Save. Spend. Splurge.

Afternoon of Shopping with Sherry – Volume II

Another mini instalment of shopping with me..

I wanted to put it in my Week of Money posts but it gets too long because I have too many pictures and talk too much, plus this stuff gets posted on Instagram but blog readers without IG should have a bit of a sneak peek once in a while!!

I started off at (where else) Anthropologie because they seem to be the only store that has any sort of interesting pieces on occasion, even if I think the quality is mostly crap for the prices they’re asking.

Only their stuff on SALE becomes reasonably priced for the quality being offered, and yet, some of my favourite pieces in my wardrobe are Anthro ones!!!

Right off the bat, this coat caught my eye:

I am a SUCKER for cuff details and belted looks because it is so trench-coaty and so GOOD. I love the look of it, rather than it being plain and boring.

The coat is not sold online, but I did also see this Dolores coat in person by Mara Hoffman (don’t look at the price tag too long though), and loved the elegant, clean, ivory lines of it..

Then I saw a HUGE RACK of leggings.

Now.

I am NOT a leggings person. I wear lounge leggings at home, and to yoga but to this day, have never bought or worn a pair of leggings outside of the house because I find they look very transparent, it is a bit vulgar with the way it is so tight in front *ahem* and they just did not look like actual pants to me.

Until I tried on the Spanx pairs…… which are surprisingly thick, with an interesting woven ponte knit that isn’t thin and see-through, nor obscene, and were high-rise.

Before I got into the room though, there was no one around but as I was waiting I saw this:

Obviously this was a challenge.

I had to eat as many brownies as possible because they were there ASKING ME TO EAT THEM. How could I not?

Perhaps they were there for the poor spouses/boyfriends/tag-a-longs dragged into Anthropologie to shop, and this was sugar to placate them so they wouldn’t pass out in a stupor and/or riot…

In any case, challenge ACCEPTED:

First up: Camo ones that were $78 (ouch) and I am sort of regretting I did not buy:

I mean, I WANTED to buy them, but $78 for a pair of LEGGINGS that I can’t really feel like I can wear outside of the home without a longer tunic top or sweater of which I own very little of? …. I was racking my brain with ways to wear this — a black top, a white top, a grey top.. and then came up short with other ideas.

I guess I could wear it under dresses and use the dress as like an open long coat thing, but I don’t really have any dresses that fit that bill either.

SO.

Logically and rationally, I put it back on the shelf, and mentally patted myself for saving $78 on something that is just at trendy item. But even now, secretly at the back of my mind, I want them, but only if they were $20 or something. I can’t spend close to $100 on a trendy piece even though I am secretly plotting to go back to the store to pay them a visit again…… (I’m terrible.)

Second: The much lauded over Spanx FAUX leather leggings people were raving about online….(and by people I mean bloggers and people who probably got them for free….)

They look NOTHING like leather. They look like a very shiny spandex, the kind that people in the 80s wore to work out in bright neon colours.

They also felt cheap, not thick at all, not comfortable, and just looked so weird. They were probably the worst imitation leather leggings I had worn or seen in a long time.

If you want better faux vegan leggings, try the Daria leggings at Aritzia because they look and feel like real leather (almost, not quite), and are also high-rise.

Alas, I own a pair of secondhand The Row leather leggings I bought off eBay for $200 USD or else I’d look into buying some Daria’s myself.

You can read the review I did of the BR Devon leather leggings versus The Row moto ones:

https://www.savespendsplurge.com/style-shopper-banana-republic-devon-leather-stretch-fit-leggings-versus-the-row-stretch-leather-leggings/

What I ended up buying was one pair of fleece leggings for only $40 from Hansel from Basel that are RIDICULOUSLY luxurious!

I have not decided if they will go outside or just stay inside as fleece leggings to wear at home, but man they are SOFT, PLUSH and very very comfortable.

I took the S/M size in grey..

https://shopstyle.it/l/WELN

And I also picked up the Spanx leggings in black because they are far more practical in black, than camo, and I like the woven pattern on them that makes them look more pants-y and less like yoga leggings… I am trying them out today in a look as you can see:

https://shopstyle.it/l/WEMF

I went to the counter and got sidetracked by this shiny coin necklace

https://shopstyle.it/l/WEKb

I really do want a coin necklace. But this one looks like shiny cheap metal. I want something that looks like actual Roman gold….

And of course, as I leave:

Little Bun would love this deer and want to pet it.

https://shopstyle.it/l/WENa

I have a Parker leather jacket that is knitted at the back, and I love this leather + knitted look!  I couldn’t find the link online but this one is closet to the one I am showing above but it is knitted with a pattern in front …

Retro and yet so elegant and chic… and cool and modern.. I love the skirt. I really do. I love the whole look but it isn’t ME, that I know, I just LOVE it.

I then went into a home decor store, and was entranced by this candle:

….. and then…

NINETY-ONE DOLLARS!?!?!? Okay. Wow. I was expecting maybe $50, but I guess it is covered in real birchbark wood, and there is a complicated sort of waving effect of the ‘flame’ coupled with a light.. plus it is safer to have in the house with children or pets, and you could actually stack them in your faux fireplace in rows and have it be a very cool effect…

Of course, you’d need something like at least 10 of these candles, and at $100 each, you’re looking at a $1000 or more setup for this lovely, supersafe electric-y fireplace candle scene I am envisioning..

Ouch.

This is why I don’t do home decor but can admire it in stores.

You are looking at about a $700 setup right there just in front because all those candles are ELECTRIC and I picked up the small one to check the price at $91!!!!

Ahem.

I turn a corner, and then see this:

SERIOUSLY.

Who sews on FAUX FURRY MOUSE-LIKE SHAPES on a blanket and calls it cute!?!? *shudder*

I really liked this chandelier. I would not have it in my home because it is too spiky and yet I liked it a lot. I’m very strange.

I dropped by a bistro I have been dying to try their beef tartare for a while, and ordered this spread:

I actually didn’t check the prices. I sort of assumed she would bring the LUNCH version of it which was about $17 not the DINNER one at $38, and when I got the bill, I internally gulped in shock.

$5 for the hot chocolate, and $38 for THAT. A SMALL SALAD AND SOME RAW BEEF. WTF.

PLUS TAXES

PLUS TIP.

I paid and left quietly, vowing to never ever come back here again.

I dropped by Zara, grabbed an ARMFUL of items but their dressing rooms suck for taking selfies comfortably to really review and post the items, but when I picked up this shirt, I loved the fabric (like a light, woven Turkish cotton), and LOVED the collared lapel in front in contrasting mini stripes.

They only had ONE small left, and the medium would have been too big on me, plus this particular colour (dark navy and white) was almost completely gone.

For about $40, it felt and looked far more expensive than it was, I could see this being a designer piece for $300 – $400, and when I tried it on, I loved it immediately.

SOLD.

…and then I went home. I was going to go to Bulk Barn and buy treats for the office but got lazy when I saw the traffic…

Some other random IG posts I thought were cute enough to re-share on here:

No really…. a LONG Chanel baguette? Can’t even hold anything BUT a baguette in this purse!

And I didn’t realize this until later but if you have crusted mineral deposits on your pots and pans, do this vinegar trick..

Then I went on a mini minimalism rant:

I hate it when minimalists think there should be NOTHING OUT AT ALL and anyone who has stuff on a counter is not a minimalist, bla bla bla.

It isn’t realistic.

It isn’t practical. It isn’t something people can achieve, and we are pretty darn minimalist but where the hell do you put your fruit for instance? Inside a cupboard!?

Not everyone has that kind of luxurious space to hide fruit inside a cupboard.

Besides, if you hide fruit in a cupboard you will not see it and are not likely to eat it because you don’t see it, amirite!?

Then this made me giggle:

And I face palmed at this:

THE END!

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