Confessions of a Shopaholic

I found this Times article about the new movie, "Confessions of a Shopaholic," based on the book by Sophie Kinsella and thought it was well written; it didn't focus just on the movie, but the trend of consumerism in women, how the current weak economy highlights former indulgences, and what the relationship has been over time between women and shopping.

Is it bad that after reading this article I was inspired to go shopping? Perhaps I've been holding back too much--I feel as though most of my shopping experiences as of late have either been outings where I touch sweaters and scarves, commenting "This is nice," not even thinking about purchasing it, or where I read about clothing online or in my magazines (Vogue Paris and Elle France) Am I missing out on some kind of satisfaction from shopping? How can I get my enthusiasm back? Have I made a "guilty pleasure" more "guilty" than pleasurable, and is it wrong to do so? When is indulgence from spending money a good thing? Another question (I'm very inquisitive right now for some reason): if the difference between being a shopping addict and a regular indulgent consumer is that addicts ignore consequences, aka credit, aren't we all addicts? Don't we all ignore the consequences because we really don't need that new pair of shoes. So what do we need? What constitutes necessity over frivolity? I'm thinking frivolity is necessity because the happiness one gets from buying that new dress is irreplaceable.

Phew. That was a lot. Anyway, I'm going shopping this afternoon because I've been lacking that purchasing pleasure lately. I guess I'm also going to Paris next week, so I'm hoping that will remedy my fashion depression...