First Foray Into Barney's Co-Op

It's been a strange week. All week long I've been confused about what day it is. On Tuesday, I thought it was Wednesday. Wednesday, Thursday. I missed a physical therapy appointment on Monday because I had it written down for Tuesday.

So what does that have to do with Barney's?

Well, it means that I got to start my Christmas shopping a day early (I'm one of those purposefully late shoppers - I love walking outdoors in Friendship Heights during the week before Christmas). My PT appointment - the one I thought I had - was in FH, so after I left the office embarassed that I mixed it up, I cheered myself up with my first visit into Barney's Co-Op.

Sigh. It was lovely.

I pretended like I was shopping for Christmas presents. And honestly, I saw lots of things that would look lovely on my sister-in-law. And a great Paul Smith cordouroy scarf that would've been great on my brother (brown, blue, and green - in cordouroy - what a great idea). But what really happened is I fell in love with designers I hadn't seen in person before. Philip Lim 3.1. Marc Jacobs. In mags, I can appreciate the doll-like sweetness of some of his things. I see how the twists of sohpistication make his blouses perfect for an office warrior with style. But I never thought I'd want to wear his stuff - just too runway. Well, I was wrong. His skirts are gorgeous creations. They have this structure without being stuffy - and are fluid while they're strong. There was this one black taffeta, sorta 50s/80s poufy skirt that I couldn't do justice to in writing if I tried. So I won't. And never mind the colors - who woulda thunk that the primary colors could be so striking?

Now, 99% of pieces there were waaaaaaaaaaay outta my price range. But there were a few (ok, so they were "just" t-shirts or tanks, but hey, they were the coolest t-shirts and tanks I've seen) that were on sale such that I wouldn't cringe completely and be guilt-ridden if I even thought about purchasing.

So apart from just looking at the lovely things, I'll return. Sometimes just to look. And every once in a while, maybe, just maybe, I'll buy.