Apparently It’s “Shoppies” Season

A very relatable feeling.

I have been looking for an explanation for the feeling I’ve had as of late that has driven me to fill various online shopping carts across the internet with hundreds of dollars of merchandise when I should be sleeping. I chalked it up to my natural tendencies to shop and spend money for a number of reasons: stress; an influx of cash; exhaustion; because it’s Tuesday, etc.

While all of those things might be true (they are), the reason that I’ve been itching to not just spend money but to buy clothing, new shoes, makeup, a handbag, or whatever else is because it’s the season of the Shoppies.

Everyone Has the Shoppies Right Now

A term coined by Claire Carusillo and brought to my attention by Tiffany Yannetta at Racked, the shoppies are that itchy, scratchy, inscrutable feeling you get in the spring that drives you to buy things. Yannetta is quick to clarify that the shoppies are different from the spendies — the latter refers to the need to spend money impulsively on a magazine or a candy bar or a pair of street sunglasses or something. The shoppies refer to the desire for “stuff,” like very expensive clothing, handbags, shoes, what have you.

I have the shoppies. I almost always have the shoppies. But I rarely buy the stuff.

Try as I might — and believe me, I do try — I can never pull the trigger on the online shopping cart full of things, even though I know it would (maybe) relieve the itch. I will fill a cart full of perfume, for example, then look at my bank account, my savings account and my income tracking spreadsheet to see if I can reasonably buy $300 worth of fragrances to spray on myself for…myself, I guess, because I work from home. I will move some things in and out of the cart, jiggling with the numbers until they look reasonable. Sometimes I’ll put my debit card info in and then walk away to get some water and not actually buy the perfume, because I don’t need it and I’ve managed to talk myself out of it in the five minutes I was away from my computer.

Yesterday it was bathing suits. Today, as always, it’s clogs, books, and whatever’s kicking around in my Target cart — it looks like a dresser that costs way too much money, plus some sunscreen and a bathing suit. This is how I relieve the shoppies — by browsing. If I’m going to actually buy something and be happy with what I bought, I’m going to do my research, read more reviews than is necessary, maybe watch a video of a Zappos employee modelling the thing I’m going to buy, and then walk to a store and buy it in person.

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