The Red Tapes did it.

I am really not much of an accumulator of things. Or so I thought. I have always worn simple, comfortable clothes, almost no jewellery. My slippers and shoes are comfortable, sturdy.

I look around me at girls who seem to live on retail binging, and I snort in derision and feel superior.

I only wear cotton, and the kind that doesn't need starching. The fabric softens with every wash, becoming incredibly comfortable, if worn down, over time. I shop in Fabindia. My delhi frinds tell me it is awefully overpriced, but it seems ok for Madras, and the fit is perfect. Ingenious too, with pockets everywhere, even in salwars!

Speaking of which, I have salwars in black, white and every shade of beige from ivory to sandalwood, adn I mix-match these with all my kurtis.

And then, upon a whim, I counted the clothing articles I have, an here's my shame list:

50 kurtis of various sizes,

10 salwars,

8 trousers (I have two pairs of jeans, two formal(ish) pants, two cotton pants and 2 capris)

12 assorted stoles

1 silk salwar set

Saris from my wedding that I will never wear.

Footwear:

2 pairs of leather workwear sandals

2 joothies 9from jaipur trip)

2 pairs of black leather shoes

1 pair of adidas sneakers

1 pair of red tape casual shoes.

Too much you say? agree with you.

Not so bad, you say? thanks for being kind.

I think it was finally the red tape shoes that woke me up.

For two years now, I realize I've been on autopilot, buying kurti after comfortable kurti, flats after flats, till I simply have too many clothes and shoes.

I realized I dont need to buy clothes for at least a year. The salwars will probably shred, and if they do, I'll think about replacing them. As for footwear, I don't even need to replace any yet. Ihave two of every kind of footwear I need, and that is that.

On second thoughts, there must be much cheaper ways of getting my kurtis than coughing up the cash in fabindia. The fabric I like is the honest desi weaves that I should find in the open market, and I simply need a tailor to copy my best fitting kurtis and salwars, pockets and all. Thankfully, tailoring is cheap in India.

Bizarrely, the decision to quit shopping actually flooded me with relief. This is not like a diet, requiring discipline and focus. After I quit, i realized that it was the shopping that felt strained and unnatural.