Weekly wish - Foreign Affair

Foreign Affair on Barrington
Originally uploaded by espodek

I just returned from a five-day trip to Halifax, N.S. and checked out lots of shops during my stay.

Foreign Affair is somewhat sentimental for two reasons:
• It was my favourite place to shop during my high-school years whenever I needed special something to wear. (FYI, I was born there and grew up in both Halifax and Toronto.)
• My grandfather's last store was at the same location on Barrington St. now occupied by one of two Foreign Affair shops in the downtown core.

During my high school and university days, Foreign Affair was always known for carrying fashions more comparable to what was available in bigger cities like Montreal and Toronto, yet still somewhat affordable.

Over the years, it’s become a high-end boutique carrying an interesting collection of designer fashions. Labels vary by store and include: Lida Baday, Missoni, Seven, Citizens of Humanity, Fidelity, Ella Moss, Elle Tahari, HUGO, Juicy Couture and many others.

So why am I including Foreign Affair as one of my Weekly wishes? Well, I was with Mr. Bargainista and I didn’t want to make him spend his vacation waiting for me to try stuff on.

Despite the big sale signs in the window, I resisted the temptation to go inside. Well sort of. I waited until the last hour of our trip then I took the plunge and went inside the Spring Garden Rd. location. What a mistake - the front of the store was filled with amazing stuff with huge markdowns. For instance, I saw $700 dresses for $125! Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to try anything on. I don’t know about you but I don’t usually see such big markdowns in Toronto.

So this week, although I usually say there’s no use crying over spilled milk, I’m admitting my regrets and wishing I’d left some time for shopping at Foreign Affair. On the bright side, I didn’t leave Halifax empty-handed. I’ll be sharing more of my Halifax shopping adventures soon.

Do you have a favourite store in another city? Do you regret not buying something on sale lately? Leave a comment.

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