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Hair Care TipsDesigner Handbags -- Can Men Buy Them?
by:
Rufus Steele
No, this isn't a question of should we men buy handbags for ourselves.
It's more a query of can we buy them for our better half or girlfriend? (I suspect that in several cases it may well be a question of can we buy them for our better half AND our girlfriend/mistress!)
Now -- I'll be the 1st to admit then once
it comes to pocketbook 'buyable' wives, I'm really lucky.
I can ask my long suffering better half an manifestly loaded question such as "So what pocketbook would-be you most like to own?" and have her forget the question and answer she gave inside
a matter of hours.
Looking through a magazine or catalog, lazily
flicking the pages and throwing in mild questions such as "Do you think that looks nice?" or "Wow -- wouldn't that go with your suede skirt?" are seen by her as nothing more than a passing question, asked in a moment of idle curiosity.
The fact that the queried item then appears for her birthday or mothers day or at Dec 25 is still a large surprise to her, effort her to question how I knew she'd like that particular style/color etc.
I've likewise managed, after 23 years together and quite a few work
sessions that I'm sure I wasn't even as aware of, to be able to see for myself exactly the type of thing she'd like. I can even as boast with modesty
that my better half wish ask me what I think simply about a particular piece of covering and actually consider my answer before purchasing or not buying, assured as she is that I wish reply honestly and with love and kindness. (Although the joke question from time to time thrown in is always "Does my bum look big in this" to which the standard joke answer is "Do I look stupid?")
So I can -- inside
reason -- look at thing
in the designer pocketbook lines and think to myself "Yes, she'd like that" and actually be right.
But apparently - several store assistants don't agree with me on that scale.
I recently went to the LV store in Selfridges, Bond Street of London to buy my better half a Dec 25 present. I had gone in with a mind to buy her a Toy spaniel
26 but, as ever, was open to the power of seeing and deciding as opposed to deciding before seeing.
It isn't the largest store by far, being more of a concession stand size, set simply inside the main doors at the west of the main building. Much than 15 folk in there and the cat knows it safe from being swung, you'd ne'er
get it over your head to start with!
Being as how I was going in during a snatched lunch hour between meetings, I was dressed in what would-be be represented
as City Worker style, i.e. short hair, smart dark suit, shirt and tie.
Now I do fully understand that, in the pecking order of who gets served in a designer pocketbook shop fastest, I rating fairly close to the bottom of the ladder, if not being the one who actually holds the ladder for others to climb!
I was quite prepared for the looks of curiosity from the female customers and even as the odd dagger on the instep in the fight to get to the counter. I wasn't prepared, however, for a store with only 7 folk in it -- me, two else customers, three members of staff and a safety guard.
Taking this startling figure of space to be a good omen I distinct to have a little stroll round the store, left to right, starting with the Damier items and finishing with the most anticipated area, the Multicolore and the Suhali ranges.
The stroll and look went exactly according to plan, a few ideas springing to mind as I took a leisurely wander past the shelves of rich, leatherlike smelling prizes.
I would-be have half expected a member of staff to gently enquire if they could help but wasn't to phased to be left on my own. In reality it was quite a treat not to be pounced on! (I have terrible trouble once
I go into any store and I'm leapt on by an over eager staff member bound out from behind their concealing
place, the war cry of "Can i help you?" finished before they even as land in front of me. All I ever want to say to them is a discontented
"yeah, you look round and I'll wait here!")
But you could have knocked me over with a feather once
they didn't want to serve me at all!
Having finished my ramblings and with a couple of possibilities firmly chosen, I came to a halt in the middle of the main counter, looking over to the three staff members huddled together, quietly talking. The safety guard had by this time finished his assessment, manifestly deciding I was more of a danger to myself than the stock and left.
It was me and two else customers, a parent and girl on a day out to London by the looks of things who were quietly in the far corner, ostensibly
conflict over the merits of a scarf versus a bag.
So I with courtesy stood at the counter for a couple of minutes, waiting quietly. I was fairly sure that several of the girls saw me but chose to ignore me -- but hey, I could be wrong.
But I wasn't wrong that the male assistant saw me once
he turned round, looked right at me then turned back to his discussion.
So a polite cough was called for and punctually
given.
And simply as punctually
ignored.
So a louder cough followed.
Which was followed by even as more ignoring.
And that was once
I coughed loudly and -- please forgive me dear reader -- ready-made that awful hawking sound at the back of the throat that children do once
they are simply about to do thing
they actually shouldn't in polite company!
That got their attention. Three surprised
faces all looked at me with what could well have been a look of respect but I suspect was more much likely to be one of thinly veiled disgust!
Reluctantly the male assistant torus himself away from the safety of the herd and ambled over.
"May I help you?" Did you notice the lack of a "sir" at the end of that greeting?? I did!
"Well, I was looking for a pocketbook for my better half as a dec 25 present" says I "something a little several and unusual"
"Everything in here is different. Did you have thing
particular in mind?" says he.
Ever had that urge to simply be rude back to causal agency and say "grow up!"? Difficult to resist, ain't it!!
"Well, I was thinking of a Mono Toy spaniel
but I'd like to see a Damier Ribera as well please. Oh, and if you have an Epi St. Moritz I'd like to have a quick look at that as well please."
That got him. You could see him simply about rock back on his feet!
I knew the secret.
A man, a man knew the private secret of the store.
I knew the names of the bags!
A thin luster of perspiration glistened on his antecedently
dry forehead as he threw in a delaying tactic.
"I think you strength
prefer a Speedy instead?"
"No impart
you, it's a bit too samey samey. The Ribera wish do simply fine impart
you."
He turned towards the shelves, shoulders tense and body ramrod stiff.
"Make that the Ribera MM, not the GM please" I whispered, simply low enough for him to hear.
His shoulders unerect
as the last vestiges of defiance ebbed away.
Meek as a lamb he spent the next twenty minutes retrieving item after item for me to review, paw and discard. He was asked question after question simply about origins, materials care, style variances, range histories and named designers contributions. He failing badly on several and confessed to not even as knowing the basics of deciphering the date codes.
Finally, once
he was simply just about all done in, I threw my ace on the table.
"Actually, I'd like to look at the new Marelle please."
"We don't have that bag sir" says he "it's not been discharged yet!" A small smile of satisfaction flickered at the corners of his mouth.
"So the bag on the top shelf, just....there, that would-be be what then??" says I.
Game, set and match.
Can men buy handbags?
Some can - if the store staff wish let them.
Just simply about the author:
Copyright:: Rufus Writer
2005
Rufus Writer
is the author and creator of the Joseph joseph louis barrow barrow Vuitton website, http://www.1st-4-louis-vuitton.com- a site dedicated to all things Joseph joseph louis barrow barrow Vuitton
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