Reality Check — René Vincit

Have you ever stood in front of a register after a small shopping spree only to ask yourself "WTF did I just do"?

In an earlier post, The Swipeless Year, I pretty much laid out how I almost let my shopping obsession ruin me financially. So I committed to one full year of no shopping. I did learn a great deal of myself during that year and how much more free time I had just not spending it in malls. If you are wondering, what about online shopping? How did you not get sucked into that? Well, the simple truth is I'm petite AF like Japanese male sizes petite lol! So shopping online usually ends in me returning everything like I did for this week when my bank account gave me a reality... "check" ...with no zero's to match lol

Sometimes I get caught up in the hype of an event and want to buy a new outfit. Forgetting about all the timeless pieces I already owned. Such was the case this week for me when I was preparing for DC fashion Week. I had envisioned two looks, the first would be modern and oversized, and for the second outfit I wanted an urban street look. So I set out and went from store to store, which is frustrating, because I usually go to the women's department first. ALWAYS getting looks from customers and staff members, which is what happened to me at ZARA. I came out of the women's fitting room and the "undercover" security guard standing outside watching me and the little queen manager clasping his microphone, stared me down, walking away briskly. I really just don't get it, it is 2017, they should be aware of the shift in shopping trends in young adults. For me if I look good in it... I WILL BUY IT! WEAR IT! ROCK IT!

So, after that unpleasant experience, I went to my go to store, Diesel! Where I always have a good shopping experience and their clothes feel very gender neutral. It wears so well with little effort, add a bit of creativity and BAM! You have a show stopper outfit. Which was my case, within one hour of walking in, I had picked out my outfits not bothering to look at the price tags. Which, in the past, I have never walked out feeling like I spent too much.....so I made my way to the register.

Then he rung up the total....LAAWWWWD have mercy my soul just cringed and shriveled up like a little Incan ready to hop in his basket and hide for the winter. It was literally only four articles of clothing but I had such a good experience shopping and interacting with the staff that I just couldn't bring myself to put anything back. So I justified my purchase and told my self "It's for DCFW and you never spend this much! so its cool, TREAT YOURSELF!" all in matter of seconds and went ahead and paid.

I came home pseudo happy, I felt as if the responsible me should be spending this money on a new house project. Then I had an idea! I knew I couldn't be the only person who has gone through this very exact experience of buyers regret. So i decided to recreate the two looks as best as I could and compare costs and write about.

So check out these pics and take a guess at how much each look cost....Some were thrift store and consignment shop finds!