Retail Shopping

Today I had to drop Geoffrey off at the airport and since I was on that side of town, I decided to stop at the Apple Store to have my iPhone looked at. Anywho, it's in a big mall, and there are these little bike shorts that I spied on F21's website (great for going under skirts).

Today was kind of crappy-rainy and Easton is an outdoor mall. So I walked to F21 which is newly remodeled and too big for its own good. I spent a good ten minutes looking for a section that resembled their "active wear" or "basics." Here and there I spotted cute things and checked the price tags. I started asking myself, is it silly when $10.50 seems like a high price for something? I thought about this on my drive home and realized how much I dislike retail shopping as a whole.

I guess it has its time and place (like when I couldn't find a good bowler anywhere and ended up picking one up from Aldo while I was browsing for oxfords). I work in retail so I suppose I also see the fast cycle of marking up and marking down. Plus, do any of us really believe that these items will someday become vintage? Perhaps the higher labels, but F21 and the like only last a few washes before they're pilled and their seams are weak.

So is $10-$20 too much for a dress at a mall store? To me, yes. Sure, it's a quick fix if you need something right this second and don't want to search, but in the long run, you're not getting a good product for your buck.

I ended up finding my bike shorts (not in black, though) in grey and white. They were under $4 each, and something that I have a hard time finding, so I bought them. I actually felt wasteful about carrying the F21 bag to my car, so I put it in my purse after checking out. After the mall, I did some thrift therapy and bought myself three skirts and two belts for under ten dollars. That's a deal to me. All vintage and all unique. I'd rather spend my time looking for treasures than settling for something less!

Does anyone else do this? Are there any retail locations that you frequent and feel there's a good balance between quality and price?