You never know what you’re going to get!
Unless I am looking for something specific that I can’t find anywhere else, I try to avoid shopping online as much as possible. I prefer the tangible experience of shopping in the real world, where I can socialize while I ramble through little consignment boutique, touching things and trying them on for size. I mean, how are you supposed to know how something looks and feels on your body if you can’t try it on?
Occasionally, however, I make an exception. The other day, I received an email from Refinery29, offering me a 50% off coupon from an online store called Plum for Polly. The deal was, if you spent $40 you could get $80 worth of merchandise, or if you spent $80 you could get $160. I had never heard of the store, but they had some really unique Jeffrey Campbell shoes. I bought the $40 coupon and picked out a pair of shoes that I liked, which were exactly $80. To my despair, however, I found out that the shoes I wanted were sold out… AFTER I had already purchased the coupon!
Saddened but not without hope, I decided to browse the shop and see what else they had that I could get for under $80. I settled on this turquoise Urban Expressions clutch ($25), which Plum for Polly calls “The Alligator Clutch,” but is actually faux ostrich skin. I figured you can never have too many bags and you don’t have to worry about how it fits you, so it was a safe purchase.
Then I picked out this “Aztec” fringed scarf ($45). As I said before, I love Southwestern patterns right now, and I figured you could never go wrong with a cute scarf.
Finally, since I had about $10 left on my coupon, I picked out these brightly colored, oversized bobby pins by Jane Tran ($9). Bright colors are in style right now, and these are a subtle and unexpected way to add a dash of color to your outfit without going to drastic measures, such as dying your hair pink.
So I ordered these three items and hoped for the best. While the bobby pins and the clutch were spot on, the scarf was not exactly what I expected. In fact, it wasn’t really a scarf at all. They sent me a shawl! It was a big, tablecloth-sized thing with two holes for arms in the middle, and lots of fringe. It wasn’t even the right color! I ordered a blue and black scarf. They sent me a blue and red shawl. I didn’t even know that color combo was an option! On their website, they only have it in black and white:
At first, I was disappointed and I immediately thought about sending it back. But I decided to try it on and just see how it looked. I slipped my arms through the holes and let it drape around me. I decided that the color scheme was rather pretty; I like unexpected color combinations of warm and cool tones – and then as I started shifting the shawl around different ways, I suddenly realized how much potential it had. It could be worn in several different ways –with your arms through the holes or simply draped over your shoulders – it was even reversible, so you could choose to sport blue on red, or red on blue. It could even be worn as a very large, very cozy SCARF!
The added bonus was that they charged me properly for the scarf, but the shawl was more expensive ($60), so I ended up getting the better end of the deal. I already have more than enough scarves anyway, and this is a much more interesting and stylish way to keep warm during the chilly months, or cover up at the beach!
