MY THOUGHTS ON IMPULSE SHOPPING

This past weekend, I was in Montreal for my friend Brian’s bachelor party. Another friend of mine, Aaron, was also invited and on Saturday he and I had some free time to explore the city. While braving below freezing temperatures, we discovered a string of vintage clothing stores in the city’s Le Plateau-Mont-Royale neighborhood.

The very first blog post covered my in-store shopping tips, which Aaron is familiar with. I designed them, in part, to help prevent guys from impulsively purchasing items that are simply “cool” but don’t fit into their wardrobe as a whole. Hands down the best vintage store we came across is LE NINETY. Within minutes of walking in, I came across a few items that caught my eye and I tried them on. When I realized they fit to my satisfaction, I made a beeline to the checkout counter with them. Aaron seemed pretty surprised by my efficiency and the speed at which I decided to purchase these items. Was I shopping impulsively and breaking my own rules yet again? Aaron, by contrast, found a few items he liked at LE NINETY and another store we visited afterwards, but he didn’t pull the trigger on anything. He said to me in the car ride back to Boston after our bachelor weekend, “Your little brother and I seem to need time to think about it (purchasing new clothes) and let it settle.” Subsequently, Aaron wanted my thoughts on impulse shopping and if that was the case with the items I purchased.

Before proceeding, let’s make sure we have a clear understanding of what impulse shopping is. Acting on impulse or impulsively is defined as, “a sudden strong and unreflective urge or desire to act,” and “acting without forethought,” according to Oxford Languages. As we chatted in the car, Aaron was surprised to learn that while I had a sudden, strong attraction to the pieces I ended up purchasing, it was not impulsive. Rather, my purchases were extremely intentional.

I keep a short list of items in my phone’s Notes app and in a few Safari tabs that I am actively researching and hunting for my own wardrobe. Inspiration for these items comes from television and movies, bands and musicians I enjoy, social media, old photos, or looking at my wardrobe and discovering the addition of something will add value to it as a whole. The forethought for what I purchased at LE NINETY had already taken place over weeks and months while doing this research. I don’t just dig online. If an item seems promising, I will go out of my way to try it on in a store without the intention to buy it. I will also purchase, try on, and immediately return an item sold by an online retailer if they have a convenient return policy and there is no store locally that carries it.

So, what items did I purchase? There were two, and both were on my short list at the time. One was a heavier weight, warm fringe jacket with a boxier fit that I could layer thicker articles of clothing underneath like sweaters and long-sleeve crewnecks. I was also on the hunt for a few more vintage, nostalgic tees. The greatest hour block of television that has ever existed in my life was Batman the Animated Series at 7:00 p.m. and the original Scooby-Doo at 7:30 p.m. on Cartoon Network. I will remember those shows and childhood memories for the rest of my life. LE NINETY had a jacket matching that description perfectly, and a Cartoon Network branded Scooby-Doo t-shirt deemed “super rare” by the store in a beautifully faded black. I knew they were coming home with me once I inspected them and realized their condition was great, the quality was solid, and the fits were good but would be perfect with only some slight alterations. The reason I felt this confident was because I had seen and/or tried on countless different new and vintage fringe jackets and t-shirts. These two items were the best I had found to date.

To revisit my list of in-store shopping rules, any item worth purchasing should make you say “hell yes” upon trying it on. If you put the item down and someone scooped it up, ask if you’d be pissed. If the answer is no, it isn’t a keeper. Perhaps eventually it will be with a little more thought and consideration, but put it back on the shelf for today. There is, however, one exception to this rule and it was in play for both Aaron and I. The only time the “hell yes” rule can be bent is if you are somewhere “exotic” where you can’t think about an item for a week or two and easily go back to that store. This was my first time in Canada ever. While I am excited to go back and to Montreal in particular, I have no plans to do so. It’s also too far and costly just to go there to shop. If I wanted the jacket and the tee, now was the time. However, like I said, both items were ones I was actively seeking out and deemed “hell yeses” after I tried them on. It was especially a no-brainer given the fact that they were reasonably priced even before a favorable CAD to USD exchange rate.

Doing research and physically trying things out before you are ready to pull the trigger is also a great piece of advice I give to the buyer clients I work with in real estate. 6-12 months before folks even think they are ready to start looking at homes let alone close on one, I advise that they stop simply browsing online and physically go to open houses, role play living in different homes, and explore towns they think they might be interested in. Almost always, my clients’ desired criteria changes and they are able to get very specific about the exact type of home they want. They are also usually able to narrow it down to one or two towns, and sometimes even a specific neighborhood or street. By doing research ahead of time and having a better understanding of their needs versus their wants, what to look for, and what their budget can get them, my clients are very knowledgable and able to pounce without an ounce of doubt when the right home comes along.

Shifting back to one’s wardrobe, before shopping you should have a paired down and manageable wardrobe size, an understanding of how your clothes pair together, knowledge of any “holes” in your wardrobe, and done research on variations of a particular item you want including but not limited to material, fit, styling, and price. Doing so will enable you to act decisively when you come across exactly what you are looking for that makes you say “hell yes.”

In short, “impulse shopping” when you have a strong and sudden urge to purchase an item of clothing is not a bad thing in and of itself. The trouble comes from when it is a strong and sudden urge and you’ve given it no forethought. Have an understanding of your wardrobe as it currently exists, how your desired item will fit into it, and what qualities of that item you are looking for. “That seems like a lot of work,” you might say. It is. Frankly, that is why some guys pay me to do this stuff for them. But, I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again — clothes are investments. Treat the purchase and upkeep of them as such. You work hard for your money, and this process will help you make more thoughtful, less emotional purchases. This applies not just to clothes, but anything you buy.

Aaron and I visited a number of vintage stores in Montreal’s Le Plateau-Mont-Royal neighborhood. We both agreed that out of all of them, LE NINETY was the best. They had a great selection of items, but you could tell they were carefully curated. The items were neatly organized and tags even indicated the rarity and quality of each item. In addition, the store was really homey with area to sit and relax, play chess, or grab food or coffee in-store at Café CAMAS. The staff was also very helpful and friendly (even for Canadians).

I may or may not have yelled, “Jinkies!” upon finding this Cartoon Network branded vintage Scooby-Doo t-shirt.

The look of a guy who realizes he’s found a keeper. The quality, weight, and condition of this fringe jacket was outstanding. The price was very reasonable, especially given the CAD to USD exchange rate. It needed a few nips and tucks by my tailor in Boston, but the fit will be absolute perfect once he’s done with it.

Aaron tries on a really cool, heavyweight military trench coat at another vintage store we popped into. I believe the tag in it said something like, “For military use only.” Who knows what stories this coat could tell. Aaron did not purchase it but had he, it would have been an impulse purchase because he hadn’t considered something like it before. The same goes for me if they had one in my size. Discovering it made me reflect on a piece like this and whether the addition of something similar would be beneficial in my wardrobe. There is an argument to be made about bending the rules in this circumstance because we were somewhere “exotic,” but the piece has to be a “hell yes.” For Aaron, it wasn’t.