shopping and a beloved tradition

I'm kind of a moody clothes shopper. It takes time and patience, and I'm usually running low on both of those resources. I'm either feeling it, or I'm not.

I also usually prefer to shop solo, but Nikol and I do have a little tradition which I have grown to love. She is a solid shopping date.

We ventured out tonight for our annual Dansko Expedition. She actually needed a new pair; I did not. She bought a pair; I did not (please, hold the applause).

(Had this red leather pair been there, however ...

... I confess I might have been more tempted. She is so pretty.)

To honor tradition, though, I did snatch up these cute boots (something is better than nothing, folks) ...

... in a sort of gray-ish, pewter color. They are short, you see, thus avoiding the fatted calf dilemma. You can bet I will take advantage of a season where low boots are the trend.

We also ventured into some other favorite shops, and giggled our way through a few fun purchases. Is there really any better way to approach shopping?

There's this one store, where basic t-shirts sell for over $100 (?!) -- to be clear, not one of the aforementioned "favorites" that we patronized. We dreamed of perusing the inventory there, and casually asking the clerk, Excuse me, ma'am?  Is this price listed in pesos?

I wish I had the guts to really do that. I think I would laugh about that for months.

In another store where we were both trying on clothes (namely in my case, one of those tops that looked great on the rack and not-so-great on), I asked Nikol through the wall, Have you ever been totally humiliated for even trying something on?

And in yet another fitting room, I audibly spoke to no one in particular, This is awful.

Out loud, I rebuked today's fashion trends. Someone tell me I'm not the only one.

Nikol and I agree it's good to try on things that stretch us a little bit. That's the No Guts, No Glory philosophy. We also agree that sometimes those items would have been better left on the rack. That's the Know Your Role philosophy.

Finding the balance is key to a) maintaining sanity while shopping, and more importantly, b) sparing your close friends from having to say to your face, Do not do that again.

What are your shopping philosophies? Or horror stories? How do you make shopping bearable?