres. Maybe longer lasting, shiny and low maintenance, but when summer comes you realize that it definitely lacks the pure comfort of pure cotton. What a brand does is that it tells you what it offers. Turn any branded t-shirt or shirt you own inside out. On the left you will find a tag that tells you not only the composition (e.g. 100% cotton; 90% cotton 10% spandex etc) but it also tells you how to handle it to ensure longevity, where it is made and maybe also the size you are. So with brands, you can trust what you are getting into.

So does that mean all that’s on the streets is bad? Hell NO. There are certain things that brands cannot offer. Like cheap and easy disposable accessories which grow out of fashion real fast. Authentic Lucknow Chikan kadhi kurta, Cashmere shawls, Benarasi sari. Are they anything that I claimed earlier non branded items to be earlier? No. and that’s because they are a brand in themselves. Yes they are not endorsed by sport stars and movie stars who come expensive. Yes they are not aired on television on prime hour’s everyday. And no they do not come with wash care labels. “Cost and worth are very different things”… from the movie ‘Confessions of a Shopoholic’.

Also I have come across those who blindly follow brands, just because they are ‘branded’. Please remember. Do not shop to show others, but to please yourself. You are not defined by clothes or labels or brands. Its YOU who define them!

Stores are put there to enjoy. So next time you go shopping, (branded or not doesn’t matters), observe the glitter around you, the sheer shine and smell of new merchandise and enjoy the moment.