Educating the Eye

It really does pay to "educate your eye". I have spent a long time doing exactly that and this week, I really got a payoff.
Let me explain. If you are like I am, you did not grow up around wealth or elegance. I was not surrounded by class and good taste. I never dreamed of the elegance and luxury I now find myself surrounded by everyday. Designer names meant nothing to me as a young girl. I didn't know and I didn't care. At this point in my life, I am surrounded by wealth, elegance, chic, and luxury. I can afford none of it. And yet, I want and need to "fit in" in my environment. I want to look "right" for this place.
That's where "educating my eye" comes in. By spending time in upscale stores, I can learn what designer fashion looks and feels like. I can learn to spot the classic lines and cuts. I can instinctively reach for the timeless and elegant. This lets me shop at much more budget-friendly stores and still look like the wealthy and chic women who surround me. I have come home from such luxurious places as WalMart, K-Mart, and Dress for Less with luxurious looking fashions. I have found outrageous pieces at Target, Marshalls, and Burlington Coat Factory.
This week, one of the women here commented on a blouse that I had worn recently. She was "jealous" that I had "worn it first". She had just purchased it and hadn't had the opportunity to wear it yet, when she saw me wearing mine. Since mine is a Target special from a year or two ago, I was curious. She had recently been in Nordstroms and had seen "it" and loved it.
So ---- of course, I went to Nordstroms. I found the blouse. Its very similar. Its not exact --- but VERY similar. I could see why she thought they were the same blouse. The biggest difference: the Nordstroms' blouse was $75. You'd better believe I didn't pay that for mine.
Education does pay off.