Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Colour blind...

Time and again I have come across quite a lot of PJs, funny anecdotes, blogs on the 'female-shopping-syndrome' topic.. I agree that while there is a grain of truth to the matter (think of dresses as an investment, wont u be picky n choosy too? plus we happen to have much more aesthetic sense, ha),the not-so-fair sex too, is none the less finicky about their attires ...

I have been many a times unceremoniously abandoned by my friends when we go out together and I happen to see any combination of these words FREE,SALE,NEW ARRIVAL,DISCOUNT,REBATE,END OF SEASON displayed in the windows of shops. I lose all sense of time and bank balance (thank god for parents & technology for credit cards). I have bought up things which I haven't worn yet and stuff that I never will... Mainly because it was a steal at that time...If u call that compulsive shopping,then yes I do that. Once in a while I turn a new leaf and try controlling my urge to splurge (hey!! That rhymes..Urge to splurgee..Splurge to urgee...hahha)..

I walk into the ultimate temptation store Either Or with someone who actually wants to buy something and I sit on my hands and test my will power. Most times, I win. But then as an act of rewarding myself I go there the next week and .... hmm..

Oh I digress, abt the male species of homosapiens and the shopping syndrome that they never fail to mock given a chance... Sorry, I wont generalize here. I know most guys who go shopping with the colour/cut/brand/size of the shirt/tshirt/trouser/jeans/undergarments predecided..
they just saunter in and ask for a 'sky blue shirt full sleeve' and walk away with just that.All done and over with in 8 mins flat. Well, this rule does take an exception if the sales girl is cute.. Then the guy is ambiguity embodied... He'll dilly dally around,try on all the shirts, ask her for opinions ( "is it too tight around my biceps?","do u think I should have this in full sleeve or half sleeve.. people tell me I shouldn't hide my forearms,you know" or " Do u think this would go with my red merc/hayabusa?")

but as I said, men usually walk in , take what they get, don't usually alter the piece and be content with it.. I know, they waste their relationship skills on shopping.

I know one who takes the 'loyalty' aspect to the extreme.. We went shopping - me, my friends suvarna and Ali. Or rather Ali went shopping n we tagged along to offer our invaluable comments/advices. Now Ali is a not-too-difficult to please customer as long as u provide him eye-catching colored garments.. Eye-catching is putting it mildly.. When mood takes him, he wouldn't even look at a shirt which is not dyed in yellow (ranging from lemon to mango to the fluorescent variety) and orange (again ranging from the setting/rising sun, carrot hues, brick hues to the fluorescent variety). And at times, the metro-sexual bug gets to him an he suddenly finds it cool (or should I say uber-cool?) to wear shirt in delicate floral n paisleys which would put even a bottle of English Yardley talcum powder to shame.

This time he was in mood for orange...
We were in a store which was giving a discount on summer wear ; mainly men's shirts. Since suvarna n I were contemplating the marketing principles based on the pics of male models (we derived at the conclusion that the best way to advertise for a shirt is to have a bare chested male model, preferably john abraham or upen patel if ur target customer category is female and the same bare chested model placed strategically with few more similarly scantily clad female models would woo the male part of the customer population as well). Content with our new found principles of retail marketing, we gave scarce attention to what ali was upto..

An occasional glance around the store proved how disastrous our temporary lapse in attention had been. There amongst 3 orange shirt we find a very confused looking Ali. And yes, he is asking the sales girl's opinion as well.

what followed was a thorough battle of will power . Finally we somehow managed to convince him that 2 orange shirts and 2 orange t shirts that he already possess cannot not be termed insufficient and his glowing radiance and dazzling complexion would be better suited for more soothing colours like blue or green... Finally he conceded to our requests / blackmails and walked off with a green shirt...Albeit a pista shaded fluorescent one...

well, u cant have it all...

7 comments:

Maverick said...

swell the thought of going out for shopping with any of u ladies (my mom included) sends shiver down my spine .ughhhhh!! .

the most scary part is that u will be called upon to put ur judgement on the line. the perfect pick will result in ur instant freedom - ehh which rarely happens . or else u will be spending the rest of the evening cursing ur lucky stars for ever having agreed to the trip .we could resolve the kashmir issue twice by the time they make up their mind:(

as for guys, they know what they want unless there is any fairer sex around forcing his hormones to feel otherwise .

keerthy karthikeyan said...

I too second ur opinion that the kashmir issue and any other long standing issues could be twice resolved if we could put our redirect our skills. As for the shopping issue, i would ask u to reconsider our forcing-ur-hormones-to-feel-otherwise behaviour as something which stems from an irrepressible desire to see you clothed better/stylish.

Next time such a clash of opinion happens just try giving in and be floored with compliments from general public when u step out in the newly bought garb.

keerthy karthikeyan said...

ps: Ugh.. cant believe i made such a big blunder in typo...(abt technology n parents). Thanks...no one else realised it,gonna edit..

pps: i am flattered.. :-) (truthfully, its coz i had more time to work on this one...)

Ali Thanikkal said...

An occasional glance around the store proved how disastrous our temporary lapse in attention had been. There amongst 3 orange shirt we find a very confused looking Ali. And yes, he is asking the sales girl's opinion as well.

LOL!!! That was a good one!!!
Say my "Hi!" to the fellow Ali -;)

keerthy karthikeyan said...

@ alit... Thank you for reading my blog and posting a comment. yes, i would convey your 'hi' to Ali. I got a hunch that you share something more than a name [Ali(t)] with my friend..

Ali Thanikkal said...

Well... Well... from the description that you have here about Ali, i would like to think that we are sharing only the name -;))

keerthy karthikeyan said...

@ alit: i hope i havent described him in a way as to make an unfavourable impression.. he is actually a sweet guy (he dint buy the orange shirt,ha).