About the time we turn the page on the calendar and head into the dead of winter, something exhilarating happens.
The perfect time for shopping begins.
You can get in-season closeouts plus discounted apparel being rolled out for warm weather. A double bonus!
On or about Jan. 2 the first of what I call the "combo catalogs" arrives in my mailbox. They feature clearance-priced fall and winter merchandise along with a peek at spring collections. I've already received such catalogs from JCPenney, Chadwick's and Victoria's Secret. Peninsula-based catalog retailers Newport News and Spiegel have posted incredible clearance deals in addition to rolling out their 2009 resortwear collections.
Can't wrap your mind around yellow jeans just yet?
No matter, the sight of citrusy colors and fun, flirty styles fast-forwards the brain beyond these cold, dreary days.
In department stores and many boutiques, winterwear is deeply discounted at up to 75 percent off, on top of intermediate markdowns.
Plus, this is a great time to buy underwear (truthfully, any time is a good time if you need it), because intimate-apparel sales are most generous in January, as are sales on bedding and towels.
But wait, there's more.
Thrift shops get a load of donations the last few days of December as people unload goods just in time to write them off on tax returns. That means the thrift shops have to make room, which in turn means they run specials to clear floor space. The Habitat for Humanity store in Norfolk just last week had a couple of Dollar Days in which most clothing and accessories were sold for $1 apiece.
Yep, you should have sobered up enough to drag yourself in on New Year's. You would have been invigorated. I got a jump start on back-to-school shopping.
Na na na na boo boo.
On another seasonal note, a fashion analyst on ABC's "Good Morning America" last week declared that purple - the hot color for the past two years - is out of style and that orange is the "in" color. Her reasoning is that purple is a dark color and, because of the economic crisis, we don't need to dress in a gloomy color but in an energizing one. (Disclosure for the uninitiated: Only Barney sports more purple than I do.)
Why, pray tell, would a person declare a color of nature out of style? If she were talking about some faddish neon hue, I could understand. But come on now, we're supposed to stop wearing a color even if it's flattering? Don't colors come in various shades, giving them a different vibe? Lilac does not evoke the same strength that eggplant does, but they're both in the purple family. So are we to throw out lilac, lavender, violet and orchid, although spring is on the horizon, just cause So-And-So said so? And what if you look horrible in most shades of orange? Are you still going to run out and buy loads of it because it's been declared the color?
Puh-leeze. It's either we purple lovers go naked or risk being out of style. You'll clearly see my decision.
And finally - I wasn't going to talk about this, but my level of tolerance has surpassed its limit. What's with the recent acts of hatred perpetrated with shoes?
Of course, the incident involving the Iraqi journalist hurling his shoes (ugh!) at President Bush is just plain wrong on so many levels. I shan't enumerate.
But then, my heart couldn't take this: Somebody dumped thousands of shoes along a Miami freeway last week, creating a traffic snarl.
That's just downright upsetting. Why not simply back up a truck to Dress for Success and donate the shoes? The national charitable agency that provides outfits for women who are job hunting is reporting a 100 percent increase in demand in some cities because of the economic downturn. Or the shoes could have been given to any charity. Or... to me.
All parties in the aforementioned crimes have to be stomped down for this foolishness. Just don't use my Monticellos to do the stomping.
Jamesetta M. Walker, (757) 446-2211, jamesetta.walker@pilotonline.com
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