This is just a ramble of sorts. An emptying of the brain . Maybe someone out there will find it resonates with them.

After making my first real foray into our big mall here a couple of weeks ago - or maybe it was last week, who knows? - I came to the conclusion that the act of shopping will be different for me now , probably permanently . To sum up, the experience was mostly unpleasant, uncomfortable physically and psychologically, and not something I am looking to repeat. Stores still had old spring and summer merchandise at full price , with none of the usual summer sales and pre-fall collections typical in July here. I was very hot with a mask on, and focused more on physical distancing and not touching anything than looking around. Please know that this isn't a complaint at all. I fully support measures that have to be in place for protecting public health . There's a good reason why Canada has managed covid-19 very admirably and I'm happy to do my part.

I used to use a visit to the mall to get an overall idea of what the stories were for the new season . I could look at a window display at Club Monaco and get a feel for new colour, fabric and style right away. Banana Republic too - altough it's less directional. Aritizia - same. Even H&M. Lululemon for colour and layering ideas. Coach for colour and bag shapes. I like to have the bigger picture in mind when I select new pieces - and you don't get that from a retail website. I can't see myself resuming trips to the mall this year. No desire to do so. I do still enjoy seeing my small indie boutiques, but they tend to be self-edited and less representative of the bigger trend picture. I used to devour fashion magazines voraciously - to the point where it was one of my biggest monthly expenses- but those have really diminished in influence. Most are now thinly disgusted advertorials for cosmetics companies .

So here's the point of all of this: I see the blog, the fashion site, whatever you want to call it , becoming our go-to for information to aid in on-line shopping . And this may sound like a "duh" statement, but for those of us who preferred b&m shopping ....we need blogs like YLF and others , more than ever. Paint me a really big picture, and I can put in my own details .