The funny thing about finding expensive things you like on sale is that you not only feel like a winner in life, for waiting until the item you liked is finally at a reasonable price to you, but you're also giddy with the fact that you have this item for a fraction of the cost as other full-priced people do. You're not like "those" people, who buy expensive dresses and thousand dollar handbags on a whim. No, it's a point of pride that you actually have bills, responsibilities, and are actually human and love clothes in a deeply personal way. So buying something expensive for cheap is a thrill that is really strangely satisfying to me. In a sense, by buying the pricey items I'm granted access in "their" exclusive club for a while, and I get to and live in my regular world, but with much more exciting clothes it seems. Clothes that I've Pinned and blogged about for months, waxing poetic about the charming design, or even downplaying the design in an effort to ease my mind off wanting it so badly.
I've wanted an Atlantique Ascoli babydoll dress for a long time now, but just could not bring myself to pay $700 for a what appeared to be an offensively simple design on the hanger. It never actually occurred to me to try on the damn dress and see how it actually fit my human body. Now that I own the dress and get to live in it and style it with other items I feel like I should have readjusted my obsession months ago. My strategy was all wrong! Instead of only hunting it down for a sale price and having that be the main factor behind my delight, I should be trying on more full priced things and mentally noting their size and fit for when they eventually do hit a sale rack.
Accumulating a quality closet filled with tried-and-true basics (read: doesn't have to be expensive), and outstanding designer pieces takes time. I know I've come to this conclusion many times before on this blog, but like all things, my lessons are cyclical. I get impatient and lose focus. Now I'm back. Ready to stalk. And wait.