Shopping With Soul Doctor

pic by Sheila Rock



the search within....

i was trying on what i thought was the perfect white dress. i had been searching for a perfect white dress, a classy and yet sexy white sun dress for those occasions when you just need to strike out in a white dress....

anyway, the dress was on sale, the sale price was RM 310, original price over RM 600, it's not even a designer label, it's a street label from abroad, hence the price tag. I put on an XXS size, the straps were still too long so my bras hung outside the dress...I can see how this is a dress where you show off your underwear. The rest of the dress sat perfectly on me, too perfect....the perfect material, the perfect cut, the perfect skirt volume....of silk, cotton and godknowswhat this dress was made off...

I stared at the reflection in the mirror and sighed, nice stuff. For the best thing in any selection in life, you pay the price for it, it's a sacrifice, an opportunity cost.

But another thought came into my head, for the price I will pay for this dress, how many times will I wear this beautiful dress? For over 300 bucks, how many happy moments will it bring me?

The higher the price you pay for a piece of clothing, the more fancy the garment is, the less likely you will be wearing it day on day out....when you do wear it, you will be more self-conscious because you pay a lot to be in it and you expect to have more fun (true or not? you tell me) while you are in it. Now what's the fun of dressed in best when you are aware that it took you that high price to be where you are now -- wearing the very best and expecting to be happy.

pic by Robert Hiendel


So I put the dress back, thinking no perfect dress can buy my peace of mind...the peace of knowing I didn't spend 300 bucks on a sun dress.

But if you are interested, the dress is in MNG, KL Plaza branch. Not many left...size XXs, XS, and maybe one or two in bigger sizes.

For me, always, I shall have to remind myself more now, that my best fashion comes in the cheapest price...

My gorgeous India skirt that cost 0.30 cents and is a gown length....my first Beatrice Looi gown was at RM120, a sale price...my more recent Beatrice Looi gown for concerts is RM 80, a rich deep purple satin...

My latest handbag is Miu Miu, at RM 10, from Amcorp.

But coming back to the fancy dressing....I realised nowadays with my dress-down mode, having not working in an office, the joy of dressing come not from how fancy or expensive I end up looking, but from how much fun I will have wearing what I wear.

I will continue to buy cheap white fitting tees and more flea market dresses….hopefully one day that perfect white dress will be in a pile at jumble sale.

pic by Richard Avedon

Labels: features