Retail Trauma!

Ever been to Bluewater? For those who haven't, it's a designer triangular version of Lakeside. For those who haven't been to Lakeside, imagine a rectangle filled on two floors with shops, surrounded by car parks.

Anyway, Mum and I decided to go to Bluewater. Nice enough place, except that it is shaped as a triangle. Which is fine but it is extremely disorientating when you come out of the shops. Though that is probably the whole idea, confuse the victims/shoppers and there is more chance of them buying products they wouldn't normally buy in shops they normally wouldn't frequent.

That wasn't the traumatic part. I went in Jones to look at some boots. Could not fault the assistants, they were extremely helpful (and sympathetic) The range of boots available (and this seems to be consistent in all poxy shoe shops!) is limited to stick thin women with wafer thin calves.

Shoe shops (are you reading this, Mr Shoe manufacturer?!) don't grasp the concept that normal women (who are, god forbid, flesh and blood, a healthy size, and make up a huge proportion of the female population) do not have calves as small as a child's clenched fist.

Which means that boot shopping ranks up amongst divorce, moving house and getting married in terms of trauma for women. We hate boot shopping. Normal women pay the price because boot designers surround themselves with anorexic models and therefore don't have the first clue about what real women want.

Here's a thought. Why not have a range of calf sizes for each boot size? The designers and manufacturers must have sales figures on the most popular shoes sizes, so they could work accordingly.

I should have quit there. Instead I went into Superdrug to buy some moisturiser. I have always used Oil of Ulay, but wanted something that would last a bit longer. The range to choose from is overwhelming and highly stressful. Every product promises you "skin that appears firmer and younger" and they are geared towards skin which is "mature".

Can anyone tell me, how old do you have to be to have "mature" skin?? I don't want bells and whistles. I don't want moisturiser that is the cosmetic version of Polyfilla, I just want a moisturiser that protects my skin from the daily stresses of makeup, travelling, pollution and air conditioning. I don't think that is too much to ask.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad