Impulsive Skulls

This post is dedicated to Grant, the only reason why I'm writing it. The pictures aren't very good because I wasn't feeling well. When my mom got home, she commented that I looked so sad and it was only after she mentioned that I noticed that I really was. I don't know why. A busy day with a lack of sleep, plenty of anxiety, hunger with nausea and a stomachache would do it, but I don't think that was all.

I was at Pacific Mall on Sunday, where I bumped into Francis who was killing time until his Casino Rama bus arrived, so we wandered around. I hadn't really intended on buying very much. Really, I didn't. Somehow I was missing $200 when I left and I was still owing $60.

JCY House was having a "sale", like they always do at any given time. They just tag everything in the store with ridiculous prices then offer 70% off. If you so much as stop to look at something, the sales ladies are immediately hovering around you, reminding you that there's a sale and if you're really interested, they'll "see what they can do."

I've been pining after this jacket for a long time now. The first one I saw had a purple design and they claimed that they didn't have it in anyother colour, while trying to convince me to buy it anyways. What's wrong with purple? It's one of my least favourite colours, next to green. After calling all of their ubiquitous stores, they found that they had one left in the warehouse that was closed on Sunday, so they'd call me when it arrived and I'd have to go pick it up on Monday. That turned out to be a lie. They had actually just gotten it transferred from the Times Square branch, but they didn't want me to go personally or else they'd lose their commission.

The collar and belt can be left open or they can be fastened.

On the back, there's lovely pinstripe design and a pocket on the left arm.

There's also a removable hood and there's a second smaller collar underneath it.
There are two pockets on the front, as well as two extra ones on the inside. These clothes aren't very typical of JCY House, because they usually just carry a lot of casual, brand name clothing and apparel, such as those of PUMA, Emily the Strange, True Religion, Paul Frank, and Miss Sixty sometimes. Did I mention that everything is tagged at unbelievable prices?

Yes, I know my hair is getting rowdy. I'm going to get a haircut soon. It's always in my face. I once chopped off a lot of my hair in an effort to lose weight. There was one point when I had seriously thought it through and was ready to shave my head bald, but that's a story for another time. I should probably dye it black again, because I kind of fried it so it looks brown and damaged. I wish I still had my bright red hair, but it fades into a glowing orange too quickly and I used to have to keep re-dying it all the time. Auburn or maroon are both very nice, but they have a tendency to fade to brown very quickly. I like it very unnaturally black, even for a Chinese person, to the point that it's very shiny and almost has blue highlights. Of course, that's hard to maintain for very long, but it's the least fussiest of all the colours. Because I'd have to wash the dye out in the shower, I'd better wait until my *ahem* wounds heal.

I had really only wanted the jacket, but since they thought that they only had the purple print jacket, the lady started to push me into buying the matching skirt in grey. If there was a grey skirt, then wasn't there a grey jacket? It was sold out and I should have come earlier. But I did and it hadn't existed at that time. After the incredible discount on some outrageous sum, she said it would be $110. That is definitely over my allocated budget, but if I really wanted it, "we can talk about the price later."

I have to admit that it was very appealing. It's laced up with ribbons on each side of the outer skirt made up of numerous ruffled layers. It has lace at the bottom of the inner skirt. Pinstripes. Shiny silver buttons. Silkscreen-style prints. Gothic lettering. All of my favourite things :]
I couldn't resist. It also came with a hilarious detachable suspender/hood. The hood is huge. My head disappears when I put it on. In the photo of the two skirts separated, there's a flap at the waist of the outer skirt, which is placed below the inner skirt. The flap is used to fasten the two rings of the suspender straps to the outer skirt. There was also another set with shorts worn underneath in the place of the skirt. Shorts? I never wear shorts. Skirts are infinitely better :]
Say no to "skorts". Just. Say. No.

At first she was telling me how the skirts were independent of each other and so I could wear them separately - the top one shown above on its own and the lower one over anything, such as jeans. She asked me for my size and since they vary from brand to brand, I really didn't know. Plus, my size is always changing. She took a look at me and guessed far below what I expected would have fitted me. How flattering ;)

She picked out a pair of True Religion jeans, but they really didn't look nice with that shade of blue. I had to rummage through my closet before taking these photos and I was delighted to find a pair of jeans with a dark brown wash from Buffalo Jeans that suit the outer skirt. The top shown above was purchased for $25 the last time I was at Pacific Mall. I like lace and ruffles.

Since she failed to demonstrate that the skirt would go with any pair of jeans and it didn't fit with the dress pants I was wearing when I went in, so I was pretty convinced that it wouldn't match anything else and I wouldn't be able to wear them separately as she claimed. Then she pulled out the matching pants. Unlike the skirt that I was persuaded to buy as a replacement for the jacket, I had absolutely no intention of buying the pants. She made me try them on, just to show how the skirt could still be versatile.

Just as I was about to refuse to buy the pants and insist on just the skirt, another sales lady came to say that they found a grey one. That's when she pulled out the calculator and punched in a jumble of numbers to tell me that the original price was close to $500. That's my cue to gasp and say that I couldn't afford it. But wait! Guess what? I get a special discount. Even more if I bought them together. How much is each item on its own? That wasn't important; they would be sold as a combination so they couldn't really tell me.

I didn't get a chance to say that I didn't want the pants. It just got added up with everything else and I'd have to take them if I wanted a special deal. But if I didn't buy it all, I'd save even more. She told me I "should" buy it as a set - it just made sense.

I can't remember, but I think after my discount, it was going to be $335 or something like that. There was no way I was paying that much. They gave in and said the best they could do would be $285. I don't think so. They asked me how much I was willing to pay. Maybe $220 - $230. That was unreasonable. That was only the beginning of the negotiations.

I started going on and on about how I don't have much of an allowance, how long I had to save up, etc. But it's from Japan. How about $250? Studio Tokyo is a brand name. Really? I've never heard of it. She showed me a picture of a Japanese girl wearing it in a magazine. It was the most I had ever spent on just three articles of clothing. $280 was the lowest price. I don't think my parents would approve, they're very conservative, they'll get angry at me, etc. They couldn't lower it, they really couldn't. I don't really have that much in savings. How about $250? Absolutely not. $255? No, $280.

I was starting to get anxious because I was worried that I was running out of time, but I wasn't willing to just give in. Come on, $255. Fine, fine, $275. That's still too much, I think I might only be able to afford the jacket and skirt.... After much more bartering, we finally arrived at $265. While she was getting her invoice pad out, I asked if we could just even up the number. She seemed appalled and there was absolutely no way that they would charge $250. No, no, I meant $260. She reluctantly gave up on the $5. No tax if I paid cash. Of course.

I only had $230 on me. I wasn't lying when I said I was pressed for cash. Since I wasn't getting the jacket and I still had another article of clothing I was planning on buying from another shop, I paid $200 with part of it being a deposit. I left my name and number but also wrote all of that information down - how much I paid, how much I was still owing. She wrote me a receipt and told me that she'd call me as soon as it arrived. She gave me a plain plastic shopping bag, and because I collect bags of any kind, I asked for a paper JCY House bag - "umm, to advertise for you" - they were more than happy to give me one.

While I was waiting for my dad to arrive, it finally registered that I had spent $260 on three articles of clothing. I usually choose to have more items at a bargain price. I started convincing myself that it was okay because I really liked the clothes and I kind of got a good deal. It's all just a scam. The customer is supposed to feel a strong sense of satisfying achievement. I was wondering how I would get to the mall again tomorrow. I started making my way towards the bank to use their ABM machine, so I wouldn't have to ask whoever might be driving me to make a stop at the bank. I was rather annoyed when I was halfway there and remembered that my dad had told me to leave my ID and all of the other important items in my wallet at home. That included my debit card. I had taken out the cash and put it in another wallet, because there really was a good chance that there might be pickpockets in the crowd. It wasn't such a big deal because I wasn't intending on returning to the store to pay the remaining $60, so I'd have to find another way to the bank. Maybe I could drop in on the way home.

The next day I ended up calling them a couple of times because they didn't call me. My mom started to fret about whether they didn't actually have it in stock after all and kept bothering me about what I would do. That ended up getting me anxious. She wanted me to start bargaining to try to get as much of my money back as possible and we were debating how I should phrase it; for example, the pants and skirt should be worth around $150, so they should return $50. Maybe if I didn't get my jacket, then I'd refund everything. No exchanges, no refunds. I hate it when she does that because it makes my head spin. Eventually, I pulled out the receipt and it stated that the jacket costs $88 and so my deposit was $28. Great, but what if I didn't get my jacket? I'd only get $28 back. At around 6 PM, I called again and she said she'd call me back after checking in the back room. Yes, my jacket had arrived. Why didn't they call me if they had already received it? Then I received a phone call not long after I hung up and was informed that my jacket had arrived. I guess I got my phone call.

My dad was not at all happy to see that jacket. He didn't like the skulls. I hadn't really noticed them when I was trying them on. He said I was already down on my luck and black wasn't such a nice colour - but skulls!! He wanted me to just give up the deposit. I didn't even want to say how much I had paid and my dad didn't know that I also had a skirt and pants that had skulls all over them. My mom thought the articles were unique. I was a bit worried that it might give off the 'wrong impression', but if it did, then that's part of my image. I told my dad it was my birthday gift for myself. He said it wasn't a matter of birthday presents or not. He didn't like the skulls and black background. I paid and left as quickly as I could.