Why are NT women so obsessed over shopping?

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Every woman seems to have that sort of knack about shopping. They're always going on about clothes, and where they see bargains and so on. Shopping confuses me. You wouldn't think that shopping would be something you have to know, but it is. It's almost like a hobby, really, and it's one of those things where you have to be good at to do (although you wouldn't think it). I am bad at shopping, which makes me feel very abnormal, because every woman who I know loves shopping (for clothes), and they all seem to know how to look for bargains, and they're so good at judging the prices. I'm so bad at it and it's so embarrassing of me to not know how to shop. I see women dragging their husbands and kids around these clothes shops, just because they can't go past a clothes shop without looking in. Ohh, it's so annoying how they all seem to be that way. Except me.

Anyone else feel the same? Is this an Aspie thing, since I seem to be the only woman who's not interested in clothes shopping? Or is it just me being awkwardly unique?

I don't particularly like clothes shopping. I order undergarments online, and I wear my present garments until they are threadbare or falling apart. When they start to fall apart, or if I gain weight, I hit the nearest thrift store and buy "new" clothing. I don't like going to malls or large department stores, because of crowds and sensory issues. I went through a period of liking to shop for clothing when I was in my twenties and had lost a lot of weight. Still, I only liked shopping alone. I cannot stand shopping with others when it comes to clothes. Especially other women who are NT. There seems to be rules about shopping in a group that I can't decipher. I have heard of women encouraging a clueless person to buy things that they look ridiculous in, having a private joke at the clueless person's expense. And shopping with others is too distracting.

Lot of women are that way and I have no interest in clothes shopping. I used to buy clothes all the time in second hand stores or look at clothes seeing how cool they were but since I have enough clothes, I don't bother looking at them. In fact I hate shopping for clothes I need. I needed new shoes for work so I got some last weekend and I was lucky to find a pair at Ross for cheap.

Ross is a clearance store in the USA where they sell new items for a lower price other stores send to them because they had too much in stock.

I dunno if it's an aspie thing. I think fashion is over rated and it's too expensive to keep buying them all the time so I stick with the clothes I have and the shoes.

Last edited by League_Girl on 02 Jul 2011, 2:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I pretty much agree with League Girl's analysis. NTs seem to want to buy clothes even when they have plenty. Then they'll buy hair dye, even though their hair is nice already, or something like that.

I think it's just another part of this materialistic culture. The need to compete with other women, to look good all the time. Plus deep insecurities about how they look, fed by the media. Like self worth is tied up completely with looks, and women have to look a certain way to succeed in life.

Whatever.

I buy practically everything online now. Clothes and everything else I need to survive. I don't understand fashion, my priority is price and comfort. Shopping for clothes and shoes was a nightmare before the internet.

Hey now. I used to buy hair dye because I liked making my hair different colors. Sure it's nice, but it was fun.

One of the reasons I think my husband fell for me was that he realised I would not be dragging him around clothes shops, at every opportunity, spending all of his hard earned cash on yet another pair of ridiculous high heels or handbag. I have quite a lot of clothes in my wardrobe, but I've had most things for many years (some 10 yrs+), I just have difficulty parting with some stuff. I never buy high fashion, just classic stuff, so my wardrobe isn't dated. I'm also a bargain hunter and seldom buy clothes at full price. Last week, I kind of splashed out and spent less than £50 on 2 pairs of jeans and 2 dressy tops. That's my clothes shopping over for a long while. But, I'm a bit of a nightmare when it comes to comfortable shoes, so seldom manage to get them cheap.

Maybe it comes from the cavepeople days of women being the gatherers and men being the hunters? Women like to gather clothes and housewares for useless purposes now, while they used to gather food and medicinal plants for survival in the past. I don't know, I'm just pulling this out of my ass for fun.

I agree; I think it's got to do with how we have instincts to find food and such, and that drive has gotten changed into the "shopping drive".

It's not just NT women. Aspie women, sometimes, too. Though I think for me the "shopping drive" is more of a "fact-finding drive"; I act very much like an NT shopper when I'm in a library, comparing books to see which ones I want to invest my time in.

That's the concept that I favor. It may also explain why men will go into a clothing store to buy a pair of jeans, and come out ten minutes later with (surprise!) a a pair of jeans!

Here's an image that illustrates the process:

Well the popular culture sends the message to women that they need to look good and it presents such standards of what looking good is. And its literally everywhere except Id guess most aspies dont pay attention. I used to hate shopping when I was younger, be asking my mom when were we gonna leave, it was very impatient. I used to mostly ignore fashion until my friends would bug me about dressing better, they'd tell me that Id look good in this and that. These were gay male friends btw. I also notice NT women have this competition for looking good and being the most attractive and there constantly envying each other based on looks and weight. Which is another reason for the shopping.

Lately my moms been bugging me about getting new clothes and looking attractive. I figure why not, appearances are one thing that is more easily fixable where many other things aren't. So I have been shopping for new clothes. Im also very picky when it comes to clothes. I can scan thru an entire store and only consider 1 or 2 items and maybe walk out without buying anything. Unlike most women, i'll quickly scan. I dont spend 3 hrs in a store.

Lemme add, most men expect their women to be good looking yet they hate it when the women drags them into the store or takes forever to get ready. Well...if they want the package, they need to know that girls are gonna take forever to get ready or else their "package" isnt gonna be that good...duh...

That's how I shop. I don't like to spend a lot of time in a store. I can usually see right away if they carry the kinds of things that I like, and I usually have something specific in mind when I enter a store. Just hanging out and vaguely looking for things drives me crazy.

Me too. Shopping for books and movies is a different story.

Because they are emotional creatures that like to compete with each other to silently say "I'm the best!" with their stuff. It also seems to help with boredom and their self-esteem. They suffer from a disease that is commonly known as materialism .

The only thing I like about clothes shopping is that when I do it, I can be assured that what I am buying will actually FIT. Although, when I'm with friends, I usually end up "browsing" with guys...

p.s. When you want to make a man feel awkward, drag him into the women's underwear dept., the ones I've met seem to hate it

I intentionally do not tell any of my female friends that I am asexual because I want to see how long it takes them to try that on me. Oh boy, their reaction when they find out that I am completely unaffected by underwear.

I know I shouldn't find that funny, but I can't help it.

"Society forces women to compete against eachother, yadda yadda yadda, fashion gets forced down their throats yadda yadda yadda."
I'm far from NT but shoppng is fun, I have to remind myself not to blow all my money on crap! When I go shopping I always look for something to add to my collection of primatey things, even if it's some crudely designed generic monkey toy I usually buy it.