Hard Times Shopping

I'm in a pickle. This economic meltdown is making me rethink my shopping beliefs. I've been thinking and thinking about what to spend on to freshen up my Fall wardrobe. Today I wandered into the Target website and saw a few new, very chic, and oh-so-tempting pieces:

On the left, a sweater dress by Jonathan Saunders for Target retailing for $34.99. I am trying to steer clear of synthetics so it was good to know that despite this dress being 88% cotton and 12% nylon, the neck and armhole are 100% cotton—so no feeling itchy around the neck. I really don't want any more acrylic blends in my closet. They feel scratchy and have this strange paint-like smell that won't come off no matter how much Downy you throw in the laundry. I would like to limit sweater purchases to cotton and merino wool (even angora is banned for the itchy factor). Some cashmere but I don't want to spend tons on dry cleaning, so maybe just a cashmere cardie and scarf.

So this dress makes the cut. It's decently priced and would make a great everyday dress. What's putting me in a conundrum is that the dress' price is so close to the Anya Hindmarch bag and makes me think, well if I'm getting the dress why not the bag too? It's a BAG and costs just $10 more. And Anya has made a diffusion line bag that is so faithful to the original. Check out the Target version and the original Shirley side-by-side below:

Not bad, eh? But the idea of bringing a PVC bag home pains me. I reasoned with myself that maybe this can be my rainy weather bag—no love lost if it gets soaked in the NY rain that likes to come at you from the side, rendering umbrellas useless. However I got to thinking that in today's tough times, it's frivolous to spend on something you know you won't touch after one season. I have a brown PVC bag by Rafé for Target that hasn't seen the light of day since I got my brown Paddington hobo last year. That was a steal for $450 at a sample sale, and worth every penny because I use it all the time and love it as much as I did when I first bought it. Maybe instead of shopping for little cheap pieces, the more responsible thing to do is save up that money and buy a quality bag that will last me decades. In tough times, it looks like my shopping credo should be, "Invest—no more throwaways." So no to Anya, and yes to hitting up more sample sales in the hope of digging up another treasure.