Don't "label" me. ;)

So I began a post early this morning about my recent trip to Dollywood...it was terrible (the post, not the trip), so I erased it. It was focused on the park, which was lovely, by the way, rather than on the fabulous woman behind it. I'll blame it on the fact that I tried to wake up early to get to work; it's now 1:30 in the morning, so I should be able to churn out some prime writing, ha ha. Anyway, a great part of the Dollywood experience is having the chance to walk through the Chasing Rainbows museum. Scattered amongst the fabulously tacky outfits, handwritten songs, and plethora of family mementos are wonderfully witty and passionate quotes from Dolly herself. Not only are they painted on the walls and playing over the speakers, but you can also see little handwritten notes, alive with her buxom...personality. She is quite the woman...bold, vivacious, talented, and beautiful in so many ways. Oh, what fun it would be to meet her! Someday...right, Jen? ;)

While I was on my excellent vacation (for real, it rocked) that hottie Jenarcissist emailed me a Dolly quote that I can especially relate to...

"It's hard for me to spend a huge amount on one outfit, like to go to Beverly Hills and say, 'Oh, there's a coat for $5,000.' I'd rather go to Wal-Mart and get a whole bunch of stuff, 'cause it's all gonna look the same on me. I'm gonna look cheap no matter what I wear!"

Now, I look cheap because what I wear is just that. I have nowhere close to Dolly's shopping budget. In fact, I don't have a clothes shopping budget at all. I am broke. A starving-teacher-hungry-artist-budding-entrepreneur kinda broke. I do shop at Wal-Mart. Partly because I have to and partly because I want to, no joke! But when I say I'm broke now, it in no way compares to the kind of broke I've been in the past. Which brings me to my point...even if I had the money to spend on high-dollar labels, I wouldn't. I am too aware of the value of every cent that I spend. To me, why buy one $30 shirt if I can spend time doing my favorite hobby, bargain hunting, and come home with six shirts! That darn high pricetag is definitely NOT going to make me look any hotter. Furthermore, I must add, there's not many a thing that feels better than getting a compliment on an outfit and being able to say, "Thanks; it only cost me $4.99!" Ooh, what an awesome feeling that is! Love it!

This reminds me of something funny that happened on my trip. While riding the river raft ride, a nice local woman asked me a question that I honestly didn't know how to answer: "Do you like Coach?" Apparently, they were having a great sale, and she was being very kind and letting me know...I actually do mean that nicely. I smiled, looking at her a bit puzzled. I am a people pleaser, and as much as I wanted to just say yes, I couldn't lie about it. Isn't that ridiculous? But it's who I am; it would have gone against my allegience to the clearance rack! Couldn't she just look at me, sitting there in my five-year-old blue jean board shorts, $3 clearance Target tank, and $2 Wal-Mart thongs (that's what I call flip-flops) and know that I wasn't that kind of girl? So I mumbled something along the lines of, "I'm not very familiar with the brand," and tried to change the subject. In retrospect, it would have been funny had I asked her if she had seen the adorable No Boundaries summer line that was heating up the aisles of Wally World! But of course I didn't say that; she was just being nice.

On a positive note, maybe she couldn't tell how cheap my clothes were. Could it be that labels actually don't matter as much as some may think? Is it possible that finding a good fit and staying true to your own style is more important than whose name is pressed up against your back?

Now I want to open the floor to your own thoughts on shopping...what labels can't you live without, and what draws you to them? Are you a bargain hunter like me or a label whore like the raft lady? (Again, I kid.) What's your proudest shopping moment? I'll have to ponder this myself and get back to you with my own clearance conquests; I've had so many! hee hee ;)

As you ponder how to comment, check out these new necklaces Jenarcissist got from Shop the Look for a really sweet deal...if you remember, she posted about one of them before and remarked how it was similar to some necklaces from Anthropologie that cost a whole lot more. ;) You can get your own sweet deal from the site by clicking the banner below. (Hurry, offer ends in 5 days!)