I like shopping, so I can't say I mind the shopping for anything. But the most frustrating things to try and find in my book are good, all-season wool trousers and pants suits. Fully lined and all that, yet still stylishly cut. I've thought about getting them made, but the only such place that made them in my town is A) now out of business and B) was very tweedy. Heavy tweed.

You know, I never thought about this before... but can you do something like go into the local Chanel boutique and get a pair of pants made? I'm thinking not. They don't look like they're set up that way.

Pants! They are either too short, wrinkle too easily or just don't make me look great. I have to try on so many pairs to find one that it a winner. And is it just me or do pant silhouettes change frequently? Just when I had dress trousers with wide legs figured out, slim legs were "in." Then ankle length became the rage, even for business casual. I also try not to over invest in any one style because styles seem to change a lot. I tend to stick with skirts because they are easier to fit and have more style longevity.

And why are so few dress pants actually lined?

Pants are the worst, especially jeans. Even if I find a pair that fits in the dressing room, I'm never certain if they'll shrink or stretch after some wearing and washing.

Oh, boots, I forgot about them! Yeah, tall boots are a sticking point for me. A) I have large feet, skinny ankles and wide calves and B) I'm a cheapskate so any item where the baseline cheapest price for a quality option is $100 is going to give me palpitations.

I also dislike categories of items I can rarely thrift, like boots and bras. (Well, you can thrift bras, but I gotta draw the line somewhere.) I feel like I balance out my costlier shoes, jeans, tops, with the ones that I can find cheaply secondhand, but (understandably) people keep decent boots until they fall apart, so they're rarely out there secondhand. Same with quality handbags but I'm not much of a fancy bag person so I don't really care.

Like many others Swim suits would be my hardest one.

Combination of bust size, sufficient length in the torso, coverage versus frumpiness. It is swimsuit shopping when I realise that I am not a standard size!!

Shoes are a pleasure in the most part, and lingerie is normally okay. Jeans can be exhausting with trying them on and off.

While I do buy some things online I find most of my loves are from stores, and sometimes that more spontaneous buy. I think I now have a sufficient sized closet that there would be few occasions where I would need an emergency purchase (Black tie excepted).