(This is what looking through aisles and aisles fof clothes feels like to me) I think it is important that I be clear about something if I'm going to delve into the world of fashion blogging:
I am a bad shopper.Now the phenomenom of bad shopping has nothing to do with taste, because, if it was not already evident from my prior two entries, taste is not something I lack (although certain young and in style stepsisters might disagree). It has to do with having the ability to scan a selection, pick out flattering, compatible pieces, while at the same time keeping prices and pulse rates low.
Now let me profile a typical store visit for me, a chronically ill fated shopper, and maybe you can learn from my mistakes:
1) After wandering in (a step that not uncommonly features me colliding into some kind of door, shelf, or fellow shopper) I find myself dazed, overwhelmed by all the choices, all the possibilities. And if it is a diamond in the rough kind of situation I find myself similarly overwhelmed by all the lack of choices. Now this is a rookie mistake.
Excellent shopping requires the kind of cool composure and clear-headedness that i've never been able to master, in or outside of a store.
2) After fumbling around with complete aimlesness for a brief time, I decide to pick out any piece that strikes me as at all intriguing, regardless of price or fit. These decisions, I decide, can all be made post dressing-room. Yet a good shopper knows that this strategy is setting yourself up for failure.
Why bog down your dressing room experience when choices can be eliminated before you even step in?3) Finally, after discouraging try-ons, I pick out the cheapest, least embarassing piece and, flustered, hand over my rumpled stack of rejects shamefully over to a storekeeper. I then pay quickly, without fully considering how the piece will fit into my disjointed wardrobe, and get the hell out, often repeating the fumbles of step #1. Any seasoned shopper can see the mistakes here.
You have to weigh cost and benefit. Sometimes it's ok to splurge on something if it has the looks of a staple, and only after complete confidence in a selection should any purchase be made.Now what do I get when it comes to translating that piece into my basic wardrobe? It's hit and miss. Sometimes, despite all the obstacles, I really did snag a good piece. Other times I am baffled by what was my judgment. So learn shoppers, learn. And maybe one day you and I alike will be shopping with skill among scores and scores of bioluminescent creatures. It's possible, right?
But while third street was fun for window shopping and starbucks, it was lesser known fourth street where I really hit my shopping stride. 
After having a delicious salsa and chip snack at the Border Grill, I hit my two favorite vintage shops in the area: Crossroads Trading Co. and Wasteland. Starting at Wasteland, a slightly snotty high end hipster vintage store that mixes new designer with used designer, I followed my own advice and began tackling the racks with a clear head and specific goals: to find an all purpose light sweater, some kind of bottoms, and heels if possible. Not only did I manage, but everything I picked up seemed to be miraculously color coordinated! My final purchases: a fitted grey Benetton cardigan, a grey and white plaid summer dress, and white heels - the heels pricing as the most expensive at $26! When I met my friends later in the new outfit they were instantly awed by how mature, put together, and (of course) fashionable I looked. Then at Crossroads, a more humble and color coordinated thrift store, I picked up my first pair of 7 jeans and super wearable, comfy, and surprisingly sleek baby phat (I know I know, but I swear they're not hoochie) mid length shorts with a slight gaucho flare. It was my most successful shopping trip in recent memory, and let's hope it wasn't just a fluke!
