Slaves of Fashion

It's hard to explain to those who weren't there. It was hard to explain to passersby who wondered repeatedly why we were queued up outside the H&M on Powell Street in San Francisco in the middle of the night and in the middle of the rain. I wondered myself what I was doing. What could be worth spending a night on the street? Shoes, naturally. Not just any shoes, Jimmy Choo limited edition H&M shoes. Jimmy Choos within my budget. Jimmy Choo purses and shoes for everyone on my Christmas list!

Predictably, an antic like this requires an accomplice. I found one in my sister Julie- shopper extraordinaire and Black Friday veteran. Initially I called her for a phone consult. We discussed various strategies while we drooled over online photos of the collection. When she heard me mention that I would need to bring my baby who wouldn't take a bottle she was quiet for several seconds then said, "I think I'd better come out". She determined (correctly) that this was way beyond my abilities.

And so it was that we found ourselves huddled together beneath damp blankets killing the dark hours by reading aloud a National Geographic article on camel beauty pageants. Physically, maybe one of my least comfortable nights. But I was with my sister chasing a ridiculous adventure which made the endeavor entirely worthwhile.

Psychologically, sleep deprivation impairs judgement almost as much as a shoe sale. It may come as no surprise then that in the wee hours of the morning we hatched a plan. A plan to spend a truly ridiculous amount of money on our truly ridiculous escapade. Buying extra merchandise and reselling it on eBay is not wholly original, but it complicated our strategy and strained our compromised physical and mental faculties to their limits. It also made it a lot more fun. I for one have never rushed into a store in the midst of a throbbing throng of people and grabbed as much as I could carry to the cash register without any thought of the cost.

The true challenge was the shoes and purses. These were located in a separate section. Only the first 180 shoppers in line received a wristband guaranteeing entrance into this section. Only ten minutes; only one of any item; and only twenty five of us at a time. It was the Everest of shopping. Only no Sherpas to help haul it around.

I don't remember exactly what happened in there- it all runs together, but I do know that we came out with more merchandise than we could carry and that our credit cards started freezing up from the shock of it all when we finally made it to the registers.

We walked into a fully-stocked H&M at 10 am. When we stumbled out an hour later it was gutted. We had more stuff than would fit in our arms or even into the car. We were filled with adrenaline and complete euphoria as we headed home. I've never had such a challenging or rewarding shopping experience. Even though we knew we would sell or return most of it there was something wonderful about having all those shining blue bags full of shiny new shoes.

Later that evening we sorted our take. We carefully considered which pair of shoes and which purse to give to our oldest sister and our mom for Christmas. Then we realized that we would have to do something even harder than sleeping on the street. In order to ensure a surprise Christmas morning, we'd have to keep the whole thing a secret- for a month and a half! This is why this post is so long after the fact (and so long). Now that the presents have been safely delivered and opened the story behind them can finally be told.

Two cold but excited shoppers prepare for attack.


Thrilled to receive a wristband.


Our new best friends from the line.


Julie's take.


Too much to fit in the trunk.


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