Slow to Spring Change: Buying in the Off Season

 Anthropologie Elimovna Coat by Plenty by Tracy Reese

I've never been the type of person who sees something, full price and buys it right away. My desire for bargains has always trumped my desire for things. This is particularly because I am practical enough to acknowledge the distinction between "want" and "need." But sometimes a steep discount or sale can be intoxicating. "Sale googles"- the scenario in which you reconsider an item with a new lens once it hits a discounted price point-- have led to a few regretted and many beloved purchases. So when I came upon a store return of Plenty by Tracy Reese's Elimovna coat discounted by nearly 80%, I had to try it out.

 

I read this coat ran small and the quality was lackluster for the retail price point. But I wasn't paying retail so I grabbed it from the return rack and headed to the dressing room.

Even though the return was one size smaller than my regular coat size, it somehow worked. I wouldn't be able to layer my thickest sweaters underneath, but with a coat so busy and unique, I wouldn't want to wear with it anything fussy or layered.

I got it home and knew I'd have to seize the final opportunities to wear it until next late fall because it is the end of the season. But because it was the end of the season, I also spent less than I would have on a coat at Target or H&M.

I wore it that night to dinner and  got many compliments already! I will be sad to put it away for the year in a few weeks. But it makes me all the more excited for future cold weather!