Saturday, March 23, 2013

Let's Go To The Mall

Of course Robin Sparkles is one of my favourite musical artistes.  That goes without saying.  We're both Canadian, we have similar names, and we both love going to the mall!


Or maybe not.

I decided to take a day off from work just for the heck of it.  I have some vacation days saved up, and I just didn't feel like going to work.  Instead, I thought the day would be well spent at Yorkdale mall, shopping for warmer-weather pants.  Because a) Yorkdale is crazy-crowded on weekends; and b) since I gained a size over the winter, none of my summer pants fit anymore.

Part a) of the plan worked out perfectly.  The mall was relatively sedate.  I was able to secure a seat in the food court at lunchtime without having to ninja-battle anyone for it.

Part b), not so much.  Every single women's-wear store offered 16 different shades and patterns of pastel or rainbow bright skinny jeans.  There was milky green, sunny yellow, coral, hot pink, flowers on a white background, flowers on a black background, flowers on a grey background, lavender-on-white tiger spots, sky blue, polka dot, and easy-stain white.  Endless choice.  And not a single thing that I was tempted to buy.

My main priority right now is being able to dress properly for work.  I also wouldn't mind getting a few casual-specific pairs of pants, but in the summertime, on a hot day, wriggling into a skin-tight pair of long jeans, even in a light colour, doesn't seem appealing.

The only work-appropriate pants I found were of the unstructured, super-drapey, dry-clean-only variety.    Survey says:


Therefore, the only thing I bought at Yorkdale all day was a burger, fries, and an iced tea.  I will be trying again at another mall soon.  It occurs to me that I may have better luck shopping  downtown, close to all the office towers full of working women.  Apparently Yorkdale is now catering exclusively to people who are too wealthy to work.  They just hang around the Espressamento Coffee Bar wearing loud skinny jeans, sipping no-fat lattes and debating which fluorescent Kate Spade handbag to buy this season.

After I had pretty much given up on the whole pants search, (and yes I even went to plain old Sears and even their plain old trousers didn't fit right), I wandered around the mall for a bit before heading home.  There were some new stores added since I'd last been there.  For example, there is now a store dedicated entirely to selling bottles of fancy olive oil.  Wow.  Who wants to bet on that store staying in business?  Not me.  

I also saw the new Microsoft store.  Yes, Microsoft has opened a store, literally two doors down from the Apple store.  Picture the Apple store exactly, with Microsoft products on the display tables, and obviously the employees are wearing Microsoft T-shirts.  It is a pathetic exercise in imitation.  I didn't see a single customer in there.  I wonder what they have renamed the Genius Bar.  Perhaps Smartypants Central?

11 comments:

DarcKnyt said...

I really hate going to the mall and braving that experience only to find they have nothing, whatever, I want.

Better luck downtown, Spark, and have a GREAT weekend!

wigsf3 said...

I find the best clothes at Yorkdale in the Sears. I know I know, trust me. Go to that Sears. Good prices too

Warped Mind of Ron said...

I buy all my clothes at the Home Depot myself... ok.. maybe not, but you gotta love wandering around in hardware stores.

Adam said...

I'm not much of a mall person

Sparkling Red said...

DarcKnyt: Thanks, I hope you have a great weekend too. :-)

wigsf: I did go to the Sears. I found pants that I liked. They didn't fit right. :-pppp

Ron: Uh, sure, whatever you say...

Adam: I used to think I was a mall person. I'm not so sure anymore.

Granny Annie said...

Sounds like it was a productive day anyway with the mall watching. I hate shopping malls so I love online shopping. When my children were teenagers they would beg to go to the mall and so that would be a trip planned during vacations. When their friends asked what they did on vacation, they were embarrassed to say they went to the mall. LOL

LL Cool Joe said...

I shop online too. I get 2 sizes and then return the one that doesn't fit, but perhaps I'm not as fussy as you. I hate shopping centres.

That video cracked me up. :D

Lynn said...

I do not like the mall very much. I mostly do mail order, but then there's all that sending back. :) Sounds like a fun day you had anyway.

Jameil said...

HAAAAA!! One of my fave episodes of HIMYM ever!!!! LET'S GO TO THE MALL EVERYBODY!!! ROTFL @ the sad little Microsoft store. That wasn't very well thought-out.

G. B. Miller said...

I got ill just reading the descriptions of what passes for fashion in your neck of the woods.

I usually go to the mall not to buy things (way overpriced), but to people watch.

A lot cheaper and a lot more fun.

DarcsFalcon said...

Bummer about not finding what you were looking for! At least you got a nice day off, right? Sometimes you just have to play hooky. :)

Good luck at the other mall! I bet you're right, about it being closer to businesses and finding more business oriented clothing. It makes sense to me, anyway, lol. :)