Sophie Kinsella Reveals Her Own Shopping Demons - page 2

17 February 2009

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It wasn’t exactly cheap but I couldn’t believe it was half price, a real bargain. They only had one and it happened to be my size, so it was meant to be of course. But I was half way into the dress in the changing room when my husband phoned me asking how my work was progressing. ‘Are you really focused?’ he asked with concern. ‘I’m so glad you are making progress.’ And I said ‘Oh yes it’s going well’ and whispered ‘shhhh’ to the shop assistants.  I felt so guilty.

They asked me: ‘What’s the event that you are buying the dress for?’ and I said, ‘I don’t have an event. I just love the dress’. It was a perfect fit and I did buy it. Then my agent threw a party for me. No one was actually wearing a full length sequined dress but I didn’t care, I wore mine and felt great.

Do you have too much of anything in your wardrobe?

Probably shoes, although really I don’t think there is such a thing as too many shoes. Perhaps I have too many white t-shirts.  I’m a magpie. I love so many designers and have every label under the sun, I am very fickle.

Is there one item in your wardrobe that you can’t live without?

It changes every month, I have a gorgeous bag that I love just now.  I saw it in the Prada store when we were shooting the scenes for this film in Miami. I put my name on the waiting list and they pushed me up the list, so I got the bag and love it.  Prada is currently my favourite label.

Is there anything that you regret in your wardrobe?

I wish I could say no, but there are weird purchases made under the influence of hormones. I have a terrible pair of shoes, just terrible, what was I thinking? They are platform shoes with silver bits and straps that wind up your legs and a hole that goes through the heel.

They are hooker shoes, but they were on sale and I thought I would wear them for a special party; they sit in the wardrobe doing nothing. It is shameful.

Do you shop everywhere you go?

Everywhere, you can always find something wherever you go. I was in Oman on holiday a while ago and I kept seeing beautiful shawls for sale. Now I do not wear shawls ever, but I became captivated by them. I thought ‘oh my god shawls, why have I never bought any before? This will be my new thing’. My husband said: ‘people will call you the girl in the shawl’. 

And I thought: ‘I really am turning into Becky Bloomwood’. Anyway I bought three and have only ever worn one of them. But it is easy to get carried away; you see something and suddenly have a new image of yourself.  I thought: ‘I will look like a Bedouin princess in my lovely cashmere shawls’ ..yeah right.

How does your husband deal with your shopping sprees?

He has come to understand my love of shopping, he’s very sweet.  He sometimes comes with me and he tries to look interested, he tries so hard, but he just can’t get into it.

For him, shopping takes half an hour. He’s a good shopper, but he’ll buy two suits and ten shirts and then he’ll be done. And that is the difference.  For men like him it’s a mission. You get what you want and then you are finished for the rest of the year.  

But I need more and more. I can do a big shop and stock up my wardrobe and think I have enough.  and then I walk past a shop and see some fab little bag and I say:  ‘oh I want that’ and that is the difference between men and women.

What is your advice for men with shopaholic women in their lives?

I think they should have tolerance and frankly I think they should all read the Shopaholic books and then they will understand the working of women’s minds. If you don’t want to join in a shopping trip, don’t come. There’s nothing worse than that sight of half a dozen men loping around miserably in a shop, with all the women.

What they have to remember is that they are usually spending money on other things, such as sporting fixtures, nights at the pub or gambling weekends. Perhaps they just upgraded the computer, they buy a lot of   expensive stuff. Every time my husband says to me ‘do you need another pair of shoes?’ I say ‘does the computer need to be any more sophisticated? I don’t think so’.

Finally what advice do you have for shopaholics?

Buy yourself a little treat if you feel the need to shop. Instead of buying the Chanel bag, buy the Chanel lipstick; you still get the packaging, which we love of course and the experience, which we love too.

Go to a lovely store, wander about and enjoy it all; then head for the makeup department and buy eye shadow rather than the head to toe outfit. You can still get a buzz. There’s no point trying to go cold turkey and stop shopping altogether.

Confessions of a Shopaholic is released 20th February

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