Eddie Bauer

This post is probably going to get buried a little bit, because I have two posts to write today, but it's so fun and novel for me that I want to put it up anyway.

Last month, Ryan graduated from BYU. Yay!!! His parents came down from Idaho, and, regardless of the fact that we moved that same weekend, it was still kindof a big deal. Hello, he graduated from BYU! Congratulations, Ryan!

I wanted to get him something a little bit special and nice. But, at the same time, we are relatively poor and can't really afford extravagances. Both of his belts were shot. They were braided leather, and pieces of the braid were breaking and coming off. Since the plan now is for him to get a career, I figured that a nice belt wouldn't go amiss... especially if it were reversible.

I looked in several different stores, and didn't find anything that was quite what I wanted. I wandered past Eddie Bauer, and their clothes looked nice, so I went in. Lo and behold! The store was amazing! I had always glanced over it before; I'm a WalMart girl. I could never afford clothes from any type of brand-name store and, besides, any time I had gone into schmancy stores like that, I found I never really liked the clothes anyway. But Eddie Bauer was different. You see, they sell nice clothes... for the outdoors! They're stylish, but meant to be worn while doing outdoor activities. They have cool pockets, and zippers, and fabrics. Their accessories are often compasses and hiking packs. And- I found Ryan's belt there. It was a little pricey, but so stinking cool! It's black on one side and brown on the other, and the buckle swivels! I've never seen a belt quite like it. I've seen them where the buckle flips, but honestly, this is cooler. Anyway, I bought it, and they gave me a copy of their fall catalogue.

Again, normally I don't look in catalogues. I don't order clothes if I don't have to. I'm a very picky shopper (which is one reason why I actually don't have many "stylish" clothing items) and if I can't try it on, there's no point in buying it. But, I was intrigued enough to flip through the pages. I loved what I saw. Models in jeans, t-shirts, jackets and boots- leading horses. Pictures of people hiking through the mountains sporting cargo pants. A girl leaning against a wooden fence in a sweater, corduroy skirt, and mucking boots! It was fantastic! And all throughout were statements about the founders of the company, how they loved the outdoors and wanted to create clothes that were going to be durable enough to last through all sorts of activities. I was hooked. I kept the magazine around and ended up looking at it way too much.

Fast forward a couple of weeks, and it turns out that my brother-in-law is getting married. His fiance has chosen the colors navy blue and royal blue for their receptions. I am supposed to be part of the wedding party (which was nice of her) and I needed to buy a dress. I don't know if anyone has gone shopping in the last few weeks, but blue is not this season's color! Store after store after store had absolutely nothing. It was ridiculous. I finally, once again, wandered into Eddie Bauer to see if they happened to have anything. Silly as I am, after looking at these clothes in the catalogue for so long, when I finally saw them for real I felt as though I was looking at celebrities. There was the green sweater! And the cute button-down-the-front crinkled blouse! I knew these clothes! Of course, I couldn't actually afford any of them. But then, there in the back, was the clearance rack. Again, lo and behold, Eddie Bauer has come to my rescue! I found a skirt that is white and... get ready for it... dark blue!!! I even found a white shirt to go with it, and a dark blue sweater. (The sweater was not on the clearance rack, but it was too cute to pass up.)

The moral of the story? I don't know. Perhaps there isn't one. But I did discover that even I can like brand-name clothing. And now I have a cute outfit from a store I really like. :)