I BOUGHT some new clothes the other day. Nothing special; just a couple of tops and two pairs of leggings.
For most people this would be an incident not even worth mentioning. In my case it prompted a phone call from one friend to another.

I’ve never really ‘done’ clothes. Certainly not fashion. Not since leg warmers and ra-ra skirts, at any rate (listen, I was young and impressionable).
For the last 22 years, at least, my summer wardrobe has consisted of jeans and t-shirt, even on the hottest of days, while the rest of the year usually necessitates the addition of a jumper.
And this lack of interest, unusually for women I know, extends to footwear too. I don’t even own a pair of shoes, just one pair of trainers and a couple of pairs of boots (one for going to work, one sexier pair with higher heels for going out.)
What Trinny and Susannah would make of my efforts is anyone’s guess. They’d probably have a coronary, particularly after they discovered I still possess clothes I bought as a teenager. And I still wear them.
So when I actually made the effort to acquire a new outfit or two, it did not go unnoticed.
“I’m trying to look younger,” I explained to Sporty Mum, whose own wardrobe is remarkably similar to mine. She kindly – and probably dishonestly – said I did, before enquiring why I felt the need.
As I reached the grand old age of 40 at the end of last year, I would have thought this was obvious. Now back – unexpectedly – in the market for a new man, and having no desire to attract pensioners just yet, I thought a little updating of my image was required.
Cosmetic surgery discounted out of hand, this meant my wardrobe has to be addressed.
So off to New Look it was. Thankfully they had a sale on (I never buy full-price clothes if I can help it. It seems such a waste of money to spend £20 on a t-shirt when I’ve already got 30 of the things at home.)
Unfortunately, I like the new tops I bought so much I’ve been wearing them ever since (in-between washes, you understand). So I now feel the need to buy something else, in order to have something new to wear when I next go out.
I wonder if this is how all fashion victims start...

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