Catalogue shopping is not what it used to be. Today, everything is specialized or discounted - less than what you want in every way. Sears is still doing it thank heavens, because one of my favourite things in the whole wide world is to sit down with the Sears catalogue and go shopping for my ideal life - or rather lives, because with a Sears catalogue I can be any body and every body that I want to be.
The catalogue is set up perfectly for exactly this type of activity. I start out in women's clothing and pick out my wardrobe. I can wear anything. In catalogue world I look good in orange, even a size two will fit if I want it to, and everything is age appropriate. So I move through the dresses and suits, the blouses and skirts, the pants, jeans, sweaters and evening wear continuing on through lingerie and shoes. At this point, the catalogue moves in to men's wear, but I'm not ready for that yet, so I skip a few pages and arrive at furniture. Living room, dining room, the kitchen - which can take days because now you're into dishes and appliances - the bathroom, and last but not least, the bedroom.
As a little girl, I wanted a canopy bed. My idea of the perfect boudoir was white laminate furniture with gold antiqued curlicues, ruffled pink bedding and best of all the matching pink arc of canopy stretched over it. This was an image ripped from the pages of the Sears catalogue. What little girl didn't want that same bedroom suite? It was surely fit for a princess. The mock settings for these furnishings were rooms that always contained an area just beyond the bed where the floor was raised a step. Light beyond it hinted at windows, walk in closets and and en-suite bathroom. That canopy bed promised a way of life that I wanted.
As I chose the fittings for each room, I'd go back and forth tweeking my wardrobe to match an evolving image of my life as it was defined by the furniture I chose. Sometimes I'd be seduced by camping equipment and have to go back to women's wear and trade the satin and pearls for khakis and fleece.
And then on to men's wear - which o course was about finding the man to fit into this divine lifestyle I've created. A man who can sleep under a pink canopy and be ok with it. Ah, the Sears catalogue really had it all.
The catalogue is set up perfectly for exactly this type of activity. I start out in women's clothing and pick out my wardrobe. I can wear anything. In catalogue world I look good in orange, even a size two will fit if I want it to, and everything is age appropriate. So I move through the dresses and suits, the blouses and skirts, the pants, jeans, sweaters and evening wear continuing on through lingerie and shoes. At this point, the catalogue moves in to men's wear, but I'm not ready for that yet, so I skip a few pages and arrive at furniture. Living room, dining room, the kitchen - which can take days because now you're into dishes and appliances - the bathroom, and last but not least, the bedroom.
As a little girl, I wanted a canopy bed. My idea of the perfect boudoir was white laminate furniture with gold antiqued curlicues, ruffled pink bedding and best of all the matching pink arc of canopy stretched over it. This was an image ripped from the pages of the Sears catalogue. What little girl didn't want that same bedroom suite? It was surely fit for a princess. The mock settings for these furnishings were rooms that always contained an area just beyond the bed where the floor was raised a step. Light beyond it hinted at windows, walk in closets and and en-suite bathroom. That canopy bed promised a way of life that I wanted.
As I chose the fittings for each room, I'd go back and forth tweeking my wardrobe to match an evolving image of my life as it was defined by the furniture I chose. Sometimes I'd be seduced by camping equipment and have to go back to women's wear and trade the satin and pearls for khakis and fleece.
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