The No Shopper Has an Impact

I’m a little surprised that I haven’t heard from more people who have decided to quit shopping for a year right along with me. The feedback is more like: “you go, Girl. I could never do it.”

But just last week, I bumped into an old friend who said she tried to curb her shopping bug after reading the column. As of Jan. 1, I’ve taken a vow of No Shopping for a Year in order to be clutter free by 2012 and to pay down my mortgage with any money I save. (So far, not much money.)

Dr. Leslie Sude is a trim, fashionable pediatrician and mother of two equally fashionable daughters, Clara and Tillie Wang. She and I went to high school together in the Philadelphia suburbs a long, long time ago. We were both raised within a five-minute drive from world-class shopping in Suburban Square that has only improved over time. Reach out your arm and every possible chain store from Banana Republic to the Gap is within your reach alongside high-end boutiques, restaurants and a farmer’s market.

Within 20 minutes lies the King of Prussia Mall, a complex so vast I would not be surprised if they installed golf carts to shuttle customers around or sherpas to carry your packages.

Anyway, Leslie and I reconnected about eight years ago at an R.J. Julia event. Every time we meet for coffee or a walk, we comment about the physical beauty of the shoreline, the wide-open spaces we are not accustomed to and the need to drive 45 minutes to the West Farms Mall to buy a tube of lipstick.

So I decided to check in with Leslie and her girls to see how the No Shopping thing is going.

On a scale of one to 10, Clara rates Leslie’s love of shopping and fashion an eight.

“Usually, my mom would shop about once a week during the weekend and so I thought it would be great if she didn’t do for a year,” said Clara, an eighth-grader at Polson Middle School who is not a fan of shopping, recreational or otherwise. “Tillie is a little shopper, and we had to set an example of not wanting so much stuff. You just don’t need that much stuff.”

After reading the first column, Leslie decided to prepare for a trial of no shopping by replacing her running shoes and bras.

“Right after the holidays, I was shopped out by all the Christmas and Chankah mania and I was mentally ready to do it,” said Leslie, who was wearing a fabulous pair of purple suede boots purchased about 10 years ago. “It was completely easy for the month of January.”

When a Philadelphia friend came to visit, Leslie took her to the Clinton Crossing outlet mall as an activity. Leslie loves a good deal and admits she was tempted by a longish striped cardigan that was originally $180 but on sale for $22.

“It was a steal, but then I put it down, because I thought about something you wrote in the column,” Leslie said. “You said ‘I’m just going to make do.’”

Wow.

“My mom went to the gym and didn’t go shopping,” said Tillie, a fourth-grader at Jeffrey School who loves to shop at Nordstrom’s where she recently acquired her first pair of open-toe, low-heeled dressy sandals.

As the month wore on, Leslie didn’t buy a birthday present for her husband, Paul, who was relieved. He, too, hates shopping and stuff.

Then the Visa bill came.

“It was so low, I was thrilled,” Leslie said. She spent only $600 on gas and groceries, as opposed to her normal bill of $1,800 on gas, groceries and whatever.

In February, Sude reviewed her work wardrobe and found it lacking. Her classic investment pieces, some purchased more than a decade ago, looked dated.

In the end, Philadelphia was her undoing. On a trip home for February break, Sude found some beautiful work clothes in a small boutique.

“I broke it after seven weeks,” Sude said. “But, I will say, it’s made me mindful and made me ask myself, ‘do I really need this?’”

This summer, after sorting out her work clothes, Sude plans to take another run at the No Shopping challenge.

Meanwhile, Tillie and Clara recently needed shoes for a Bat Mitzvah. Instead of buying a new outfit too, Tillie is wearing one of her sister’s dresses.

Next week: 10 more things a day.