Jasdip, my husband is the only person I will shop with and at that he takes a cart and I take a cart, we split the grocery list and meet up in the front aisle. Done!

I’ve never shopped for clothes with my husband. Your husband sounds like he was a very sweet man.💕

I have a friend who is always asking me to go on a shopping bus tour that runs from Edmonton to Great Falls or Spokane or somewhere like that. They drive all night, arriving in the USA just as the stores are opening. They shop all day, get back on the bus and return home. She and a bunch of gals did it twice a year before the pandemic. Nope, just nope.

😵‍💫

Count me as another 'I hate to shop' person, either alone or with others. I shop like the stereotypical man, while my husband loves to browse, wander about the store, etc. Internet shopping has been a godsend for me. The only stores I enjoy going into are bookshops.

ETA: They drive all night, arriving in the USA just as the stores are opening. They shop all day, get back on the bus and return home.

No sleep and a day of shopping is my idea of torture!

I love shopping with my daughter.

Except for trips to the grocer or garden center, I shop rarely. Except online. And always by myself. Group trips with family and/or friends tend to be destination shopping with lunch involved. I almost never buy anything other than lunch and tire from too much walking so usually wind up sitting and waiting somewhere for the gang to finish.

I am getting to be such an old lady :-) Too many people, too expensive and too much junk I no longer want or need.

I hate to shop in the first place. There are a couple of people I’ll go shopping with, because we go browsing to the resale, thrift, and consignment shops. We aren’t always planning on buying anything, but we often do. I’ll,go with someone to ”regular” stores if they are looking for something in particular. And I always have fun going with a friend to Ikea!

For a major purchase for the house, I don’t mind going with DH. First, that way he will be in on the decision and second, he is better at coming to a decision.

Rose, my sisters-in-law love, love, love shopping. They love trying things on, touching things, smelling things…you name it.

"Shopping" is a task, it's not a recreational activity or a destination adventure for me. I neither hate it nor love it but I would no sooner be enticed to look for an opportunity to go shopping than to look for an opportunity to wash a sink full of dirty pots. Both are the same, tasks that need to be done and so they get done.

Shopping for myself is done by myself. Shopping for household items or anything the consequence of which affects my wife is, of course, at least discussed in advance if not done together.

Better alone! I ran into the grocery store yesterday.....alone...saw a bouquet of orange daisy flowers ....purchased them for Gf's birthday. Then delivered them to my GF with a card, same day. Taking her out to lunch Friday. No one telling me "they" don't like orange...or why not roses...or they should be delivered.....

I love plant shopping with my gardening friends. We'll find a nursery within a few hours drive and make a day of it. Love finding new to me plants and spending a few hours outdoors surrounded by beautiful plants.

I really dislike shopping for anything. If I have my mind made up about a certain item, I will go get it. My sister, on the other hand, likes to browse. I love her company, but I get frustrated and antsy when we spend too much time in a store.

Since covid, I don't do random shopping, only for a purpose now. When I do shop, it's alone. If my husband is with me he goes and sits somewhere and waits till I'm done. The only exception is the day trips to Philly, NYC, and DC my daughter takes me on. That I enjoy if we go to shops.

I don't even like shopping with myself!

Post-covid, I do as much online as possible. It's just so much easier for most things.

Taking a bus for an all-day shopping trip! Kill me now! That's how I feel about taking a bus to a casino. When I lose my $20 or $40 or whatever I designate for that, then what do I do for the next 7.5 hours till it's time to go home?? There is nothing appealing to either one.

This whole gender discrepancy about shopping does not hold water with me. First of all, many women here said they do not like to shop, but I love to shop. My sister hates to shop, and I do not like shopping with her because she wants to get in and out as quickly as possible. When I go grocery shopping with her, I pull items from her cart and check expiration dates. If they are expired (and frequently they are), I make her put them back, which she hates. She usually tries to lose me in the store by telling me to go find something.

When I go clothes shopping with my sister, I check the labels of everything to find out what the fiber content is. She tried to buy a black acetate outfit at one store, and I warned her that acetate fume fades, especially if one perspires, and the sales clerk gave me a dirty look. I found a much better silk outfit (that was quite a bit more expensive), and she ended up buying that, and so the clerk should have been happy that I was helping.

I don't like shopping with people who rush or are rushed. It is not a race.

I've gone shopping with a lot of female friends of mine for clothes, and I will often sit on a bench to wait while they try something on, and then I will critique it for them. I saw an episode of Will and Grace where Will did this for Grace, and she relied on his critiques.

My friend Jimmy once came to my house in Venice, unannounced, and told me that I had to go with him to a Patagonia hanger (as in airport hanger) sale at the Santa Monica airport. Clothes were marked down as much as 80%, and he wanted to take advantage of this, but his wife Maartje was in Holland at the time, visiting her family, and Jimmy was afraid he would buy something that she would not like, but he knew that I could pick out clothes that Maartje would approve it. Maartje ended up thanking me for this.

When I lived in San Francisco, I used to go into clothing boutiques all the time, just to see what they had in inventory, since I was designing clothes at that time. I would also try things on while I was at it, and I generally tried to make a point to go to stores that had no other customers, so that I could get more attention. Eventually, when people on the street noticed that a store was busy, they would come in and not have to worry about salespeople jumping on them. I liked being jumped on, but I learned later that most people do not. Anyway, the new people that came in would buy things, and the store owners were glad that I had come in, even if I did not buy something. Sometimes I would buy things, but not always. A lot of times I would get discounts, especially since I often brought friends in with me.

Lars, from your many interesting and entertaining comments in the past, from your past creative employments you've described, and your comments above, I think it's fair to say that your background and interest in fabrics, clothing and fashion are not broadly shared by much of the population of either gender. But I think kindred spirits with similar interests and knowledge as you have would more likely found among women than among men. Maybe your experiences are different.

Maybe it's fairer to say that such interests vary from individual to individual, PERIOD, without regard to gender?

Love shopping! I enjoy shopping with DD, but she is in med school hardly home. I used to shop with a friend, and we both were shopaholics many moons ago :-) , then her DH finished med school and moved to CA. That was the end of shopaholic's shopping trail. TJ near me just got in CG Sport dresses, very cute for $24.99, bought 3, very comfy and love the styles.

Clothes shopping is the worst! If I find something that fits and I like, I buy it in every color.

The only time that I like to shop with another is at a plant nursery. We each take a wagon or cart and start out together, separate a few times, randomly get back together and finally pay. Sometimes we buy so many plants that we load some, take some out and reshuffle to get them all in the vehicle. But oh such fun! I do not shop for clothing or groceries with another person. I do not even like doing those things alone.

I don't like shopping by myself or with someone. I prefer to find what I want as quick as possible. In the past I hated going from store to store to find what I wanted. Thank goodness for the internet. My only complaint is having to send something back because it didn't fit or just didn't like it when I saw it.

The only time I did have some fun was shopping at thift stores with my sister in our younger years. Even that, I had my limits and would find a chair to sit in while she shopped for hours. The Thift Shop song makes me think of her.

Well, let’s take a listen

I used to love shopping with my Mom....it was one of our favorite things to do together and would go to outlets for overnight shopping sprees. Alas, no more.

I have to amend my earlier statement about not shopping with anyone. I belong to two of the local plant groups. Each spring they have had bus trips. One group has started them again but the other one has not. In the past they both had destinations, Often gardens such as the Missouri Botanical Garden. Other trips have been to the PNW Hardy Plant sale or the Philadelphia Garden show. Except for the really long distance trips a bus is hired with room for lots of plants. Several good nursery's are selected and notified in advance. A box lunch is part of the cost. I loved both selecting my own plants which were seldom found where I normally shop and helping others find what they were looking for.

My mom was my favorite shopping partner! But she taught me well, and now my girls are my favorite shopping partners and me, theirs. There is just something with us all being so familiar with each others tastes, and homes and fashion style, that makes it easy.

Except for grocery shopping, I don't really shop. Clothes aren't important to me, and I seldom buy any....yard sale or thrift shop.

But if I did shop, I prefer to go alone. Some things I would just naturally buy on line.

I went out to eat with a friend and her mother and they stopped for "a few minutes" to clothes shop. It was hypnotically boring for me. Plus the next day they returned about half of what they bought.

I have a friend that I met since moving here that I get together with for lunch and go to thrift shops every so often, and I like that, but in most instances, I prefer to go alone.

Nope. I need to be alone to browse, to think, to enjoy.

I will meet someone for lunch before or after, but I prefer to shop alone. The only in person shopping I do anymore is for food, plants, and holiday decorations. Everything else is online anyway.

Haha - skipped down to say I'm not a shopping hater, and about the only person I hate to shop with is my hubby 😄 He gets grumpy easily and also likes to wander away and lollygag, while I want to get in and out - this is grocery shopping I'm talking about, but it pertains to most stores. I definitely relate to being annoyed when you want to check out and go and you can't find the people you were with.

I do have 1 sister I sort of dread shopping with sometimes, because she will totally lose track of time the minute she walks into a store - any store. Not a problem when you've lots of time, but she'll say "Let's stop in here just for a minute" when we're expected somewhere, and it turns into half an hour at least, often longer.

I guess I do prefer being alone when shopping in a real store, since I like to be efficient and not dawdle around, but I don't really have anyone else I'd go shopping with anyway. I don't do very much 'real' store shopping anymore either, now that I'm in the habit of online ordering.

P.S. After reading the comments above, I thought about when I was younger and did love to browse all kinds of stores, window shopping, and spent much more time lingering in stores. That has clearly changed as I've gotten older. It's true that I don't need or want most of the stuff I see.

Then again, when we were in Las Vegas a few years ago, there wasn't much else to do in my free time besides gambling or shopping. I don't gamble, so it was fun browsing the very high end stores between the Wynn and the Venetian. I felt a bit sad for the staff at those stores tho - there wasn't anybody else around.

I used to love shopping with my Mom and sister but my Mom has passed and my sister lives too far away. I mostly shop alone now. I do enjoy "window shopping" with friends.

It depends. I hate clothes shopping, not into jewelry or makeup but don't mind going with gardening friends to a nursery and browsing around. Part of that would be going to have lunch too or a movie.

I like going with my daughter to shop for home goods, she's alot of fun and we have mostly different tastes in things and but some the same. We also like looking at houses, either driving around or going to open houses, which we have only done a few times over the years. She told me yesterday that I should put dark framed windows on my house when I get them redone. The day before I drove her by the cute pink house that someone resided a few months ago. Pink isn't her favorite color but she agreed that it was super cute.

I also like to window shop sometimes with friends, in new towns I haven't been to. Again involves having lunch out too, explore the area. I'm not into antiques anymore but will also browse an antique shop with friends. I like looking.

I don't really like shopping either, When I shop it is by myself and never ever with DH. I know that most clothes look awful on me so I don't need anyone else telling me that it doesn't look good on me. Like others if I do find something that sort of looks good and fits me I will buy it in multiple colours.

I have a friend who likes 2nd hand things. i went once with her. she buys old kitchen tools, lamps and knic knaks. stuff she doesn't need. i went once and played along and tried to be happy for her but she did 't just arrive as a refugee. her place makes me nervous. she and her mom are great together. i wonder what she'll do with mom's stuff. it's the thrill of buying something on sale.

I love to shop, and I usually do it solo; I find it relaxing. There are a few small local independent stores where I love to check the inventory every month or so. I also like poking around antique and vintage stores. I don’t usually “need” anything, and I usually don’t buy anything, it’s recreational. I avoid department and chain stores. I adore window shopping when I travel, and love going into all kinds of stores in foreign locales- including hardware stores, food stores, even department stores:)

I do love to go shopping with others, as long as they don't try to rush me. I don't worry about getting separated and not being able to find each other. We all have cell phones and can call or text to find each other.

I do miss shopping with my DH, looking for things together, sharing our opinions, etc.

FWIW, my favorite type of lollygag shopping is in thrift and antique stores - there's always such a jumble of strange and interesting items, and it's fun to imagine the people those things belonged to.

I dislike shopping and 90% of the time do it alone. The exception would be when we go to the grocery store at the lake and then there's usually at least one other person along to help carry the beer and ice.

I don't recall even when we were young that my husband actually walked with me thru stores and shops. I think I have spent a few years of my life looking for him in stores...lol Of course we have different interests but when a person says they'll be at one spot and they are not, means I spend the amount of time I already spent in the store searching for him.

I prefer to shop alone. enough said.

I also dont believe in the story that men don't like to shop. Either that or I am a magnet for men who love to shop. Every single man in my life? My DH will wander away no matter how closely I supervise him. It is like going to the store with a five year old. We will be on a tight schedule and he still wanders off. I like a good thrift store but I still cruise through. I just dont need a lot of time to make up my mind. Food shopping is the worst. I have a list. DH wants to poke around. It is an expensive habit.

It is like going to the store with a five year old.

I can relate. In the supermarket, generally the only place we shop together, I can usually find my husband in the condiment aisle, poring over the mustard selection. You would not believe how many kinds of mustard, from various supermarkets and specialty stores, we have.

I enjoyed the Thrift Shop video - thanks for that, Roxsol!

Last Sunday (I believe) on CBS Sunday Morning, they had an article Thrift Fashion Shopping.

Some places have better thrift stores than others, and some thrift store chain as just better.

In Coachella Valley, we have Revivals, with stores in Palm Springs, Cathedral City, and Palm Desert, but the store in Cathedral City by far has the best items, including furniture. I've donated a lot to them, and they are good about sending a truck to pick up large items, but they are also picky about what they will accept.

In San Francisco, I used to go to Thrift Town on Mission Street, near 17th St, and I would find designer men's clothes in the women's department there for 65¢. They should have known that a Bloomingdales label would mean that it was more expensive, but then they didn't even know that it was menswear. While I was in the women's department, I would buy Lady Wrangler jeans, size 7/8, as they fit me perfectly, but the legs were too short, and so I would add extentions that looked intentional.

I never bought new jeans in the 1970s because they were too stiff and too uncomfortable. I used to be able to get jeans for 45-65¢, and I would disassemble them, removing all seams (except for patch pockets, which I left in place), and then I would make new clothes with the scraps. This was cheaper than buying new fabric and also sold better. I used the hip pocket pieces for the fronts of vests and jackets. I cut most of the pieces into odd shapes and then layered them in appliqué fashion using double needle stitching for strength. I let the cut ends fray so that they would look like fringe, which is why I used double needle stitching. The pieces that had seam allowances in them had interesting fading and looked almost like tie-dye. This is not how I dressed back then, but it was what was easy to sell.

Incidentally, most of the men that I know like to shop as much or more than I do, but Jimmy was not one of them. He liked to shop for electronics, however.

I only shop with a friend by accident. Sometimes I meet a friend for lunch near retail stores. She might want to check something out in one of stores and I will tag along.

Most of my purchases are made online because in store petite sections are always very limited. I will usually browse after my return.

I haven't gone shopping with a friend for years.

I would sometimes shop with my cousin who loves clothes, but again it's part of the meet up, usually after an activity together or lunch.

Nicole, my DH is also opinionated!

No. It's been almost 45 years since I went shopping with friends, and I remember being impatient when they'd linger when I was finished, and vice versa. And one time I bought a dress that totally didn't suit me, because my friend said it was cute on me (no, it wasn't.)

I will only if my friend is looking for something. I get too distracted being with another person and always prefer to shop on my own.

Jane

My husband in the regular mega grocery store picks a few items he wants, but when we go to Trader Joe's, he IS like the 5-year-old grabbing stuff right and left.

I don't mind accompanying someone else when they have shopping to do. I go knowing it's an afternoon of 'lolly gagging'. We visit as we see things that spark a conversation. It's an outing. We enjoy finding little junk stores that have popped up all over the past few years. It's rare we buy. The hunt, the memories is what we are after. If I have buying to do I am alone or with DH and then only for other people. My shopping for me I do totally solo.

It's been decades since I shopped for recreation, with or without friends, and I'm still finding 'stuff' I bought back then -- and getting rid of it! I don't think it was only the internet that doomed Retail. Women stopped 'browsing'.

I used to enjoy shopping when my health was better but I don’t now. If I need something, it is get in and get out on my time, not hanging around while someone looks at and handles everything.

Funnily enough, I was just listening to a conversation with the author of a book about the history of the American mall called 'Meet Me by the Fountain', and she talked about how people in general have become over-saturated with retail choices, and how some malls are evolving into other types of gathering places, rather than just shopping and food courts.

https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/meet-us-by-the-fountain/

This woman has continued to browse. I like stuff. I keep a tight edit on my posessions. I have no fear of leaving any messes behind.

Like Annie, my mother was my favorite shopping companion. I can browse after a luncheon or such with whomsever I find myself, but for actual looking for and buying stuff, I need to be on my own. Shopping with my husband is amusing for the people watching part. Shopping with my young adult sons is torture, in both directions.

I will add that shopping with someone else is much easier when I'm not the one doing the buying 😀

Enjoy shopping with a couple of friends and my daughter. Usually combine it with a meal out. My husband is not a good shopper. He is happy to grocery shop with me but he always wants to buy loads of junk food, so I usually leave him at home.