Retail therapy can be so much more fun when one is with a best friend or group of friends. The only consideration being that you all must be like-minded and very comfortable with each other. If you don’t trust their tastes , it is better to be rational and shop on your own. There are many malls to go broke in, all over the country. And you can have a great time with the advice and opinion of your friends before you throw away money on impulse buys.
Tweens and teenagers have begun shopping online using websites like www.shopwithyourfriends.com. This site allows you to choose outfits and invite friends to give their opinion. But the real excitement and incomparable ecstasy is only when you are really in the market, fingering the fabric, trying outfits, modeling in front of the mirror and carrying all those packets back to your home.
Take some honest friends with you when you go shopping. These friends should encourage you to shop instead of passing critical comments on everything you pick. They should be patient to wait while you try out outfits and then give the right opinion. Often, a friend may be too nice or polite to point out that the skirt made you look fat or the colour blocking patterns made your hips bulky.
Choose the right mall. Shop in Ansal Plaza or the nearby Sarojini Nagar market in Delhi, across high-budget and affordable venues. Visit The Orion Mall in Bangalore for high end shopping and dining. Go broke or window-shop at The Phoenix, Mumbai or DLF Emporio, Delhi. Spend hours at South City or Avani Riverside Mall in Kolkata. And if you can travel abroad with friends, do your shopping and then take a boat ride at a mall in Qatar, or go skiing at a mall in Dubai.
Let’s get back to reality. You need to buy something good and affordable so take a small group when shopping to be able to have flexibility and the correct focus on shopping for what you need. Take those friends who will voice critical comments before you have bought the item and not afterwards. Chat while taking a break in the coffee shops or roadside snack counter. Give honest compliments and treat each other at food counters (the only place where you can spend in some super malls) or with small appreciative gifts. But more than anything else have fun.
Shopping with one trusted friend who can be truthful and selfless and help you buy stunning outfits or smashing accessories at affordable prices is an exercise that funnily, gives you more happiness than anything else. Who said money can’t buy happiness? It can, if you have friends by your side!

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