Shopping with your friends is a rite of passage. It's on par with your first wild girls' night out and holding your friend's hair back after too many tequillas. Or when you gather like a girl band, with Ben in one hand and Jerry in the other, to comfort a member who has just gone through with an overdue break up. The girly shopping spree is seen as the ultimate bonding session, but one ridden with as many obstacles as one of those muddy assult course classes people sign up to but you'd never catch me doing.
Shopping is one of life's great indulgences, but is shopping with friends really all it's cracked up to be? Taylor Swift thinks so. The singer says in the January issue of ASOS magazine, out today, that she relies on her BFFs to influence her sartorial choices. 'When I'm getting dressed, it's always based on what my friends will think. They are my number one priority and the opinions of girls are more important to me,' said Swift. Maybe if we went shopping with Karlie and Lorde we might feel differently, but shopping with BFFs tends to be more traumatic than trendy.
Here's some problems you might have faced:
You're BFFs for a reason - you probably like the same things
There's holidays, television and, inevitably, style. You both set off in search of the seasonal update your wardrobe is missing, and settle on the same cream, lightweight turtle neck jumper that will make any outfit oh so AW14 - beneath a dress or with a tartan miniskirt. Cue several minutes of reluctant apologies of 'oh it's ok, you found it first' through gritted teeth. Your friend wins, and every time you see a randomer on the tube sporting the look you want to cry.
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**Your best friend picks up a version of the patchwork cape-come-shawl that Cara wore for Burberry **
However, instead of exuding understated glamour, your friend looks more like a medieval peasant. She is delighted by her find. You, on the other hand, freeze in panic over whether to own up or fake a smile.
You cannot trust on your friends to tell you the whole truth about that fuchsia midi-skirt you've picked out
You trust them to tell you that you are way hotter than that guy who isn't replying to you on Tinder, or that last night's party was really not that fun while you were stranded in bed with flu. But can you expect them to suddenly change tact sandwiched between rails of coats. You'd be wiser taking your mum who will throw herself in the way of you buying those over-the-knee, thigh-high stiletto 'night walker' boots. And you will thank her.
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Shopping as a group will involve guaranteed changing room drama
Beneath unflattering, yellow lighting, and in a shoebox-sized space, tensions run high. It's a political game when you both step out in outfit one. You are ready to mask the envy at how your friend has slithered into size eight coated black skinnies, while you look like an extra from Sesame Street as you attempt to channel Shrimps' pastel-coloured faux fur.
Shop with your mates on the regular and you run the risk of merging into a particular style tribe
There is no room for being individual about fashion when your buys are all based on a parliamentary-style consensus. Also, with clothes being a key reflector of your level of cool, saying you actually rather like those patterned pyjama Stella McCartney-esque trousers, is a risky move to friends who wouldn't be seen dead in them. You therefore play it safe by using imitation as the highest form of flattery with your pals.
Shopping with friends is a financial pitfall
When solo you are a savvy shopper, deciding that queuing from 3am to lay your hands on a grey cropped sweater with 'Alexander Wang' on it is not the best use of your time or money. In the company of BFFs you become convinced that you can afford the Fendi 'Peekaboo' tote, with your friends' encouragement, if you live off baked beans for a month. The day after a girly shopping spree and you are sobbing into your receipts.
Friends are your rock in so many ways, however outfit decisions are not one of them. Taylor goes on to say that she doesn't need her BFFs to follow her around and 'provide constant affirmation'. Isn't that the definition of a girly shopping spree Miss Swift?
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.