RHYS BOWEN: Ask anyone and they will tell you I am usually a sensible, frugal person. I never buy anything unless I really need it. I see a lovely pair of black slacks, but... I already have a good pair of black slacks so I don't need two, right? And I always check the sales racks. My daughter Jane despairs of me. When I show her a new item of clothing that I’ve just bought she asks “Did you find that on the sale rack?” and usually I answer yes. She rolls her eyes. “Mom. You don’t need the sales rack.”
I can only think of two occasions when I have made true impulse buys:
This is one of them. John and I were on vacation in Mexico when we spotted him in a gallery and both instantly fell in love with him. He is from Oaxaca and is made of their famous black clay. We went in and bought him, packing him carefully amid our clothing to bring home safely. When we got him home we noticed that he should have been holding something—a spear? A fishing rod? Still not sure. He has sat on my coffee table in Arizona ever since, guarding the house when we are gone for six months.
And in his arms—another impulse buy. At a native American art fair I met a man who makes Navajo flutes. So I had to have one. It sounds wonderful—haunting, mystical. And I was able to choose the talisman that went with it to control the air flow. I chose an eagle, symbol of creativity.
I realize now that I do have a third impulse buy: I was walking around the small mission town of St. Juan Bautista when I saw a painting of a seascape in an art gallery. It was simple and beautiful and although I did not need another painting in my life I bought it. And still adore it.
I can think of a couple of occasions when I didn’t buy and still regret.
I was touring with Cara Black and we went into a boutique in Malibu. Cara made me try on a white leather jacket. It was soooo gorgeous. Get it, Cara kept saying, but it was $1500 and in those days that was way too much to pay for a jacket (It still is, even though I could now afford it). But I have to confess that I've regretted it. I haven't seen another one like it since. And Cara keeps reminding me: "You should have bought that jacket. I told you!"
Another occasion was an art fair in Central Park New York. There was a three dimensional painting of a ballerina leaping off the canvas. It was huge—probably six feet by four and there was no way I could get it home, and it was seven or eight hundred dollars—money I certainly didn’t have in those days. And I really didn’t have a wall to put something that size on either. But I still regret it. Now I have a huge wall in our Arizona house—twenty five foot ceiling where that painting would have looked spectacular. So maybe next time I’m in New York I might just check…. Just in case…
So, dear Reds, confess: are you an impulse buyer? What true impulse items have you bought?
