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16 November 2006

Be my girlfriend... again. Need more best friend type advice on a fashion purchase question. (Guys, you can be my girlfriend, too.)→[More:]

Aargh. I just went back, and it's still there - a gorgeous, full-length, butter-soft leather women's coat... the perfect color, so beautiful. Used, not new - €120 ($154, £81).

Now, usually I don't even like leather coats, but this is something special. It's not perfect - it doesn't look brand new or anything (which, actually, is kind of nice) and it has a small discoloration on the back near the bottom - about a 1/4 inch spot that is sort of bleached a bit. If I were flush, I really wouldn't hesitate, because it's obviously a designer item, classic, and very well made, but I have no business spending €120 on what is basically a luxury (it's not even going to be that warm). But I just want it.

I haven't bought a new coat in over 10 years, and my two full length ones are now quite shabby... but I'm sure I could find a nice, new warm coat for half that price. I could get rid of my TypePad account which I basically never use any more, and that would just about even the difference. Of course, I should just get rid of it anyway, and not spend it on the coat. :)

So, what to do? Suck it up, be an adult, and don't buy what you can't afford? Or rationalize, rationalize, rationalize, and grab it?

post by: taz at: 07:50 | 33 comments

When was the last time you treated yourself to something nice?

posted by sciurus 16 November | 07:59

I haven't bought a new coat in over 10 years
To my mind, that means your €120 coat comes out at about €1 a month.

So I say - Buy it.
It's not like you're buying things all the time, and it's not like you're not going to use it.

Also, because it's a good quality item that you'll keep wearing, you'll probably spend less in the long term than you would with three or four lower quality coats.

*resists temptation to [more inside] the post*

posted by seanyboy 16 November | 07:59

I'm with seanyboy, unless you recently treated yourself to something cool. That way lies madness and an empty pocketbook.

posted by sciurus 16 November | 08:09

eeeeek! I just posted that, and ran out of the house to catch the greengrocers before they close - without even looking at it on the front page! Fixed now... whew!

Well, I'm not a big spender, so that's definitely not at issue, but I also have been bringing in very little income lately, so I don't feel great about that.

posted by taz 16 November | 08:13

Buy it! Imagine this: you don't buy it, you wish you did, then you see someone else wearing it, and she looks AWFUL in it!

posted by essexjan 16 November | 08:15

Run the idea by Mr. Taz to assuage your guilt and then go get it and strut around looking all posh and stuff.

posted by sciurus 16 November | 08:17

Well... the Mr. taz thing - he's obviously not going to say "no". I mean, he knows that I'm not self-indulgent (with money, at least), and he knows that I haven't bought a coat in all these years. But... well, he wouldn't buy a great coat at that price for himself, and he's the one who's bringing home the money.

I also just remembered that I need to get new contacts and glasses... plus the ophthalmologist. Bah. I need to be a grownup, I think.

posted by taz 16 November | 08:27

The other game I like to play is when confronted with a lavish thought like that, I take the price of the item and think of every possible other lavish item I could also spend the money on, and if my head still goes back to the coat (in your instance), then why not? But if you're in a splurging mode, think of EVERYTHING.

Go hog wild in your imagination, and if it keeps insisting on that coat, and you can swing it, why not?

posted by Lipstick Thespian 16 November | 08:33

Opticians be damned. Buy the coat.
Walk blinking into the fuzzy world and know that even though you cannot see other people, they can see you *and* you look fantastic.

posted by seanyboy 16 November | 08:35

heh.

posted by taz 16 November | 08:37

What seanyboy said, again. Or, if y'all celebrate Christmas, ask Mr. Taz to get it for ya.

posted by sciurus 16 November | 08:55

Seanyboy gets my vote for Best Commenter today.

posted by Lipstick Thespian 16 November | 09:00

Buy the coat. Don't fritter that money away on boring necessities! They will eventually get paid for, one way or another. . . but a coat like that doesn't come along every day.

posted by mygothlaundry 16 November | 09:25

The coat has a discoloration? Take it to the register and ask for a discount. Go home and celebrate all the money you've saved.

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 16 November | 09:28

Grab it. You can't take money with you, as they say.

posted by jonmc 16 November | 09:35

Buy it! Imagine this: you don't buy it, you wish you did, then you see someone else wearing it, and she looks AWFUL in it!
Ditto.

posted by getoffmylawn 16 November | 09:38

hee. It would look great on me. And if I saw someone else wearing it, I'd probably just have to kill her.

posted by taz 16 November | 09:46

Tee hee. In thrift shops I've sometimes basically stalked another customer who had grabbed something I wanted first, just waiting for her to put the item down. I still grind my teeth over one experience of a woman buying a vest I wanted. It didn't even meet in the front on her, though it would have fit me perfectly.

posted by Orange Swan 16 November | 09:54

And after killing her, coupled with that tanning and curing class you took,

You could have TWO leather coats.
*yay*

posted by seanyboy 16 November | 09:57

Ha! The plan, it is coming together!

And Orange Swan, you'll appreciate this - I haven't even tried the damned thing on... because so far, I haven't been in there when there aren't other shoppers, and I'm positive that anyone sees me trying it on, it'll push them over the edge to get it.

I even took my camera today to try it on and take a shot in the mirror so my internet friends could tell me whether I should buy it or not, but there were too many ravenous and determined-looking women stalking the aisles.

posted by taz 16 November | 10:00

...so that means you'll have to buy it and then take a picture (lots of them!) so your internet friends can tell you how hot you look in it!

posted by WolfDaddy 16 November | 10:06

I like to think of splurge-y purchases in a "how much per use" framework. Lets say you wear it every other day for six months out of the year. After only two years you are at about €0.88 per wear. After four years (and if it is a non-trendy design you will get easily get that much wear out of a nice leather coat) you're down to less than half a Euro every time you take it off the coat rack. That sounds pretty reasonable to me.

posted by Rock Steady 16 November | 10:12

Try it on and see if it fits over a sweater. If so, go for it!

posted by brujita 16 November | 11:33

TAKE THE BLOODY COAT! (And clean it off first.)

But take it. Because good coats that look awesome on you do not come along often. And think of the cool stories you can invent about who owned it last.

I keep forgetting to take pictures of the cool stuff I've found curb-surfing, including this awesome leather jacket I found once in someone's apartment building. But it's the best (and only) leather jacket I've ever owned.

You will kill yourself for not having treated yourself to this jacket.

posted by TrishaLynn 16 November | 12:03

Buy it.

posted by Doohickie 16 November | 13:31

Try it on. If it really is as fabulous on (or even mostly fabulous) as you think, BUY IT!

Hang your eyes, you deserve that coat!

And ask for a discount because of that spot like Teeps suggested, if you can.

Also: I would like to state for the record that I totally have a crush on seanyboy.

posted by Specklet 16 November | 13:56

You guys are swaying me towards it... I'm going to tomorrow with enough money to buy it, and if it's as fabulous on as it seems, I'll probably get it and save mr. taz the trouble of figuring out an xmas gift for me. :)

posted by taz 16 November | 14:10

A few years ago there was a green quilted coat on the rack at a thrift store. It looked fairly new and it was $20. I could've borrowed the money from my friend who was with me, but I decided to wait and come back on my afternoon break.

It was GONE when I arrived at 3.

I often dream about how my life would've been different with that coat. I see myself dating a supermodel and winning the Lotto, while wearing it.

Don't make the mistake I did.
BUY THE COAT!

posted by black8 16 November | 14:12

black8 - if I buy the coat and win the lottery as a result, it's a Greek-island-hopping holiday for all the metachat bunnies!

posted by taz 16 November | 14:15

I'm glad you decided to get it, taz. You, as you said, don't spend money on frivolous things (or even necessities - no new coat in 10 years?!). Plus, I think like seanyboy and Rock Steady do - over time it really won't cost you that much. And if it's a classic you'll wear it forever.

Man, I've had to do this with my mum. She agonized over a pair of short lace-up suede boots that were on sale. The pair was NINE FREAKIN' DOLLARS. It's many years later and she still wears them (and they look good!). BUY THE DAMNED COAT ALREADY!

posted by deborah 16 November | 15:50

What everyone here said. A classic, quality leather coat at that price--especially when you haven't bought a new coat in 10 years--is not an extravagance. If buying it as your xmas present assuages your guilt and helps financially, even better, but I say buy it either way. Also, post photos!!!

posted by elizard 16 November | 16:49

Honey, I just bought a classic sofa for our new home -- very cheaply, thanks to my work vintage connection, but still a significant expense when I've yet to find a reliable income stream. We've been living to the bone for so long, and I've never had a nice sofa (cats, bills -- the usual reasons). Something bad happens to your heart when you deny yourself always, unless you are a natural ascetic, which I know you are not. So march to the store, slap your money down, put on that butter-colored coat and prepare to fell the world as beautiful glamorous Taz. (If you still need to appease the practical bespectacled side of your nature, remind yourself it's a coat, not some piece of frippery. A well-made staple you'll have when you're a chic old lady.)

Butterfly kisses from your girl and friend.

posted by melissa may 16 November | 17:31

I need to be a grownup, I think.
God, that's the worst thing you can do. Being grown-up sucks.

Buy the coat, damn it!

posted by dg 16 November | 17:42

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