What to tell your loved ones when you’re accused of shopping too much

Wardrobe > food and shelter

A lot of us have had this talk at some time or another. Your mother, your father. Your siblings, aunts, uncles, friends, colleagues and hell, probably your pet. 

“I just think you’re going a little overboard with this whole shopping thing.” 

Look, they’re probably right. To be honest you have spent the entirety of your pay for the past month on a new coat forcing you to a diet of 7-11 coffees and plain Cruskits. But you’d rather pluck your eyebrows to resemble Gwen Stefani à la ’99 than concede. 

So step one is to squint at them a little bit and tilt your head. The ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about’ stance is a good start. Sometimes they’ll back off from there and you’re in the clear. Other times you might get something along the lines of,

“Don’t make that face, you know exactly what I’m talking about.” Or perhaps “Do you have something in your eye? Are you listening to me?” 

So if the whole squinty thing doesn’t work, the next step is complete denial. 

Usually if you persist with the denial phase, your colleagues will back down. They’ll simply stop saying things when parcels arrive to your workplace. At least to your face. 

However it may not work on close family and friends. They’ll likely persist in making tssking noises and asking to see your credit card bill. Which brings us to step three. 

Tell them it’s what makes you happy.

We’ve all heard the saying ‘Money doesn’t buy happiness,’ but in a way, that statement is not entirely true. Don’t get me wrong. The search for eternal happiness does not end when those cute Prada sneakers arrive at your front door. It doesn’t even end when you take an overseas trip and just pop into Selfridges for a (very expensive) second. No. Everyone is always searching for happiness. But money buys you clothes, and clothes give you confidence.

Just think about it. Say you’re going to a party. All your girlfriends are in a group chat discussing what they’re wearing, or thinking of wearing but now don’t know because this bitch Sarah is going and she always dresses so hot and they don’t know if it will be dressy enough and… 

Never mind. 

Because you have it under control. “Stella McCartney shift dress with my vintage LV clutch and Senso heeled boots.” Send. 

“OMG cute !!!!!!!!!!”

“You’re gonna look so ducking hot x”

“Trust you to have it under control ”

And you do. You walk into that party with the self confidence that wins people the Miss Universe crown. Or the confidence (and this is much more helpful) to speak to that certain someone you’ve been interested in. Or perhaps the confidence to approach your boss to talk about a project you’ve been working on. Or maybe just the confidence to even turn up to the party instead of sitting home alone with a tub of wine ice cream (hell yeah that’s a thing now. Google it.) Who knows? 

The point is, if your shopping is making you feel more confident about who you are, you should do it.

P.S Please do not forgo food, water, or shelter because of this article. Thank you.