“Handbags At Dawn” – 10 Things We Hate About Shopping

A universal debate that separates women. Some of us can't get enough of shopping while others dread it with a capital D and here in the Her.ie office it's a pretty even split. There's a few of us who love to take a tour of the shops on a regular basis, but the remainder of the team can't stand it. To be fair, shopping that can get a little annoying, here are a few of the things that drive us round the bend. Queues Possibly THE worst thing about shopping. There's the inevitable queue to pay, the queue into the changing rooms, queue for customer services and as for sale time, there's literally queues everywhere. A battle to get into the shop, a fight to get to that item you insist you saw first and a struggle to get out of the place. It's NOT for the faint-hearted. Every size but yours. There it is, the perfect dress for that night out/wedding/graduation you have coming up. You've been traipsing the shops for hours and finally you spot the one, pounce on it and scramble feverishly through the hangers, searching for each individual size tag. Only to find that your size isn't there. CRYFACE. Searching for that one item. The unanimous conclusion here is that you can NEVER find something when you're looking for it. If you have something you need to get an outfit for and you've left it until the last minute, then you might as well be looking for a needle in a haystack.  Zero craic. Those who hover There are people who enter a shop and for some reason, hover hesitantly at the front entrance. If you're passing by and want to have a peek in, you can't see due to human shaped obstructions and it's equally annoying for people in the store. Why, just why? MOVE IT ALONG, folks. "Are you ok there?!" Now we know shop assistants are just doing their jobs, but seriously! Once is enough to ask if we're alright and please refrain from approaching a customer as soon as they get into the shop. Rather than persuade a person to buy, it often makes us angry and therefore we leave. Not fun.   It looks good on the hanger but... This is just disappointing. You try on that seriously cool dress that has multiple straps and a very fancy drape effect. However, not only is it impossible to actually put the damn dress on but it doesn't fit properly at all and as for taking it off... forget it. The red-faced puffy look isn't a good one. Phew. Go your own way Now we're all for a shopping day with friends or a mother/daughter/sister bonding day but often the fun part of these days are the multiple coffee breaks, and the inevitable stops for lunch and dinner. If you're actually serious about finding something, then going solo is the only way. Tidemarks are not okay There is nothing worse, and we repeat nothing, than when there's only one of the item you want left and it's grubby and stained with make up. Note to any offenders, it doesn't take that much effort to avoid leaving a personal reminder on clothes you try on. Just on the off chance that somebody else might want to purchase what you've discarded. Shopping with no money... You know how it is. You're absolutely broke but for some strange reason, you feel the need to drag yourself around the shops to taunt yourself with all of the pretty things. This never ends well, (especially if you have a credit card). "It's roasting in here!" As the great Carrie Bradshaw once said, "Shopping is my cardio" and we too have been known to use a shopping excursion as a form of exercise. It's a workout in itself, but shops are often unbearably warm and muggy. Especially on Saturdays, Christmas, and sale time. Avoid, like the plague.