Seeing as I have been an avid shopper since the age of 3, one might say that my shopping addiction started at a very young age. I would respond by saying that it’s not an addiction, but you won’t catch me denying that my love for shopping developed when I was little. In honor of Mother’s Day, I think that credit needs to be given where credit is due, so thank you Mom and Grandma for instilling in me a life-long love for clothes and couture; I’m not sure I would be the shopaholic (or rather the economy supporter) that I am today if it weren’t for you two.
One of the most relevant signs I have ever seen, located outside of Tailgate in Iowa City.
In all seriousness, I really did love shopping when I was little. A few years back, I found a drawing I did in kindergarten that was drawn in response to a question. The prompt for the picture was “What would you be doing if you weren’t in school right now?”, and my five-year-old self wrote shopping (amongst other things, see below). The irony of this picture is that if you asked me what I would rather be doing than studying for college finals right now, I would probably give you the exact same answer.
For me, shopping with my mom and grandma was special, because it was girl time. Every month, we would go to Downtown Minneapolis and shop at Dayton’s (currently known as Macy’s, once also known as Marshall Fields). Although I’m guessing that this tradition began when I was a toddler, I don’t really remember the experience much before the age of 3. But my three-year-old self loved going shopping. I loved looking at all of the pretty shoes, dresses, and purses, and of course I loved when I got to buy new clothes (wow, literally nothing has changed). Plus, I loved that it was a talent of mine. For the most part, no three-year-old has any super crazy impressive talents; but if you tell them they are good at something, they will take it and run. So every time that my mom and grandma told me what a good little shopper I was, I felt like it was the best compliment I could ever receive (and maybe I still do).
I don’t know if I have ever really drawn the connection until recently, but I think that these shopping trips played a much bigger role in my life than simply providing me with new additions to my closet. They became a tradition that to this day, is one of my favorites. These trips also introduced me to a hobby that I hope to make a career out of. I’m not sure if it’s because you both told me how good of a shopper I was, but I guess the best way to turn shopping into a job is by being a fashion buyer, which is the career path that I hope to pursue.
So even though you might not have anticipated it, I want to say thank you, Mom and Grandma, for introducing me to the world that I want to work in. And I also want to mention that my shopping talents didn’t just develop on their own; they came about because I had good shopping mentors to look up to, so thank you. Whether or not being a good shopper means finding something you want in every single store you enter might still be up for debate, but there’s no question in my mind that I wouldn’t be who I am today without these shopping trips and without the two of you in my life. Happy Mother’s Day to you both, I love you very much.
XOXO, Chloe
Stylish and Starving at Twenty Something
Stylish and Starving At Twenty-Something 