Get out of town

At school, a friend called Michaela, who was one of those girls lucky enough to get a clothing allowance, tried to initiate me into the joys of shopping.
I needed some leggings and socks and my Mother had given me just enough money to get those.

Michaela and I spent all morning tarting ourselves up, took a train into town, smoked cigarettes by a phone box in an attempt to look older and then set off around the shops.

To me, I was on a hunt; I needed leggings and socks and that's what I would come home with. I barged in and out of hot stuffy shops, seeing if they had what I wanted, if not, it was off to the next one and so on.

I didn't enjoy the stuffy overcrowded changing rooms and couldn't understand why all the girls at school got so excited about shopping; all I got was a bad headache from the horrible shop lights.

After shop one hundred and ninety nine, Michaela burst out crying, "Stop it, I've had enough. This is no fun with you, we are just supposed to walk around looking at things, you are making me really stressed".
"What?" I said perplexed "I have to get these leggings and socks"
"You just don't get it do you?" she gasped

She was right, I didn't and I still don't. There really are a million and one things I can think of that are better than shopping.
I continue to live by the maxim of that late great programme 'Why don't you?' which for those of you who are not a child of the early eighties, went like this: "Why don't you turn off your T.V and go and do something more interesting instead?".

It obviously is just me and not the rest of the world, as I often see reports in the media about how shopping is the fastest growing leisure activity.

Are all these people happy though? Not if reports on the increase of affluenza are true.
The most interesting and happiest people I know are those who spend their weekends doing physical activities, going to events, volunteering, meeting up with friends and family.

Now as much as I hate shopping, I do like keeping myself presentable. So what happens when I need a chic dress for a party, do I go in a bin bag?

Well, I am presenting an ethical fashion show this Monday in Liverpool at the infamous Adelphi Hotel, so of course I want to look nice; I am also presenting an award there on the Tuesday night. Slight problem - I only have one dress.

In usual Anna style I left it far too late to get anything from People Tree on the internet. I also had a very busy Saturday with events to attend in the City centre ruling out an emergency trip to the Ethic Boutique in Whitley Bay.
This left me with the option of my worst nightmare.

A one hour hunt for dress and shoes in the city centre accompanied by a nine year old.

I wouldn't usually have got shoes just to go with a dress. I'd had one perfectly decent pair of high heels for ten years, which did for everything but I lost one of the shoes in a hotel room recently. I have been so cross with myself about it because they were fab.

As I left to go on my mad hour's dash around the charity shops, I said a silent prayer pleading that if anyone was listening then please don't let me row with my daughter as my inability, at times, to be organised quite often leads to stressful situations which in turn lead on to arguments. Someone must have been listening as at our first stop, The British Heart Foundation store on Clayton Street, I found my lovely dress for £6.99.
Done and dusted in five minutes, but little did I know that further achievements lay ahead.

I had done my research on shoes previously. After a lengthy search on the internet I had opted for a pair of shoes costing £30 from New Look.
Is New Look ethical you may ask? This is the rub about trying to buy ethically, what you want might not always be available and so you end up working through your own ethical decision tree.

Just as Depeche Mode sang about having your own personal Jesus, so it is that we all have our own personal ethics which work in much the same way.

Mine starts with Vegetarian and filters down to local, organic, Fairtrade, recycled etc.
In the case of the shoes, they had to be non leather - that was my only non-negotiable.

Non leather shoes come in two varieties: cheap as chips with leather not being used as a cost saving exercise (but at what cost to the human making them?) or super duper expensive because they are hand made and a lot of care has been taken over them.

Not having oodles of cash, I opted for New Look as the least bad offender of a number of high street retailers selling synthetic shoes.

Does my own personal ethical decision stand up in the cold light of day - possibly not - but I made a judgment call and its funny how you end up justifying these choices to yourself.

So, keeping with the story, we were five minutes into the shopping expedition, we entered the back entrance of Eldon Square to go to New Look, where as it happens the British Heart Foundation now also have an additional store just opposite.

My daughter loves this shop as they keep her in a continuous supply of old Beano annuals. She asked if she could go and see if they had any and being good for time I agreed.
In we went, when what should I see hanging up? A little cardigan which looked as if it would match my dress. Upon inspection it was made by the same company as the dress, was the same size and I can only concluded was the actual matching cardigan for the dress. Cost £4.30.

In total the whole trip took 30 minutes and the entire outfit (which I will be wearing to a number of weddings this year) cost £41.29

That, for me, was about as much as I could handle and cost wise was about as much as my bank balance could handle right now.

I know I'll never love the shopping thing but it is possible to scrub out ok without it.

One last thing on the happiness front; I normally feel very content with my lot, but even by just walking past all the new clothes in the shop windows, it made me lament my own wardrobe and its lacking of newness. I was only there for half and hour, so people who spend all day Saturday in town shopping, must be left feeling totally inadequate I would imagine.

'Why don't you?' was right, so this weekend why don't you and your friends get out of town and go and do something more interesting instead? Trust me; I really think you will feel happier for it.