Shopping with Kim Crow (1)

If you’ve read her, then you know she’s like the best girlfriend you never had: She knows where to shop to look cool, but not too cool for your age. Compliments you all the time — sincerely. Makes jokes at her own expense.1 Knows where to go for the best pedicure in town. Recommends making quality purchases, but not going into debt for that super-high-end handbag. Teaches how to sneak purchases into the house on the grounds that most husbands will never understand how important it is for us to look put-together.

Vogue2 makes me feel poor, fat and frumpy.

Kim makes me feel fabulous.

She does this by serving as a fashion filter — attending the shows, tracking the trends and following new lines, then weeding out the unwearable, outrageously expensive and just plain ugly. Her column is written for the 99 percent of women who aren’t a wealthy size two. She de-snobs fashion.

So you can see why I had to call her up. Our column-and-coffee relationship was not enough. Really, I only had one question for her: “Will you be my friend?”

Check back Nov. 1 for the full story.