Retail therapy or the end of feminism?

Article from the SMH regarding the long feminine tradition of serious retail therapy: shopping as leisure activity. It discusses the ways in which being a big spender used to flag you as a bit of a flighty, immature, unwilling-to-be sensible airhead, but how now that same behaviour is seen as more than acceptable- normal. The author worries that women are selling themselves short and wasting their emancipation on fripperies and consumerism. I'm inclined to agree.
That whole "You're Worth It" thing from L'Oreal... I never got it. I always think "how do they know I'm worth it? I could be a crooked cop who takes bribe money for stolen whale carcasses and has a side project trading in the black-market kidneys of Ugandan orphans, and somehow they think I'm so great that I should buy myself a new mascara?"
Somehow I'm more inclined to believe that we are told we're worth it because in today's post-feminist, youth-centred, product-obsessed, five-minute throwaway Western affluent society, there aren't enough women either old enough or informed enough to stop and think about this message. Most of us (or at least many of us- enough for this to be effective) think "Yes! I AM worth it! Why, just yesterday, I denied myself a Mars Bar! I'm a good mother / wife / worker / girlfriend / squash player! And besides, that colour would go great with my new shoes!" Well then, yay for moral conveniences.
Personally, now, it's hard for me to go hard at the shops. Leaving aside the issue of how I'm still poor and so I can't afford anything, I'm learning the lesson that things aren't valuable unless you REALLY want them. This is coming from someone with over forty brooches...but I chose and wanted each one of those brooches, and besides, they don't generally represent much, cash-wise. When you go crazy in DJs or in the sales, spending big bucks on treats, clothes, makeup and so on, I think you end up with 'stuff', things that mean little.
True retail junkies talk about the high you get after a purchase, followed by the crashing low as the fix wears off. Then they need to go hunting for the next hit. I've had this feeling, and I really hated it. And sometimes I still hate myself for being so materialistic. When I'm out on the town or in the shopping centre, the bright shiny pictures, the clean pretty window displays, the throngs of people all shopping, carrying bags, buying things, they all seduce me. I want to look at and see everything, I want that vase there for my table, I want that outfit just like it is on the model, that's pretty, so I need it for me. Then the terrible crash. Why do I have all this stuff, suddenly?
Now, if I feel that I want something I've seen in a magazine or heard about, I write it in my diary. I research it on the net, and decide if it's for me. Can I afford it? Can I do without it? (This could be anything: books, CDs, perfume, clothes...). I make sure at least a few days have passed to allow me cool-off time, and only then am I allowed to go buy it. Half the time I forget about it within a day, anyway. This way, the things and treats I buy are truly wanted and appreciated. It makes me feel more empowered, that I can resist advertising messages and be more in control of where my dollars go. I also feel that I am less destructive of the original feminist message this way. I still own high heels and makeup, but this is a choice and not a social edict.
Shopping would be so much less political if money weren't involved.
Perhaps all women really are worth it: or perhaps we just want to look like we're worth it- better get that new outfit! Get the nails done!
We should use our spending power wisely, efficiently, and treat ourselves only occasionally. This will make us seem, and feel, a lot less like bubbleheaded, easily-led retail-lovers.