Straining Restraint

I have been so good. I haven't bought one item, not one, in over a month. The last piece of clothing I purchased was a yellow sundress from Sportsgirl to wear for my new year's eve celebrations back in Sydney.

Now, some of you (my mother included) would argue that one shopping trip a month is enough, and since interning began I have been forced to comply. However, it's chilly in London and I don't have any boots. And my jeans look shabby. And I'm tired of wearing the same drab gear into the office every day. My wardrobe is on rotation. It appears to me so bare that I literally have outfits assigned to days of the week with a big load of washing done every Friday. And I’m bored.

But good girl that I am I lock myself in the office every lunchtime to avoid the retail-magnet of Carnaby Street and Oxford Circus. I’ve even gone to lengths of immediately deleting ad-emails sent by ASOS.com, WhoWhatWearDaily.com and Topshop.co.uk. Sad as it is, if I were to eye their goodies (all available through online purchase) I might lose my resolve. But today I slipped. Scrolling through my Hotmail account I clicked ‘next’ and low-and-behold it was an email from ASOS advertising among other trends, flared jeans, specifically Rock & Republic Sexy R Stitch bootcut jeans (£235 – eek!). And I sighed like Pumba – from Disney’s The Lion King – “Ohhhh, the shame!”

Would it be so bad if I were to take a walk along the High Street and suss-out the jeans in H&M and Uniqlo? Surely they’d have a pair of flares under £40… and surely £40 isn’t such a splurge, surely, surely I am not that destitute. But I’m afraid I am.

I hear my mother sigh with relief.

For those of you with slightly more poundage to play with, check these babies out!