Day 98: Jeans, T-Shirts, & Self-Doubt

Posted on | December 8, 2007 |

Okay, y’all. Shopping used to be a lot more fun before I started a PF blog. A few short months ago I would have come home feeling like today had been a happily successful shopping day. Instead, I’m plagued with self-doubt. And you know what, I’m not liking it so much.

The Daughter and stopped by the mall to purchase her jeans as planned. So the first purchase of the day was a pair of American Eagle blue jeans for $53.32.

While at the mall, I wanted to stop in the J.Crew store to check out their sales. I always do that. This is the only local J.Crew store in the area that I’m aware of. I never go to the mall just to visit J.Crew, but I always stop in when I’m there. It’s not that I’m a big J.Crew fan or anything. In fact, I’m absolutely appalled by their prices and have no use for their clothes myself. But their Broken-In t-shirts are fabulous. The Son loves them. They are silky soft and have just the right amount of “boxy” in their cut (everyone else went to an “athletic” fit that The Son just hates). But can you believe they charge $24.50?! For a t-shirt! I’d have a hard time paying that much for a shirt that I knew he’d wear until it was tattered. But for something he’ll be able to wear for a year? Not on your life.

The Son is still growing at a phenomenal rate (7″ last year) so “investing” in clothes for him just isn’t where it’s at. But $9.99 each? Now that’s a price I can live with. Shoot, three months ago, it’s a price I would have crowed about. The old me knows that the $32.28 I spent today on 3 T-shirts was a great deal. But the new me is really worried whether it was a sound financial decision.

The Son was very pleased with the shirts and approved of all the colors (always a good thing). All three are size Medium (last summer he wore a men’s Small) so unless his body goes completely haywire, they should be a good growing-into fit. I’m counting on him being able to wear his size Smalls for the first part of the summer, at least. A couple months back I bought three new J.Crew t-shirts off eBay — at least one of which was a size Medium. So, with the shirts I bought today, the one or two from eBay, and the possibility of wearing the size Smalls for at least a while, his shirt wardrobe should be good for next summer.

And, that (having next summer’s shirt wardrobe locked) should definitely qualify as worth my money. The Husband is big on spending money when it needs to be spent. I understand his argument and for the most part completely agree. But some things are a sure bet and if I can save $47.00 ($24.50 x 3 x 7.8% sales tax less amount spent today) by shopping now, I think it was the right thing to do. At least I’m pretty sure it was the right thing to do.

Here are the pros, as I see them, to buying his shirts today:

The shirts are a sure bet because The Son, once he finds a style and brand that he likes, hates changing to a new style/brand and these J.Crew shirts are tried and true.
We have the added benefit of knowing that we won’t face the dreaded possibility of going back to the store for a product that worked in the past only to have our hopes crushed when we find that the manufacturer has made some sort of misguided change to a tried-and-true style.
The Son has approved of the colors and, based on 13 years of experience, he’s not likely to change his mind between now and next summer.
The peace of mind I experience in knowing that I won’t waste time and effort trying to find The Son some t-shirts he can and will wear next summer.
The peace of mind The Son will experience in knowing that I won’t drag him into stores next year and force him into trying on untold numbers of shirts in an effort to find a style that he likes and I can/will afford. [Of course, I'll still have to drag him into stores next year looking for shorts but at least the shirts are taken care of.]

The cons or even the possibilities of cons, as I can see them, are:

It is possible, though quite unlikely, that the price would drop even further.
That’s $32 that is spent now but won’t be utilized for several months. In other words, that’s $32 hanging in The Son’s closet instead of sitting in the bank earning interest.
There is, naturally, some small risk that for whatever reason the shirts will not be able to be utilized as planned next summer. We could move to the North Pole; global warming could screw up the weather so bad that we’ll never have use for another short-sleeved shirt; or The Son could bulk up so much and so quickly that he goes straight from a Small to a Large. To hedge my bets, the shirts will hang in his closet, unwashed and with the tags intact, until the day arrives that they are ready to be worn. That way, if something does go wrong, I can at least sell them as NWT on eBay and recoup our expense.

On days like today, I’m missing my whole pre-PF blogger ignorance is bliss, fat-dumb-and-happy, suburban housewife thang.