By Cheryl Mattox Berry
I like shopping at boutiques, but sometimes the sales associates hover too much and get on my nerves. When I walked into one boutique looking for a dress, a store employee pounced on me at the door, saying she had the perfect pair of pants – the Lisette brand Oprah Winfrey raved about on her talk show.
She didn’t ask whether I was looking for anything special as they usually do. She just assumed because the pants were a fave of Winfrey’s that I would fall in love with them. I explained nicely that I don’t buy a product simply because Celebrity X endorses it.
Winfrey has her favorite things, and so do I. Rarely does our list contain the same items. Besides, nothing comes between me and my NYDJ shorts, capris, ankle, boyfriend and straight pants.
When I didn’t find a dress, I sauntered over to the pants rack, and the woman continued to pitch the $125 Lisette pants, even shoving them toward me so that I could feel the fabric. They looked and felt a lot like a style of Alfani pants sold at Macy’s for about $40.
Out of curiosity, I tried them on. They were stretchy, comfortable and made me look slimmer, just like the lower-priced Alfani pants.
However, the Lisette pants were about five inches too short. The saleslady offered the shop’s alteration services, saying the seamstress could add length. I was sure the pants still wouldn’t be long enough to keep them from looking like high waters, and altering them would hike the price by $30.
I blocked out the saleslady’s infomercial about the Lisette pants and Winfrey, and took them off. If I wanted that style of pants I would definitely go with the Alfani brand because they looked the same and fit better (longer) than the Lisette brand, and cost less.
As I left the store sans pants, I remembered the TV and radio commercials featuring Sy Syms, founder of the now-defunct Syms stores. He coined the slogan, “An Educated Consumer is Our Best Customer.” I’ll add the following advice, “Don’t be a slave to celebrity endorsements.”