decisions...

When push comes to shove and you're stuck between a rock and a hard place, sometimes your principles collide and you have to choose what to stand by.

I went to Banana yesterday in search of new clothes for work. This whole 'business casual' concept has wrought some inconvenience on my life, as it is no longer acceptable for me to wear jeans, sneakers, and polo shirts to work. It's the end of an era.

I find the price of clothes at MSRP to be absolutely ridiculous. My parents have owned businesses in clothing retail for nearly 20 years - I know that it doesn't cost $78 for some poor child in Sri Lanka to be making my sweater. I'm a firm believer in outlet shopping, but seeing as how I have not access to a car and am in dire need of new clothes...I bit the bullet and decided to brave the stores for sales.

I like shirts from Banana. They fit, pretty much every time. I found a sweater that was a nice simple cut, 3/4 length sleeves (how convenient for not having to roll up my sleeves)...and it was very significantly on sale. Excellent.

However - it was pink. Baby pink. Girly pink. As in, I don't think I've worn this color since I figured out how to dress myself, with the except of the bit of pink that's on the MIT sweatshirt Rich got me once. (Which I got comments on regarding the baby pink, the first time I wore it).
So I wrestled with my two principles - my distaste for paying too much for clothes (ie. buying a different shirt at full price) and ... the utter girly-ness of the color pink. And in the end...frugal won out. I guess you never know what your bottom line is until you're forced to make a choice.

My next mission - new shoes. That's a whole 'nother animal...