Not the way to handle it

I have been shopping my feelings. I’ve had a lot of feelings over the past week and I’ve shopped them so much that I am slightly ashamed.

Oooh, there’s another feeling … but I must resist shopping it.

The upside is that “gifts” keep arriving on my doorstep, which puts a little spring in my step every time the buzzer rings.

I bought this whole outfit from Zara …

Unsurprisingly, the ensemble looks very different on a short, overweight 58-year-old compared to a tall, lithe 20-year-old.

The youngest even admired the pants when I sent the pic to her … but then she IS a tall, lithe 20-year-old.

The pants are a teensy bit tight because my size wasn’t available, but they are GORGEOUS. So gorgeous that I may try and lose a few kilos to make them more comfortable so I can wear them joyfully and often.

Actually, I’ve just realised the fake leather jacket I bought is slightly different to the one in the pic, so now I have jacket envy. Maybe I should have bought that one instead?

Although, I did spot an Icelandic travel influencer wearing my jacket in a video the other day, which made me feel cool-ish.

I am hoping that I stopped trying to buy happiness last night. I got a couple of long sleeved tops to go with a fabulous pair of pants I bought from COS that don’t go with a single thing in my wardrobe.

I am not kidding, I literally tried on everything in my wardrobe yesterday morning and nothing worked. It all piled up on my bed as it was discarded and I spent ages last night restoring order.

I’ve bought it all online because I don’t have the time or energy to go to the shops. And that’s how I discovered COS is actually owned by H&M, when I was looking at the fine print on the website.

This surprised me slightly, because I’m not an H&M fan in later life, it’s not my style.

But COS is like H&M’s older – and more expensive – sister. There’s a store in Martin Place and every now and again I get the chance to twirl through it, stroking all the beautiful things.

I did not need any of the things that I bought this week but that did not stop me. I am a bit cross with myself for being so reckless, but also very excited about wearing it all.

I love, love, love clothes.

I think I’ve mentioned before that they are my weakness and have been ever since I was a teenager obsessed with two labels called Time and Ojay.

When I was working as a cadet journalist at the Newcastle Herald, I convinced the owner of my favourite boutique that stocked the labels to take me on a buying trip to Sydney. I was beside myself to get a sneak peak at the next season’s collections.

I have no idea how I convinced my boss it was a great story idea, but I’m pretty sure the trip made it into print.

Getting a job as a feature writer at Studio Magazine in my early 20s was another buzz. It was my favourite fashion mag and it felt like a dream come true … until I got retrenched … during the Recession.

In my 20s and 30s, going shopping in the United States was my idea of holiday heaven. I would scour all the Marc by Marc Jacobs sale racks, then hit Banana Republic, GAP, Abercrombie & Fitch, J Crew and Lucky Brand. Bliss.

And the outlet malls, oh how I loved them before the tangerine tyrant ruined America for me.

I’m far from the most fashionable person you’ll ever meet and I’m definitely not into design gear or flashy price tags, but I know when styles aren’t quite right anymore, what goes together and what doesn’t.

I don’t own a hair dryer, I never get my fingernails done, I recoil at the price of leather handbags, my undies are decrepit, my make-up is sourced from Woolies … but I love nailing an outfit.

It disappoints me that my body is letting the outfits down, but it hasn’t dampened my enthusiasm for shopping.

Very shallow of me. I know.

Hmmmmm, what shall I wear today?

The main pic for the blog post is from The Devil Wears Prada 2 – it’s fun, have you seen it?

Song of the day: David Bowie “Fashion”