B5

Brigitte Marsden

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Working in a department store in my teens provided some interesting opportunities for people watching.

For some reason, it had been decided that both women’s wear and the children’s department should be located on level two.

I think the idea was that women like shopping and would make the effort to go upstairs, while men need more enticement to shop and should therefore be catered to as they walk in off the street.

Those men that were hauled upstairs by their wives certainly bore out this theory: they all looked thoroughly disinterested and were clearly wishing they were elsewhere.

I must admit there have been times when, faced with the prospect of fighting my way through a heaving throng and standing in line for who knew how long, I lost heart and decided not to go shopping after all.

In fact, for several years much of my clothes shopping was accomplished in the comfort of my own home, with the help of mail order catalogues. It worked for me.

Shopping should be fun – or at least interesting – don’t you think? I remember when The Body Shop opened its first store in Chichester, the city where I grew up.

The unusual green store front and brightly coloured goods created quite a buzz, and we couldn’t get enough of the all-natural, environmentally friendly products.

They even refilled your container with the same product, saving money and reducing garbage.

And over the years they have continued to come up with great new highquality products, which are sourced from around the world.

I was so pleased to find The Body Shop has made it over here to North America.

One great way to discover unusual items is shopping at yard sales and craft sales. You never know what you’ll find.

Another favourite for me – a habit AN ADVERTISING PROVERB When Mark Twain was editing a newspaper in Missouri, one of his subscribers wrote in, saying that he had found a spider in his newspaper and wondered whether it was a sign of good or bad luck.

Twain's response:

"Finding a spider in your paper is neither good luck nor bad. The spider was merely looking over our paper to see which merchant was not advertising, so that he could go to that store, spin his web across the door, and lead a life of undisturbed peace ever afterward." I got into as a student – is searching second-hand stores for bargains.

The trick is to go with an open mind and enough time to enjoy browsing.

I’ve made some great finds over the years, from an embroidered bag to a vintage 1950s dress.

I was so pleased to catch an episode of What Not to Wear the other day that focused on environmentally friendly and recycled clothing.

Stacey and Clinton proved on TV that you can look good on a budget and be eco-friendly and creative. I found the dress made out of a man’s suit particularly impressive, having myself dabbled in making a garment into something else.

My first effort was to take a voluminous dress made out of lovely polka dot fabric and transform it into a shift dress and, more recently, I turned two pairs of pants into skirts. At least it’s one way to get unique pieces that fit well! Buying items for someone else is a different story and something I usually avoid. But when my older sister set her heart on a pair of cowboy boots – a must-have fashion item in the UK – that had to come all the way from North America, that’s exactly what happened.

Cue a trip to Serendipity in Houlton, where Georgina had found her muchadmired pair last time she came over.

We found a pair we thought would go over well and both tried them on, based on the fact that Georgina’s width and my length kind of match Tania’s overall size.

Hoping for the best, Georgina brought them back home in her suitcase and, thankfully, the well-travelled boots met with big sister’s approval and did actually fit.

All in all, a successful long-distance shopping experience!