cradle-snatching, the sartorial kind.

On Tuesday night I went to pick up my new glasses (in my old frame) from the Fielmann flagship store on Mariahilfer Str. On my way, I decided to quickly pop into H&M to buy a white t-shirt to be worn underneath jumpers. So far so innocent. There are 3 branches on Mariahilfer, the one next to Fielmann you enter through the kids' dept. 2,99! screamed a label at me. 70% off another one and I immediately forgot that I was actually officially on a DECLUTTERING mission, although you wouldn't know it. Simultaneously blessing and cursing the fact that kids these days are obviously massive, I tried on a wrap-dress (€ 2,99) and a tank-top (€ 4,50, boys dept.) and found that both fit:

(sorry for the hazy pictures but I took them myself)

What I mean by "massive" is that the dress was size 158 which should equal the girl's height. Now I am 1,70 m tall and nowhere near underweight (58 kgs approx.) and the dress was positively loose as was the tank top (size 170). When I was a little kid myself and no H&M was around I was too fat for most Italian-designed kid's lines so my Mum and maternal granny (a dressmaker) ended up sewing most of my clothes. As an adult it never occurred to me even to look in the kids' dept. until l'Italiana (considerably more petite than me) pointed out to me that she sometimes bought things there because they were simply cheaper. She has a point as I doubt I could have found "grown-up" clothes for that prize.

I can see the Mermaid turning her eyes heavenwards as she's reading this as only this Monday as I was showing her my Christmas gifts and most recent purchases ten minutes after a conversation about post-graduate courses which I dismissed as out of the question for myself for lack of savings, she suggested not buying so much crap, but rather saving for more worthwhile projects. (I wonder if my Mum put her on to this...). I promise to be good and to give the H&M's kids' dept a wide berth in the future, o.k.?