Shopping with the Big Girls

As you may well be aware, Italian women are known for their keen fashion sense. They brave the cobblestone streets of the centre in the highest of heels, and they flock to Via del Corso and the area of the Spanish Steps for all of the designer shops.

In Rome there are two times a year when shopping hits full throttle. Saldi time. Every January and July the stores go into overdrive with sales, and the women drag their husbands out to buy as much as their credit cards can take. The streets are packed with people browsing in shop windows, and the shops are packed with people looking for the best deals. It’s like the Olympics for any person who loves to shop, and truth be told, you’re always a winner.

My dear friend Juliana hails from New Jersey, just a 45 minute drive from Manhattan. The girl was either born with a shopping gene, or she has been raised to appreciate the finer things in life. Her closet is a veritable who’s who of the fashion world. Fendi shoes with matching bags, Burberry totes and scarves, Dior flats and Bvlgary sunglasses. The girl knows what she likes, and she isn’t afraid to charge it!

This weekend I got to see her action, and let me tell you, it was inspiring. I met her first at Burberry, where she had just dropped 365 euros on a bag to match the 280 euro shoes she bought a few days back. She was feeling good, and we headed to another shop called Furla. She bought another bag for about 50 euros, a big knockdown from it’s original price, so even if she never uses it the price was right. After a little spree of makeup shopping at Sephora she left 180 euros poorer.

All the while we were shopping, she was kept telling me about a great pair of sunglasses at Burberry on sale. She knew that I had been desiring a pair of designer sunglasses to call my own, and fighting the urge to buy the bootleg version on the side of the street. The reality is that I always feel a bit like a fraud in a designer store because I know I can’t afford anything. What’s the point of torturing yourself if you know you won’t buy? But with her by my side I felt a new confidence. Everything she was wearing was designer (while nothing I was wearing was), so she convinced me to at least go and try the glasses on.

Once inside the store I felt suddenly at ease. The crowds of people were left outside in the heat, while we browsed in the comfortable air-conditioning of the rich. She showed me the glasses and I tried them on without looking at the tag first (I decided if they were perfect I would get them no matter the price). They were quite nice, and when I looked at the tag I was shocked to see they were only 90 euros! What a steal! I thought for sure I’d be paying at least 150. I took them up the register with a great confidence. “That’s right people! Move out of my way, I’m buying Burberry sunglasses!”

The check-out experience was a comfortable one, with friendly smiling clerks helping me along. I was even more pleased to discover that at the register there was another discount and my designer glasses were only 60 euros! This was awesome! Not only have I evolved from the mobs of mongoloids that crowd the “little people” shops, but I was making it out of there for a lot less than I had thought. The clerks put my glasses into a beautiful case, then into a beautiful box, then into a beautiful bag tied with a ribbon. It was like I had just bought a diamond necklace or something!

Finally, I was finished and getting ready to walk down the streets of Rome with a new air of arrogance about me, when Jules stepped up behind me at the register. Turns out, while she was waiting for me she had found herself yet another bag! This one ended up being 230 euro, and she would have got the matching shoes as well but they didn’t have her size (I imagine she’ll be going back for them soon). When we finally did leave I didn’t feel as self-important as I thought I would. My little sunglasses bag, although beautiful and very special to me, just didn’t hold up against the five giant bags Juliana was carrying!

Baby steps, Allie, baby steps.