The youngest asked every man and his dog for Rebel vouchers for her birthday – she accumulated quite an impressive haul. They were burning a huge hole in her pocket, so I was railroaded into visiting Westfield over the weekend to spend them.
What I didn’t quite realised was that our only objective was to buy black Nike sports leggings. Nothing else. Not T-shirts or netballs or hoodies or wetsuits or goggles or sneakers or mini table tennis sets or cossies.
Just leggings.
They couldn’t be the kids’ ones either, which were on sale and at least $30 a pair cheaper. Nooooooo. They weren’t the right material. They had to be the adult ones. They had to be solely black. They couldn’t Have patterns or coloured bits. They had to feature a little white Nike tick on them. They had to be shiny, but not too shiny. They had to “breathe” … whatever that means. I think it has something to do with mesh inserts, but there couldn’t be too much mesh. It had to be just the right amount of mesh.
It took more than an hour to satisfy all those requirements. I was very close to totally over looking at black leggings by that point.
She finally settled on the perfect pair … And then I saw the price tag … Prepare yourself … $110.
That’s right, $110 for a pair of black sports leggings.
She still had quite a few vouchers left to spend at Rebel after paying for the $110 leggings, so we drifted around the store rejecting everything until it became clear that the only other thing she really wanted was another pair of Nike sports leggings that looked pretty much the same as the other pair, except they had mesh inserts in different places and only cost $79.
I still think $79 is a bit steep for a pair of black leggings, but anyhoo …
I figure it’s her birthday money and if all she wants as a birthday present is two pairs of astronomically priced black leggings, then so be it.
They’re women’s size S, so hopefully they will last her a few years. She’s also very sporty, so hopefully they will get a fair workout over those years.
She was so delighted with the leggings, she wore them to her friends’ birthday sleepover on Saturday night, matched with a blue Adidas singlet purchased with previous Rebel birthday vouchers.
She looked pleased as punch with herself as she strode out of the car.
I am feeling a bit nervous about the teen years if it takes that much faffing to get a pair of black leggings.
Oh, and …
One. Hundred. And. Ten. Dollars.
Fark!
Song of the day: Belle Epoque “Black is black”
housegoeshome 
Obviously not the ‘2XU compression tights’ then… theyre over $200… amber wants them… she aint getting them… theyre meant ro help with recovery after exercise… i told her so does drinkng water…
Maybe all the relatives could chip in for her birthday
I was exactly the same as a teenager over some Dunlop Volleys with green and yellow stripes. Cast your mind back Alana. I bet you can remember something you obsessed over 🙂 My sons were worse than my daughter though. I went through a similar experience over a pair of skins which were to be worn UNDERNEATH basketball shorts.
I’ve never felt quite the same about my beloved Volleys since I discovered they were part of the prison uniform in Australia … That’s hilarious about your son being obsessed with something noone was going to even see
How have the companies so successfully brainwashed people, and even children, into being advertising billboards? And more to the point, to PAY to be advertising billboards? I’m with Megz. Drink water. From a tap. Let the corporations feel the pain.
She’s getting an awful lot of pleasure out of those leggings, so I’m not feeling too conflicted about it. The tick is very tiny …