LISA DENTON: So, Clint, after reading a Sunday Life story on Easter fashions, I started thinking about how preparations for the holiday have changed. The story made the point that people still buy Easter frocks and suits, but they make sure it's a piece that can be dressed up or down so they can get more wear out of it. It's all about how the economy has affected consumer spending habits.
I don't have anything new for Easter yet, but I remember how buying a new Easter dress for church was a big deal when I was a child. It was usually something a little fancier than I got to wear on a regular Sunday. There would be a new dress, shiny patent leather shoes and an Easter basket to complete the ensemble.
CLINT COOPER: Lisa, I can't remember getting to pick out (or have my mother pick out for me) new clothes for Easter. We did, I'm sure, always get new clothes sometime every year because we'd grown out of the old ones. As for me, it was always embarrassing to be outfitted in "husky" clothes, and I can't stand to hear that term today.
And we always seemed to be the only ones for whom the charge for the clothes was "called in." My mother didn't pay by check and didn't, I don't think, have a credit card. Instead, the sales representative - usually at Miller Brothers, Loveman's or Sears - called some unknown person who gave permission for her to charge the clothes.
LISA: I don't know if I'm an "average" shopper, but I'm always on the lookout for new clothes. If I don't find anything for Easter by the end of the week, it won't be a disaster. My closet has enough key pieces that I don't have to buy clothes specifically for an occasion. But I still feel as if spring and Easter call for renewing the wardrobe. I guess that's one shopping habit that's deeply ingrained.
CLINT: My buying habits have more to do with being in the right place at the right time and finding something I want (though not always need) at a price I will allow myself to spend. Gone are the 1980s when I was single and purchased a lot of clothes. I liked to shop then, and I do now - not that there's anything wrong with that - but I don't have the money to do so.
Our conversation, though, has reminded me that my standard Easter tie (a silk number with irises, my favorite flower) is getting a little old. Perhaps, it's time to retire it and buy one that will take me through another 15 years. Sigh!