FashBlog.com

by Christina VanGinkel

My friend just phoned me with a favor to ask. Her daughter is going to be in a tap recital this upcoming weekend and the tap shoes she had intended her to wear did not fit. Would I be able to look online and see if Payless had a pair? Without Internet access at home, she would not be able to look until tomorrow at work, and with the days literally counting down, every hour mattered, especially as she lives rurally and shipping always seems to take a day or two longer than normal. After a quick look at Payless Shoes, I found a pair in both her size and with a delivery schedule that would get them to her in plenty of time for the recital.

Whenever something like this comes up, I always do a bit of reminiscing about how we purchased things such as this before the advent of the Internet. Living in a relatively rural area as we do, our shopping options are oftentimes limited in comparison to someone who lives in or near a large metropolitan area. Our closest malls are some miles away, across the state line, and of the closest three, each only contains about a dozen stores when filled. The oldest and largest of the malls has twelve spaces, with the usual stores, including a Hallmark Card Store, along with a grocery and a bookstore. Only two spots are clothing stores, but neither carries children clothes at all. The second mall has about six stores, of those, two carry clothes, with the largest being JC Penny's, and the other a discount shop that caters to teenagers and their whimsy with clothing styles. Let us just say I do not shop there much. The third and final mall is actually a K Mart with a run of a few other shops connected to it, mainly a dollar store, and a sporting goods store.

We do have a Wal-Mart, a Shopko, and a few other small stores scattered around, but no other main clothing stores to speak of at all. If we cannot find what we are looking for at these malls, our next choices use to be to drive one hundred miles to Green Bay Wisconsin. Thankfully, with the Internet, we can now shop from the comfort of our own homes.

Clothing in every imaginable style and size is only a few clicks away. Shoes are just as easily purchased. In addition, with sites such as Payless, they offer plenty of sizing information to make your purchase both easy and affordable, and with enough knowledge that returns are less likely than ever before. Shipping is available in numerous options, with everything from standard to overnight.

What did I use to do before the Internet was so widely available? I know I spent a lot more time traveling to Green Bay several times a year for needed shopping excursions, such as our annual school shopping trip each August. The last time I had to go, I had four teenagers with me, two of my own and a friend for each. We left the house at six a.m., and did not return until close to ten p.m. We had done so much clothes shopping in one day's time that two credit card companies had called our house and questioned my husband about the unusually high activity on the cards. This is no lie! Thankfully, he was home and could explain to them that it was just our yearly ritual for school clothes. Moreover, thank heavens I can now do at least part of my shopping via the Internet!