Limitations

(Warning. Rude language at the end…)

I stopped off at my mother’s favorite store this week to see what a “new’ color looked like in person for one of my clients. (Now, I realize there are not really any new colors in the world. There are new pigments, new dye processes, new finishes, that can make colors look “new.”) For my intents and purposes, this new color was new for the season, and between monitor variations, and photographic tweaking to make everything look great, you never know what a color you see on-line will look like IRL. Whilst there, I saw that all of their spring, and much of their early summer merchandise, had been moved onto the sale racks in the back of the store, and boy(!), were they full!

When I saw the sale racks, newly stocked, I knew it was time for a shopping trip with Mama. It was time to refresh some of my mother’s tops and she was also hoping for a new pair of trousers as well, and maybe some jeans. Priority one was some new tops for the summer; Mama only wears knit tops. They are more comfortable on her fragile skin, and more forgiving of her distorted spine. My mother is a sale shopper. She does not like to pay full price for herself, even though her finances can very comfortably handle it. Full price items garner an “I’ll think about it” from her, and she never does.

Off we drove this morning. “Her” parking space was there, right at the front of the store, and we stopped for a moment to admire the windows. My mother is a city girl, who worked on Wall Street before marrying my father and moving to the wilds of the Midwest. When we traveled back East to visit family, I remember riding into the city with her on the train, and going window shopping. Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s, Lord and Taylor, Tiffany’s, Bonwit Teller… Beautiful window displays are not only good advertising, but a treat to the eye, and a lovely change of scenery on the streets.

After perusing the windows and peeking at the new merchandise at the front of the store, Mama and I headed back to the sale racks. The merchandise was marked down, and there was an extra 30% off the markdowns, plus another 10% off for cardholders. This is the kind of shopping that makes my mother’s heart sing! We found a bit of everything to try on, including some jeans that fit her beautifully. I headed out to look for another color in a top and asked her to try on the jeans again, herself, but the button and zipper were just too much for her twisted hands. She wanted the jeans; they looked great on her. They made her feel younger, and just a little hip and stylish. She liked them so much she was ready to pay full price for them, but she couldn’t get them on by herself. They weren’t too tight; my mother is sparrow-sized. They just were not arthritis friendly. So, we left them behind.

In the end, she went home with a cute new pair of trousers, four tops, and a lightweight sweater (all marked down!) which will be fantastic for going out to dinner, since restaurants in our neck of the woods generally keep their air conditioning somewhere near Arctic. And I will continue to search for a pair of jeans for my mother. Because she deserves a cute pair of jeans that she can get on by herself, dammit.