oops

Oh shit.

I bought eight pairs of shoes today.

But wait - I am going to try to justify this obviously ridiculous move.

Reasons why it's okay to buy eight pairs of shoes in one day:

- They were on sale.

Usually that's a fairly lame defense but Wittner had an 80% off sale today. My eight pairs of shoes came to a total of $1,219.60. I paid $243.80, meaning I saved $975.80 off retail price. I also didn't break rule number two - although this is exactly the kind of mad sale-spending I thought it would inspire.

- They're all classic, practical styles.

The style gurus at Who What Wear.com are continually stressing the importance of investment vs. seasonal pieces. Most of my shoes were black, of good quality and relatively classic design. (The chunky buckled heels - which will probably cause me to break my ankle the first time I get drunk while wearing them - are actually a seasonal piece. But hey, 7/8 isn't bad.)
Most of the shoes are suitable for the workplace, and will be needed for that miraculous day that I actually get a job. They were all practical purchases (again, I'm ignoring the buckles.) So there.

- I nearly bought at least two of them at full price.

There's fashion-lust and there's fashion-love. Lust is all in the heat of the moment. You see something in a shop and involuntarily reach for your credit card (or try to rattle off the numbers from memory, in my case.) Love, on the other hand, grows over time. You see it, you want it, but you don't take the plunge. It's fashion foreplay and the same kind of situation that happens when you lay-by: you want it all the more for having to wait for it, or thinking that it might have slipped away.
And they say romance is dead.

On the other, more logical side of the argument:

- It is ridiculous to buy eight pairs of shoes in one day.

Moderation is hardly my middle name, but it's profoundly excessive.

- I broke one of my rules.

I didn't spend a third of my pay this week. I spent everything I had left until Tuesday and then chipped into my savings.

Yuck. I am not good at this.

Anyway, I'll write that off as the last hurrah. At least I'll be elegantly shod when I'm trampling about as an op-shop bag-lady.