Retail Therapy Take 2

OK, you men may be bored silly by this post, although I tried to make it entertaining, but the girls should definitely read on.

I didn't have an easy week, battling headaches and migraines almost every day.  But today I felt pretty good, and wanted to do something after work.  The sun was shining at lunch, and I was planning to go walking in Schönbrunn castle park. Unfortunately, by the time I got home, it was pouring rain. :-(
So I decided to try retail therapy again.

You'll remember the first try was a flashback to the eighties.  Rough start: as I walked into a kind of designer department store, I was faced with a display of hosiery straight from 1985.  (see picture, including leggings and lace ankle socks!)   But then things started looking up.  I wandered into the handbag section, and promptly fell in love with a flamingo pink Hugo Boss purse... with the heavy price tag of 349.- EUR.  Ouch!  Like a moth to a flame, I returned to it twice, but I wisely decided not to blow my whole budget on a single item.  To avoid temptation, I finally left the accessories floor entirely. 

Next, I went to the "trendy designer" floor, and was once again flabbergasted by what is considered fashion here.  Again with the ruffles, oversize, see-through, garish colour, etc. Yuck! But hunting around a bit, I found a corner of the floor with a better selection.  Result: I now own a lovely grey summer-weight designer jacket by drykorn.

Leaving the pricey trendy floor, I completely ignored the "designer" floor. This one boasts personal shopping "assistants" and carries exclusive clothing: a single item can cost the same as my rent! I went to the "regular" fashion floor instead.   At first glance, I felt like I was in the other fashion extreme, a world of drab colours and unflattering styles. (see picture)   So I was very glad to turn a corner and find MEXX (love that brand) and a couple of others in the same vein.  I picked up a a fashion top in tangerine, and a simple but well-cut cotton blouse.  Then I was kicked out of the store because they were closing - it was 8 PM, which is actually late for a Friday!

On the way home, I saw that the flagship Swarovski store was open until 9 PM.  By the way, did you know Swarovski is Austrian crystal?  There is even a theme park of sorts called Crystal Worlds in the western part of Austria.  Anyways, I took my time touring the store.  It covers 3 floors and includes a Moet et Chandon champagne bar.  I wandered around the loose crystal and chandelier designing floor and the figurine floor, seeing nice things but having no impulse to buy.  And then it happened: I went up to the jewelry floor, and my X chromosomes did a happy dance.  I thought I was not super girly, and definitely disliked bling.  Turns out  that's not quite true: I really, really love bling in the form of understated Austrian crystal.  I think I even squealed a little bit at one point.  I semi-broke down and asked to try on a gorgeous choker-style necklace in ruby-coloured and white crystals.  But it was too big and could not be altered to fit (I did ask), which was fortunate for me because the price was similar to that of the Hugo bag.  Phew, close call!  Overall, I saw items ranging from little crystal stud earrings for 10.- EUR to a foot-long Chinese dragon completely covered in tiny crystals with a price tag of 15,000.- EUR.  Needless to say, Mr. Dragon stayed in the store, but being in complete girl mode, I was unable to leave the store without getting something. After many rounds of the floor, I ended up purchasing a small multi-coloured flower pendant on a little chain... And I now have a list of a dozen other things I want. 

And darn it, I live 2 blocks away, and I can see the store every day on my walk home from the metro!